Croatian Cuisine!

Serves four

Created by Mario Čerhak, owner and chef cook at the restaurant Marcellino in Zagreb

Ingredients:

1 whole squid (ca. 600-800 g)

300 g cod filet (for a more intense flavor, use dried cod, deboned and marinated in water)

100 g homemade mashed potatoes

8 potato slices, baked in olive oil

8 thin slices air-dried ham

parsley purée (one bundle of parley pureed with a hand blender)

paste made of strained dried black olives mixed with olive oil

400 ml fish stock

200 ml white wine

2 sprigs of fresh rosemary

2 shallots

1-2 garlic cloves

1 whole lemon, cut in half

1/2 lemon, sliced

1/2 orange, sliced

1 tomato, sliced

1 small bundle of parsley (for the marinade)

10 fresh bay leaves

100 ml extra virgin olive oil

freshly ground coarse sea salt and pepper

Preparation:

Squid

Boil the squid with the two lemon halves and a pinch of salt in 3 liters of water until tender. Remove the pot from the heat and allow to slowly cool. Remove the squid and cover in plastic wrap, and allow to rest for a few hours in the refrigerator.

Cut the squid in serving-sized pieces and place in a marinade composed of 30 ml olive oil, the lemon, orange, and tomato slices, the bundle of parsley, and a sprig of rosemary. Cover again tightly in plastic wrap and allow to rest in the refrigerator again for several hours.

Put the squid, still in the plastic wrap, into warm (but not boiling) water and slowly heat. Remove squid from wrapping, and then bake in the oven with the marinade and a splash of olive oil at 220 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes, until it turns red.

Note: Vacuum wrapping the squid in plastic wrap intensifies the flavor of the marinade. The squid may also be marinated in a pot and then, together with the marinade, carefully warmed in a double-boiler.

Cod Creme

Finely chop the shallots and sauté in olive oil until translucent. Dice the cod filet, add to the shallots, and sauté briefly. Add 200 ml fish stock and continue sautéing for 3 minutes. Then add 1 or 2 garlic cloves and a sprig of rosemary and simmer for 1 minute. Remove the garlic and rosemary. Add the mashed potatoes, heat briefly, and then puree with the hand blender. If desired, press the mixture through a sieve. Stir in a little butter to taste.

Bay leaf vinaigrette

Heat 200 ml fish stock, white wine, and a bay leaf. Boil lightly until reduced in half. Add the parsley purée, remove the bay leaf, and mix well. Add salt to taste and strain.

Serving suggestion:

Place pieces of squid over a thin layer of the cod creme and garnish with two fresh bay leaves per serving. Serve with two baked potato slices wrapped in ham as a side dish. Drizzle a few spoonfuls of bay leaf vinaigrette over the dish and accent with olive paste and a thin drizzle of olive oil.

Bon appetit!