On a stormy, chilly night with Christmas lights still decorating the old part of Kastav - everything seemed mystical and thrilling. However, the atmosphere changed on entering the restaurant with the warmth of an open fire and a welcome drink to set the tone of the evening. As members arrived they were greeted by our host Nenad Kukurin and his wife Tamara.

Once gathered, Chargé de Missions Boris Rebić introduced a cultural theme. Žarko Lučić, a bell ringer from Halubaj and a researcher of the heritage of the Kvarner region and carnival customs gave a lecture on the famous processions of the cattle carnival in Croatia. Žarko wittily described this custom and shared his many international experiences as a bell ringer. A dynamic presentation with examples of sheepskin head masks and large bells hung around bell ringers’ waists.

MENU

Minced steak
young goat’s cheese, dehydrated olive powder

Homemade ravioli stuffed with skuta cottage cheese
prawns in fine fish sauce, grated black truffle

Roman gnocchi
rich black cuttlefish sauce

Chef Kukurin’s classic fish
with vegetables al cartoccio

Delicious apple strudel
interpreted as mousse served in a cup

In between courses, there was a presentation of Plovanić Winery from Kastav. We tasted great pairings of Kastavska Belica and Pinot Gris Amphora, a flagship wine cultivated using the ancient Georgian method. Also Sv.Lucija žlahtina and Sansigot from winemaker Ivan Katunar. For dessert, we drank his Prosecco made from Žlahtina, another wine rarity.

After a delicious and successful dinner, it was only logical to continue socialising over digestif drinks until late. Nevertheless, with another day of gastronomic delights ahead we turned in at a “decent” hour.

More than impressive was Saturday’s programme. We gathered in the village of Ipša with members of the Ipša family, father and son Klaudio and Ivan who are both Chaîne members. Their newly renovated tasting room was decorated with great ambience by the family architect, daughter Antonija, where we tasted their multi award-winning wines and olive oils.

We visited their new oil mill which started working a year ago. Ivan explained the new technology of this state-of-the-art olive processing plant. In a fully computerized process, their mill manages to “extract” the best from olives. To date only five such oil mills exist in the whole of Europe.

We also tasted their wines, from sparkling to white and red wines from their best location, Santa Elena vineyard on top of the hill in Oprtalj. We were offered home-made sausages and prosciutto and very good Istrian cheeses. A rare dish followed called fritaja (fritatta), which is the legacy of Mrs Irena Ipša. This dish used to be prepared in her village only at Easter. It does not highlight eggs rather sliced chard, sausages and bacon. Incredibly delicious! Another classic from their meat dryer, ombolo slices from a pan, cooked in their Malvasia was superb.

This was indeed a successful finale of the great weekend spent together with members of the Chaîne.

Radovan Marčić
Conseiller Gastronomique