The Good Food Festival

       

 This time of year, as the tourist season winds down, Dubrovnik hosts a number of events attended by residents and those visitors who are keen enough to find out about them. Since Paula is a regular at the tourist office, we generally know what’s happening in town.

An event that seemed to be particularly worthwhile was the Good Food Festival. This was a four day celebration of food and wine, including special dinners at many of the fine restaurants in the area. One particular event was the “Legend of the Lumblija,” a presentation of a special cake. It is a long lasting cake from the island of Korčula, not far up the coast from here, and is given as a gift to family and friends as a “forget me not.” The cake was delicious, as were the other specialties – candied almonds, lemon rinds, and figs. We were entering into our last couple of weeks in Croatia, and were beginning to regret having to leave, so a forget-me-not party seemed exactly right. Yes, we are becoming quite attached to this region!

Sentiment aside, the affair was an opportunity to taste some authentic Croatian food, and, more importantly, wine. There was the presentation of a cookbook, “Croacia – Cozinha e Memoria Dalmatia” (“Croatia – Kitchens and Memories of Dalmatia”?) And finally, there was entertainment by a singing group from Korčula, performing local folk songs. A cultural exchange, as it were, between two regions of Croatia.

The event was held in the Sponza Palace, a 16^th-century building at the end of the main street in the Old Town. (As an added bonus, there is usually an entrance fee for the Palace, but we got to see it at this free event. Food, wine, entertainment, free entry – what’s not to like!)

Outside the palace prior to the event, on the steps of the cathedral, was some kind of presentation with dancers clad in traditional Croatian costumes. We arrived in time for the indoor event, but caught only the end of the traditional dancing.

The city was jammed with people; all the usual visitors from the tours and cruise ships, plus those who came especially for the Food Festival. And, a good part of the main street was taken up by long tables laden with food and drink from numerous local restaurants; a 100 Kuna ticket ($15USD) gave entry to this garden of delights. This event had been scheduled for a few days earlier, but rain had forced a re-schedule, resulting in overlapping events. We chose the Lumblija cake in the Sponza Palace, and by the time that was over there wasn’t much food left. (We were able to snag a glass or two of wine, though.)

Anyway, here’s a video of Legend of the Lumblija, starting in the square in front of the Palace, and ending inside this historic palace. Sorry about the sound quality, but those old stone buildings really echo!

Or, see the video here:   Good Food Festival

The final night of the Festival we attended a charity Gala, with a fabulous five course dinner and entertainment at the Rixos Resort – one of the many five star resorts in this area. But that’s another story for another time…

...vindo vindo vindo veritas!