Croatia aims to brand its snack ‘marenda’

“Marenda,” a revitalizing midday snack, is a tradition that many in Croatia’s Dalmatia region still cherish today. 

Tourism officials in the country are creating a brand to introduce visitors to the region’s distinctive local culinary heritage. By the end of the year, they will organise six gastronomic events, with the first marenda taking place today in Šibenik, HRT reported.

Marenda is all about hearty, spoon-worthy dishes that warm and nourish the body. On today’s menu were 300 servings of brudet (fish stew) with three types of fish and veal with “biži” (peas).

“It’s a childhood dish, a farmer’s dish, a lunch dish, or it can be a marenda. It’s what characterises our region after a hard day’s work,” chef Jakov Ujaković told HRT.

“I think there should even be more offers like this in the city because this is who we are, maybe even the most famous for our marenda,” added chef Grgo Bačelić. The offerings received high praise from visitors.

“I came to see what’s happening and tried some biži and veal—they’re delicious,” said Šibenik actor Mate Gulin.

Indigenous wine varieties were also served, exclusively. Babić, debit, or maraština, once valued here almost as highly as medicine.

“Twenty years ago, it was nearly lost, but now, anyone planting new vineyards mostly plants maraština because quality is now more valued,” said Andro Rak, a winemaker from Šibenik.

It’s no coincidence that the event dedicated to the meals of labourers and workers was held at the historic Šibenik green market—the belly of the city. Here, only local goods are sold.

Brudet (Photo credit: Chiqui Teo/Public domain)

“The produce is top-notch. You can’t compare this vegetables to what we buy at malls, who knows where. This produce has a special flavour,” Rak asserted.

Šibenik’s culinary postcard could easily extend beyond the region.

“I believe we should, together with our colleagues in other counties and areas where this meal is characteristic, work on strengthening it in a way that perhaps we replace brunch with marenda here,” said Krešimir Šakić from the Šibenik-Knin County Tourist Board.

The next marenda event is scheduled for the first weekend of June in Rogoznica.

Last year, Croatia Airlines served passengers ‘marenda’ on all its flights during the month of April to raise awareness and to give passengers a Dalmatian experience.