After an opening match defeat to Brazil, Croatia head into their make-or-break second group match with Cameroon tonight, and so it seems like an opportune time to move my World Cup Dinners to the former Yugoslavian republic.
Croatian food tends to be regional, so it was pretty difficult to decide on a dish that represents the country, but in the end I decided to go for Brodet a fish stew from the Dalmatian coast as one of my favourite players from the 90s- Zvonimir Boban- hails from this part of the country. Don’t worry no dogs will be hurt in the making of this dinner!
Hirsute, before it was hip, Boban captained the Croatian squad in their first ever World Cup appearance at France ’98. The Croats had a great tournament, reaching the semi-finals before losing out 2–1 to eventual winners France. Croatia went on to defeat Holland in the third place playoff, with Boban providing the killer pass to Davor Suker for the winning goal.
INGREDIENTS
400g fish pie mix.
30ml extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for frying
1/4 lemon- juiced
4 garlic cloves, minced
bunch parsley, chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
100g chopped tomatoes
60 ml white wine
salt and pepper to taste
150ml fish stock (from stock cube)
50g prawns
6 cherry tomatoes
To Serve:
100g Polenta
Fresh chopped parsley
INSTRUCTIONS (serves 2-3)
1. Marinate the fish in the lemon juice, oil, half the garlic, parsley and salt and pepper for a couple of hours in the fridge.
2. Saute onions and the remainder in the garlic in a medium saucepan until lightly coloured (be careful not to overdo as garlic will taste bitter)
3. Add the chopped tomato and cook for a further minute.
4. Add the white wine, fish mix and fish stock to the pan and cook on a low heat for 20 minutes.
5. Serve with polenta and chopped parsley garnish
I’ve made the ‘perfect polenta‘ as per Felicity Cloake’s recipe here, but the instant stuff is fine too if you can get it.
World Cup Dinners 