Perhaps the word "DOMACI"does not mean a thing to you, so I guess I must explain that first.
Domaci simply means (traditionally) home made.
Here in our little village (and many villages of Croatia) much of the food still is grown, harvested, prepared ánd eaten in a traditional way.
In other words, people still take pride in making their own.
Wine, olive oil, rakia (pure booze, as a basis for orachovic, travarica and more), all year around home grown vegetables, fruits, potatoes, chickens, eggs ánd.........pigs for a lot of excellent home made meat products in different styles.
Well, let me tell you a bit about those pigs.
After summer has gone people buy one, two or more pigs, depending on the price and the space to keep them.
Long before those pigs arrive figs are harvested and sun dried, and pig food is growing in the gardens.
Those pigs get the very best they can get, all of it organic, in order to put them on a healthy and tasty diet.
The main goal is not to get bigger or fatter pigs, but to get bétter pigs with bétter meat.
All life ends some day, also for happy pigs, as on a cold December day they are butchered, after which the real deal starts, preparing a wide variety of delicacies.
The famous prsut, that delicious salted, smoked, dried, ripened ham for instance, and believe me, you will never ever taste any better than those hams made by local people.
If you have the luck to have good friends in Croatia, ask thém for a slice of their domaci prsut, and you'll never think again the prsut sold in stores is the real stuff.
It would take a while to explain what comes from a good pig, simply everything is used, processed into many delicious sausages, bacon, pancetta, and even the bones are smoked/dried, to provide a basis for delicious food.
AND.....it's all free of chemicals, tenderizers, preservatives and antibiotics.
Which is a good thing to think about when you buy your daily portion of polythene wrapped food.
On the picture my very own ingredients for a great stew, all of it organic, all of it as tasty as hell, nutritious and nót malicious !!!
Food is, and should be, more than filling your tummy.
Domaci is the answer !
Still, I am not a "green fanatic", I drink my coke, I smoke, and on hot summer days the airco does its job, but a lot of things are truly an improvement of our life and a pleasure to learn.
And learn we do, évery day, from all good people around us, and from giving it a try.
So when visiting Dalmatia, try to experience the Zagora (the hinterland), as in those small villages it's still happening, passed on by proud people.
If thinking about a better diet, think about better food first.
And that's not coming from large factories with clever marketeers.
Don't eat LESS, eat BETTER.
