Slow food the Slavonian way

by croatiaweek
November 30, 2020
in Food & Wine

OPG Kereković (Photo credit: Ena Kokanović Nagy)

Do you love Slavonian ham, sausages and kulen, the Brod-Posavina County Tourist Board presents a slow food experience on authentic Slavonian farms

If you are a declared gourmet, Slavonia is your paradise, especially in winter when the finest specialties are prepared from the famous black Slavonian pig, the popular “fajferica”. There, breakfast turns into lunch and lunch into dinner.

From the early morning, you will not resist sausages, hams, and small snacks like cracklings, you will continue with hearty Slavonian soups, then sarma, baked sausages, and blood sausages, you will sweeten with delicious donuts… and then dinner, and all over again.

OPG Kereković (Photo credit: Ena Kokanović Nagy)

The Brod-Posavina County is full of romantic rural estates, and for a real slow food experience in the Slavonian way, OPG Kereković in Živike in the Oriovac area is a must-visit.

There they are, real masters when it comes to traditional Slavonian pig slaughter. In their yard at the end of November and the beginning of December, cracklings are melted, lard is prepared, sausages and blood sausages are stuffed, fields are cut for fine Slavonian ham…, as was once done in the villages around Brod and Gradiška.

OPG Kereković (Photo credit: Ena Kokanović Nagy)

They will be happy to share a traditional recipe with you, and they don’t mind if you join them in preparing these prized seasonal ingredients. You can also enjoy the fragrant Slavonian brandy in the ambient courtyard dominated by a barn and an old barn with a cellar where you will be offered Graševina and Kulin. You can also sleep in an apartment or an old room in a barn, and the braver ones can sleep on hay in a barn.

OPG Kereković (Photo credit: Ena Kokanović Nagy)

OPG Kereković (Photo credit: Ena Kokanović Nagy)

“The dishes we offer, such as kulen, sausages, bacon…come from our own production. With us, you can ride, ride in a carriage, fish in a pond or sail on the Sava. On our property, we have black Slavonian pigs and eight Lipizzaners, and we serve typical Slavonian dishes in two spaces. If it is a larger group they are in the one for about two hundred people, and if it is a smaller group then in the one for forty people,” points out Ivan Kereković, the owner of the property who is especially proud that all family members are involved in the work on the family farm.

OPG Kereković (Photo credit: Ena Kokanović Nagy)

“In the picturesque villages of Brod-Posavina County, the tradition is still cherished, which has become an integral part of our tourist offer on family farms. Today more than ever modern travellers are looking for new places, wanting to experience a new kind of adventure, avoid big crowds, take a break from interacting with nature, discover a local story that includes local specialties, and enjoy a relaxed, leisurely holiday. This is exactly what we offer them on more than twenty family estates that are ten kilometers away from each other,” points out Ružica Vidaković, director of the Brod-Posavina County Tourist Board.