Hvar - the Pakleni islands and a hidden fish restaurant (Pansion Tonci)

Our mode of transport for the day

The water around Hvar (even in the harbour) is so clean and crystal clear that it is a magnet for sea urchins. Mind where you step!

Hvar Town, another old walled city on a Dalmatian island in the South of Croatia is a yachting and backpackers paradise. Turquoise waters, bars lining the harbour front and right round the coast, plus endless opportunities to explore hidden bays and discover bars, restaurants and beach clubs in seriously secluded locations.

That's exactly what we decided to do when we hired a boat for the day and left the main island in search of a fisherman's shack on one of the Pakleni Islands (Palmizana) where we could indulge in a lot of fresh seafood.

Unfortunately the sea was slightly more choppy than we expected. And the island we were heading to was a little further away that anticipated. We had a few hairy moments getting to the island (and managed to wash the boat onto the rocks at one point), but eventually made in there unscathed.

Determined to find our fish, we ventured inland, and spotted the sign to Pansion Tonci, along with a fish skeleton picture. Divine intervention.

This family run restaurant is just set back from the beach, on the Hvar-side of the island, and offered a selection of grilled fish, caught that morning (we didn't get a choice on what kind of fish we were served, it was just whatever was landed that day), capers from the mainland, olive oil from their own groves and white wine they had made themselves from their own vineyard behind the house.

There was even a hammock available for a quick sleep after our meal, before we headed back to Hvar (which was incidentally a very scary trip back given the waves had grown significantly since we left Hvar harbour that morning).

This meal has been one of the highlights of the whole trip so far. Definitely worth nearly capsizing for.

Homemade fish pate

Anchovies with local capers and olive oil from the garden

Pansion Tonci's own white wine... this is a fresh, new wine and only lasts for one season. We were told at the end of the Summer, they have a big party to finish off what is left in the barrels

Deep fried courgette

Grilled Barracuda

Homemade apple cake to finish off the meal

Quick post-meal siesta

Next stop, the Istrian islands and Losinj.

Exploring Croatia ... Dubrovnik, Scampi buzara and Kamenice

This is the first of a series of posts on Croatia, starting with Dubrovnik - the scenery, the cities, and of course, the incredible food.

We arrived in Dubrovnik at 7am on the overnight ferry from Bari. If you are planning the same, there is a bus that runs from the port straight to the edge of the old town's city walls. We decided to walk, which was probably the wrong choice given the heat and the weight of our backpacks.

Dubrovnik itself is a cruise tripper's magnet. Between 9am and 4.30pm each day, the city is crawling with trails of tour guides, holding umbrellas and followed by a legion of sticker-toting day trippers.

That said, it's a beautiful and compact old city and one we explored every inch of on foot and by kayak (to get the best views of the city walls).

A glass of wine in the sunshine on the edge of the city walls

One of the things I found the hardest about Dubrovnik was finding truly local, good quality cuisine. Many of the restaurants in the old town offer hiked up 'tourist menus'. However, we found a real gem... Kamenice on one of the old squares (Gunduliceva Poljana).

This informal restaurant has a number of tables outside (none inside) and they are always packed with tourists and locals alike. They are renowned for their calamari, their black risotto with cuttlefish, their mussels and their 'scampi buzara' - a local speciality of langoustines with white wine, tomatoes, garlic and onions.

This is probably one of the best places you can eat in Dubrovnik - if you can get a table. Piles of steaming shellfish, fantastic atmosphere on one of the city's oldest squares, and an unexpectedly small bill at the end of your evening.

Patrolling for dropped shellfish at Kamenice

Next stop, Korcula.

The Deep South - Puglia, Basilicata, Calabria and 'cucina povera'

The food in this region of Southern Italy is often referred to as 'cucina poverta'.. literally 'poor man's food'.

Pasta made without eggs, bread made from hard durum wheat and greens gathered from the hedgerows. This is what makes Southern Italian food so welcoming, hearty and filling.

In the past few days we've eaten orecchiette pasta with wild horseradish in Matera - one of the oldest settlements in the world where the houses are built into caves; pureed fava beans and bitter chard in Alberobello - a village seemingly built for dwarfs where all the little white buildings have perfect conical stone roofs; and riso, patate e cozze (rice, potatoes and mussels, another classic regional dish) in Polignano a Mare - a town perched on the clifftops.

Matera - 46 degrees in the late afternoon. The cave dwellings are nice and cool though

Homemade pasta with wild horseradish (nose-burning!) at Le Botteghe in Matera

Polignano a Mare

riso, patate e cozze

 

Alberobello

Pureed fava beans with bitter chard and lashings of olive oil

Orecchiette with tomatoes and ricotta forte - strong, aged ricotta

The seafood in this region is of course outstanding too. And I ate a whole octopus in Bari.

One of the highlights of the trip through South Italy for me though has been stumbling across a side street in Bari where a team of old ladies were making fresh pasta outside their houses, to cater for the local restaurants. They were kind enough to let me take pictures - and get a few tips on technique as they proudly showed me how they made orecchiette by hand.

Next stop... Croatia...

The Amalfi Coast - a quick detour for Spaghetti alle Vongole

The title of this post says it all really. I love the Amalfi Coast, I love spaghetti, I love clams.

I managed to get in a plate of spaghetti alle Vongole in Amalfi after arriving by train, bus, hydrofoil and ferry to Salerno via Lipari, Messina and Villa San Giovanni. It was worth it.

Spaghetti Il Nero di Sepia - with sea bream, Indonesian tiger prawns and black garlic

I've been looking for a bulb of black garlic since visiting Ferdie's Food Lab at the end of last year, and sampling Simon's prawns with fermented garlic. It's sweet, sticky, and unlike anything else you will taste (although it is slightly reminiscent of blackened, burnt onions, but much much sweeter and without the bitterness).

I finally managed to track it down and paired it with spaghetti Il Nero di Sepia (squid ink spaghetti), which we brought back from Priano last year... in keeping with the black theme.

Sea Bream fillets, giant Indonesian tiger prawns (absolute beasts), thinly sliced radish and plenty of lemon to add a sharp tang to the sticky sweetness of the garlic...

http://iblog4.me/

Pan fried scallop with beetroot, lemon and pink peppercorn risotto

Sometimes, only something pretty for dinner will do. Scallops and beetroot, both naturally sweet, with a sharp tang of lemon, fragrant pink peppercorns and earthy red amaranth leaves.

Not quite filling enough for a hungry husband, but enough to whet the appetite...

Mortehoe Shellfish

There's nothing quite like eating fresh fish beside the seaside... North Devon's Mortehoe Shellfish offers lobster, fish and shellfish platters in 'rustic' surroundings (by this I mean in the front room of their family home).

Our platters came with 8 types of fish and 12 types of seafood including lobsters, picked crab, smoked fish, pickled fish, prawns in all shapes and sizes, baby squid, cuttle fish, baby octopus, mussels (green-lipped and local), whelks, cockles, clams, salmon, bass, catfish kebabs, sardines and anchovies to name a few...  

Definitely one to experience after a blustery walk on the cliffs.

They also have a seafood van which tours the North Devon coast, offering freshly caught lobsters and fish to those wanting a picnic, BBQ or to cook at home.