‘You’re going to Samobor? You could attempt kremšnita,” my Dubrovnik mates informed me earlier than I set off on my journey north. “However I’ve already had kremšnita in Zagreb,” I informed them. They do it higher in Samobor, they insisted. I wasn’t about to get embroiled in a battle of the cream desserts in a area the place Croatians, Slovenes and Austrians all wish to have a good time their very own variations of this decadently thick, fats custard slice topped with puff pastry and icing sugar. However I used to be greater than keen – completely satisfied, even – to comply with everybody’s solutions to attempt kremšnita in Resort Livadić’s Kavana Livadić, in Samobor’s principal King Tomislav Sq., a mere half-hour drive west of Zagreb.
It lived as much as the hype – delicately wealthy, creamy and with a lightweight contact. After spending a number of weeks in sun-bleached Venetian Dalmatia, amid the scrubby, limestone Dinaric Alps, I had swapped empires and was firmly in Habsburg Croatia. Right here, in Zagreb County’s prettiest city, good-looking baroque homes in pastel shades of buttery yellow, apricot and pistachio, festooned with stucco, line slender King Tomislav Sq., whose umbrella-shaded cafe terraces have been full of Croatians getting their morning repair of espresso and chatter.
The plush inexperienced Samobor Hills overlook the medieval city, by which the Gradna – half river, half stream – flows and ripples beneath picket bridges adorned with flowers. One among these bridges led to the onion-domed church of Saint Anastasia; one other, with a fairytale picket roof, took me to one among Samobor’s many inexperienced areas, dotted with free crimson deckchairs, which had the slogan “Volim Samobor” (“I like Samobor”) written in white. In entrance of them, the stately former residence (now the town’s museum) of one among Croatia’s foremost Nineteenth-century composers, Ferdo Livadić, added to the air of light refinement, of tradition worn evenly. It was simple to visualise Livadić entertaining his creative mates, together with Franz Liszt, on this august setting.
In addition to the swish architectural legacy of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, this rolling inexperienced panorama is crisscrossed with forested trails, notably inside the Žumberak nature park, about 16 miles (26km) west of Samobor, the place weekenders from Zagreb come to hike and bike in woods of hornbeam, oak and beech with effervescent waterfalls. Not having time for a full-on hike, I might nonetheless drive to Potočna dolina Slapnica, close to the Vranjak waterfalls, and scramble up the trail beside a sequence of cascades every extra spectacular than the final.
Nearer to Samobor, the hilltop ruins of Okić fort rose to just about 500m above sea stage, one of many best-preserved romanesque fortifications within the nation. The Mongols couldn’t defeat it, nor might the Ottoman Turks. Sadly, it defeated me after I tried to hike to the highest. Not realising there was a more recent, simpler path, I ended up on one which was little else however vertical tree roots. With a newly healed ankle and no cellphone sign, I assumed it unwise to proceed. However it’s on my checklist for subsequent time.
A a lot simpler path to take was alongside the Plešivica wine street, the place greater than three dozen wineries have been scattered on a heart-shaped route between the village of Plešivica (10 miles south-west of Samobor) and the city of Jastrebarsko. In a harmonious panorama that would out-Tuscany Tuscany, vineyards clung to steep slopes between forested hills, many producing the glowing wine Plešivica is famend for. I met Martina and Krešimir Ivančić, whose ancestors got a noble title and coat of arms by the Austrian empress Maria Theresa in 1759. The griffin on the household crest impressed the title of the Griffin Winery, which took place when a Hungarian rely gave them a licence to plant a winery in 1773.
Martina took me to the coated patio of a picket hut above the vineyards, a suitably bucolic place to style a sublime and evenly fruity glowing rose comprised of crimson portugieser grapes. We carried on within the extraordinarily fashionable tasting room, the place plates of cured meats and cheeses accompanied glasses of full-bodied chardonnay.
I used to be additionally provided copanjek, a skinny savoury pastry pie of cheese and greens. “They’re very transportable, so employees would take them to the winery,” Martina informed me. This appeared just like the winemaker’s model of rudarska greblica, which I had tasted that morning within the village of Impolite, a few 10-minute drive west of Samobor, and preferred a lot I needed to have two. Crammed with cheese and walnuts, carrots or greens, these was made by the wives of Impolite’s long-gone miners. They’re such an integral a part of the area that they’ve their very own competition each July and have been given EU protected standing. At Pekarnica Nikl, in Impolite, I met Jelena and Andrejas Nikl, the one authorised bakers of this a lot adored speciality. Jelena acknowledged the accountability of maintaining this custom of rudarska greblica, particularly with the paperwork that got here with authorized safety – however, she mentioned, it was value it.
Throughout the Samobor Hills, folks have been holding quick to their heritage and infusing it with life. The Korak household is without doubt one of the most illustrious, with its Michelin-starred Korak winery and restaurant in Plešivica. Not a whiff of Michelin stuffiness or pretentiousness right here, simply the fourth and fifth generations of a household producing very good wine and making stunning meals in a serene setting dealing with the vineyards. Brother Bernard is chef (and has labored with Massimo Bottura of Italy’s Osteria Francescana and Ana Roš of Slovenia’s Hiša Franko); sister Vera is entrance of home; and oldsters Velimir and Mirjana have a tendency the vines – even the siblings’ grandparents are nonetheless making cheese and pršut (prosciutto) for the restaurant.
Bernard grows as a lot as he can – the remainder comes from native producers, together with the farmer whose pigs are consumed scraps from Bernard’s kitchen. And if it’s not in season, it’s not on the plate. My June go to rewarded me with a truffle tagliatelle, and clams and inexperienced beans in a caviar sauce, amongst different scrumptious dishes in a five-course tasting menu at €118 (a really affordable value, and in step with the area’s total decrease costs).
I might solely think about what delights autumn will deliver, particularly throughout the annual Wine Days competition in Jastrebarsko from 25-27 September. The Samobor Hills will probably be teeming with autumn truffles and mushrooms, and welcoming the change in season one of the best ways they know – on the plate.