Zoran makes delicacies which are worth 130 euros per kilo, and he immediately sells everything he makes!

Zoran Krpetic, retired artistic photographer, born in Split, and the smell and taste of fish return him to his earliest childhood which he spent at his grandparents on the island of Vrgada, the birthplace of his parents. Grandpa Stipe passed his love to tradition to him, so he started drying fish 30 years ago, the same way his ancestors did, writes Jutarnji list.

They want to change the flag and coat of arms of Serbia: See the proposal to change the state's visual identity (PHOTO)

Recommended

- Dried Adriatic fish is a specialty which has a dimension of a hidden message, nostalgy, secrecy... That is a food for curious people, gourmets with experience and a dose of research spirit - he said.

Everybody wants to try it 

Few specimens of dehydrated sea cat or sea dog, shrimp rays, phycis, are always hanging on the balcony in front of his house on Vrgada, or on the balcony in his apartment in Split... So he can have some for his friends and for himself. And he said that there is almost no fish he can't dry. Fish has been conserved for centuries along the coast of the entire Adriatic and on islands because it could last for months. But, very few are still doing that even though the demand for this food is increasing, especially in the recent years since the number of top restaurants has increased and whose guests want to try something different and autochthonous, not asking about the price.

- While I'm alive, the tradition of drying fish will not be lost, there is interest among the caterers, but the manufacturers are careful - claims Krpetic and adds that there are people interested in preserving old customs on his island, even to start production, drying of fish for sale.

For this reason, few same-minded people founded Association for Preserving the Traditional and Cultural Heritage of Palmina, and they already built a small dry-house, little brick house on his land, where special flavored fish could soon get their special taste when they throw in some special Mediterranean herbs, like immortelle and rosemary.

Foto-ilustracija: Pixabay.com

He will buy fresh fish from the fishermen gathered around the community, and he will catch some on his own. Like they do it now for their own needs and with the aim to promote the old Dalmatian specialty, they supply the elite Split restaurant Makarun, and only those who order the fish in advance can enjoy it because it has to be soaked in water to soften it.

- Fish is opened down the spine. Some cut off its head, I don't. Then you spread the stomach with sticks from Rosemary, you put enough salt and you hang it. When it's dry weather, it dehydrates very quickly, within few days - Krpetic the procedure of drying.

He is aware that it can hardly become very commercial because it's impossible to make enough for the wide market, but, he thinks that the association could be the place where fishermen could be educated about that old customs, and some might even start production, or small facility, which could work well from selling the products to the restaurants. Tradition could be saved that way, on the islands, who have been his eternal source of inspiration, and new workplaces could be opened, writes Jutarnji list.

Retired fisherman from probably the most fishermen like place in Croatia, Kalija na Ugljanu, Pero Kolega, is the manager of the agricultural association, and he remembers the time 60 years ago when the fish was caught using small boats on paddles and mast, and using the nets called "sklatare", by the fish named "sklat", which is one of the best to dry, and its very rare today.

- When ships arrived in the port, fish would fly on them like flags. Sklat can have up to 20 kilos, and it has a sharp skin, a man gets tired while he peels it off for drying. The drying would begin on the ship, which is moving so there is a lot of air, and there are no flies. First, it should be held in sea water to get all the blood out, and when it turns white, it should be out to the side of the ship or on the mast. It gets some crust on the ship, and it is further dried at home, the "cat" is dry in 15 days, and "golub" needs up to six months - said Kolega, who dries fish for his own needs.

Foto-ilustracija: pixabay.com

Kolega explains that you need 7 to 8 kilos of fresh fish costing around 6, 7 euros per kilo for one kilo of dry fish. It is easy to calculate, that one kilo of dry Adriatic fish should cost at least 55 euros, without counting all the work.

Just like smoked ham or Pag cheese, dried fish ripens in time, said the fishermen from Kalij. It can be eaten after few months, but it's much tastier if it's dried for 12 months.

They agree that it's impossible to try in larger amounts because all the fish is eaten fresh, and to satisfy the increasing needs of the tourists, a lot of fish is being imported. The sea at the north of Europe, from where the codfish is being imported, is much more generous. 

Families which are still preserving tradition in Kalij claim that they will teach their children how to do it, and the time will tell if the fish drying will die out or will it be developed. The base is good fish, salt, and the wind, and the rest is little secrets...

Damir Kapov from Betina on Murter, has been drying fish for years for his own needs and for the guests of his restaurants who is working as a fisherman during winter, and a caterer during summer. His restaurant in Plitka Vala in camp in Betina currently has no dried fish on the menu, but there might be some from the next year.

Cats and dogs

- We are drying mostly Sea cats and dogs, but also Hake and squids. Everybody used to try fish in Betina, as well as on entire Dalmatia, especially on the islands. People did that because of need, there were no refrigerators. If there is good wind, it took one week for fish to dry well. It's not good when it's too hard. We always take off skin from Sea cat and dogs in Batina. They dry them with skin on Dugo island and they remove the skin later when the fish is cooked. I learned that way from my father Orije, and he from grandpa Josa - discovers Kapov and adds that men traditionally went into fishing, while the process of working with fish was a more female job.

It is important to have enough humidity in the air, so the fish doesn't go bad. And dried fish can last for months like that. It is usually done during autumn so there is fish for the winter. And when he dries fish today, he puts it in a vacuum and puts it in the freezer, so he is entirely certain it won't go bad. There was no other way to conserve fish if they caught larger amounts they couldn't eat or sell in such a short time.

They would lick their fingers. 

- Despite the need, the tradition of drying fish is not exactly rebuilt. The price is high. You need at least five kilos of fresh fish for one kilo of dry fish. Kilo of fresh sea dog is 6, 7 euros, and during summer up to 9. So it means that if you add your effort, one kilo should cost 67 euros, and that is unprofitable because the codfish, which is being imported from generous northern seas, is selling for 27 euros. It's more profitable for us to sell fresh fish than to dry it - explains Kapov.

Home dried fish has been always prepared in his house and whoever tried it licked his fingers, and admitted that cod fish is nothing like that. Kapov claims that the secret is actually in the quality of the fish, and one should know how to properly put salt in it. Because salt protects the fish from flies as well, writes Jutarnji list.

Foto: Flickr/DaugaardDK

When you skin it

A pharmacist by profession, Ivica Trojanovic works in a pharmacy in Orebic, and he likes to go out to the sea in his 50-year-old boat and to fish, and then to dry the fish. He just dried Phycis. It's his favorite one, and he also likes cat... A few potatoes, a bit of olive oil, white wine, and parsley. He first skins the fish and puts it in salt - just like his mother did and late grandma Karmela - and keeps it in salt for few days. 

He then dries it in a little wooden house, where the wind is flowing freely, and the wire is preventing flies from entering. When it dries he puts it in a paper bag and freezes it. 

- Lifestyle has changed in Dalmatia, some new customs arrived, the technology developed. Foreigners appreciate our traditional cuisine more than we do. A new trend of old ways in preparing food. Cod fish is popular here. I don't know how it reaches these areas or how it lives in Adriatic. It would be good if we returned to our dried fish which is 100 percent ecological and its right there in front of our noses, while the quality import fish from the north seas is really questionable. You can put dry fish on smoke to give it some flavor - Ivica Trojanovic (54) sad who fears that drying of fish will die out.

Foto: Facebook/Ivica Trojanović

Gastro expansion

Company "Smokehouse Bek" from Kastel is the only manufacturer of smoked fish in Croatia, and even though the smoked fish is a bit dried, director and the owner Drazen Zuza said that the smoking and drying are entirely different methods of production. They are smoking tuna, swordfish, mussels, trout, salmon, mackerel, bass, gilt-head bream, octopus...

- The idea was to also do the fish drying. But, the weather is important for the drying, and it is hard to get it because there is no market for fish in Croatia. Croatian dried fish is much more expensive than the cod fish. I hear that people are selling it for 13o euros per kilo. Standard in restaurants has risen. Gastro expansion is on the way, cooks are becoming more educated, traditional meals are being prepared more, guests don't want just some fish sticks or grilled fish. Cooks are looking for more traditional groceries to make the dried fish a Croatian brand - said Zuza.

(Telegraf.co.uk)