Flavors · Split

Pašticada

Beef larded with garlic, clove and bacon, marinated in wine and vinegar and cooked for hours in a dark sauce with dried plum and prošek. In Split, it’s served with gnocchi or pasta.

Traditional dish from Split, Split-Dalmácia

Also known as: Dalmatinska pašticada, Pasticada

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Croatia
Croatia
Pašticada — Split, Croatia
Pašticada
Pašticada — Split, Croatia
Pašticada
Pašticada — Split, Croatia
Pašticada
Pašticada — Split, Croatia
Pašticada

Pašticada — Split, Croatia

Pašticada is one of the dishes most connected to Dalmatia. In Split, it opens the cookbook the city’s tourism board dedicated to local gastronomy, alongside other classics from konobas, the taverns that keep family recipes passed down through generations.

Preparation begins the day before. A piece of beef, usually top sirloin or rump, is pierced and stuffed with garlic, clove and bacon. Then it rests overnight in a marinade of wine, vinegar, rosemary and prošek, the sweet wine of Dalmatia.

The next day, the meat is browned and slowly cooked with the strained marinade, onion, celery, dried plum, nutmeg and tomato until very tender. Split’s tourism recipe recommends slicing the meat into thick pieces, puréeing the sauce and pouring it over. According to the Michelin Guide, tradition also requires the meat to cool slowly before returning to the heat.

The result is a thick, dark, sweet-and-sour sauce. In Split, pašticada is served with potato gnocchi or pasta, and often topped with grated cheese. There are versions made with veal, game and even horse, and each place has its own take.

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Where it comes from

Split , Split-Dalmácia
A Dalmatian dish that Split’s tourism board presents as one of the city’s culinary icons.

Ingredients

Beef (top sirloin or rump), garlic, clove, bacon, red wine, wine vinegar, prošek, rosemary, onion, celery, dried plum, nutmeg, tomato, olive oil, salt and pepper.

How it is eaten

Thick slices covered with the sauce, with potato gnocchi or pasta, often topped with grated cheese.

When it is eaten

A family and festive lunch dish, prepared in advance because of the marinade and long cooking time.

Your questions

Questions about Pašticada

What is pašticada?

A Dalmatian dish of larded beef, marinated in wine and vinegar and slowly cooked in a dark sauce with dried plum and prošek.

What is pašticada eaten with?

With potato gnocchi or pasta, and often topped with grated cheese.

Why does pašticada take so long to be ready?

The meat marinates overnight and then cooks slowly until very tender; for that reason it is usually prepared in advance.

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