You will best understand the past and customs of the Golden Požega Valley and the Pakrac-Lipik region by tasting dishes that vividly and aromatically narrate their story, colorful and flavorful. They bear witness to the life of those ancient times when living in harmony with nature was known, amidst the richness of streams, rapids, and forests. Grilled trout, smoked carp, čobanac (stew), and various preparations of wild game will attest to this. Lokša will tell you about the mysterious significance of honey and walnuts, and the robust simplicity of the oldest desserts made without sugar, prepared with just a little flour and water, cooked in the ashes of open hearths.
You'll find Hungarian influences from Hungarian nobles and queens who enjoyed dining here in dishes like fish paprikaš, catfish perkelt, sataraš, or sekelj goulash. Nowhere else in Slavonia are there as many Oriental influences as here, influenced by the fact that Požega and this region were centers of sanjaks for 150 years. From that time, mysterious saganlija were left as a legacy, a favorite sarma, delicious bazlamača, notably healthy pear pickles, and exotic vinogradarski ćevap.
The simplicity of everyday peasant life, where meat was eaten only twice a week, is reflected in inventive dishes such as pasta with poppy seeds or walnuts, white and cornmeal žganci, cicvara, trganac with cheese, smoked cheese, or apple and cheese strudel... Your taste buds will experience the richness of soups, as well as the delight of delicacies made from black Slavonian pig such as cracklings, lard, sausages, kulen or ham... In many refined dishes such as imaginative pâtés, chicken soup with lebernoklama, boiled beef with numerous sauces, good tavern small cakes, crispy cherry cakes, šmarna, tačkrla and dumplings, you will discover the centuries-old cosmopolitanism of this area, whose history has left a deep mark of lordly taste that knows what good food is.
So, enjoy!
