Dried Shark Fish Brudet - a Rare Delicacy of the Island of Ist

The tradition of drying fish on the island of Ist

The custom of preserving fish in these ways was common on the islands, including those in the Zadar archipelago. The islanders were far away from the customers and the market, i.e. the city when there were no boat engines. Besides, in the impoverished island conditions, they had to feed the hungry mouths of many family members. Everything caught in the sea or harvested in the field had to be carefully rationed.

The inhabitants of the local islands practised preserving rich catches of sardines and anchovies by salting them. Still, the more common method of fish keeping and storing was wind drying in a chilly Dalmatian bora. The islanders dried many things: octopuses and squid, so the so-called sea game such as the Adriatic varieties of sharks and catfish, ray was especially prized, and in some places, even a tiny manula was dried. Numerous dishes were created from such stored, dried fish foods, which became a speciality in the rich opus of the island, Zadar and Dalmatian gastronomic traditions.

A typical, small and today sparsely populated island of the Zadar archipelago is Ist. This island is an island only 20 nautical miles away from Zadar. There is only one place of the same name on the island, which has a long and turbulent past full of intriguing legends and an attractive shape dominated by two deep bays, Široka on the south side and Kosirača on the northwest side. The quiet place Ist spread between these two sandy bays, and half a century ago, the area and the whole island became a paradise for boaters, their safe harbour. Also, all the others who want a peaceful and relaxing holiday, crystal-clean sea and sandy beaches, and local dishes, primarily fresh fish, will have their expectations satisfied. 

That said, Ist is surrounded by an array of small islands and rocks, even those that do not rise to the surface of the sea. For centuries, anglers from Ist have been feeding their families with catch from these rich fishing locations, and they also had to know well the techniques of preserving, i.e. drying and salting the surplus catch. Today's professional anglers and those who fish only as a hobby know very well that the fishing "posts" around Ist are rich and give a variety of fish catches. 

"Carruba Olive Garden" - a new look of a well-known restaurant

As Ist already in the '80s of the last century was a popular boating destination, a person from the place, Davor Segarić Karuba, decided in 1987 to open a restaurant and offer the visitors what was in abundance on Ist - good fish in excellent traditional dishes. He named it after his nickname, which he got from the original name of the sweet leguminous fruit carob - "Carruba". 

The restaurant quickly became popular among boaters and other holiday makers arriving on Ist, primarily because of the excellent food and excellent wines. This year, after 34 years of continual work, Segarić decided to cede the restaurant to Toni Brok. Toni is one of the many island residents, who continued the long and honourable tradition of seafaring, an occupation that, for many Ist people since the 19th century, has been the solution to a better life for their families in the impoverished island conditions. Brock was the captain of a super-luxurious yacht for the rich, sailed many seas, and sailed with many celebrities. At one time, the famous rocker Jon Bon Jovi was a guest on the yacht, with whom Captain Toni sailed to Ist to show him the beauties of his island. 

Our captain decided to return to the island and gave the Restaurant "Carruba" a new look and a new name, "Carruba Olive Garden" Restaurant. Not by chance, because along with the existing main restaurant terrace, he made another one with a large grill area and bar, but in the garden of old olive trees. The restaurant was also fitted with a new richly equipped wine shop. In collaboration with his friend Karub, who remained the recognizable host of the restaurant, Toni refreshed and modernized the gastronomic offer and menu.

Large aquariums with live fish and crabs such as lobster at the very entrance to the restaurant make it clear that they will offer what is best on Ist - the best seafood. However, the menu has been expanded to include pasta dishes served daily in the restaurant kitchen. There are also excellent fish risottos, and "Carruba Olive Garden" is one of the few restaurants in the local archipelago where you can get excellent grilled meat steaks—aged for a long time in restaurant chambers.

The aquarium with live fish, and crabs and homemade pasta

So, in "Carruba Olive Garden", they also prepared us excellent homemade tagliatelle in a sauce made of top-quality striped red mullet in a way we had not seen before. The mullet's fillets were chopped, briefly fried in olive oil, garlic and capers, boiled in white wine to be finally flambéed by chef Toni with a few drops of premium cognac. The Italians would say, Perfetto! 

But Toni, Karuba and their famous friend, the goalkeeper of this year's Italian Serie A football champion "Inter" Samir Handanović, have shown that "Carruba Olive Garden" also offers dishes that are inherited from the long island gastro tradition. Samir and his family have been spending summer holidays with their families on Ist. Then he hangs out with his island friends Tony and Karub and learns some cooking from them. And so the three of them prepared for us the old speciality of the island of Ist - brudet of dried shark fish. 

Small species of Adriatic sharks are caught and dried by skilled Karuba. He explained the drying technique. This fish is best captured in late winter and early spring. When caught, it is cleaned off the head and entrails and wholly covered with a considerable amount of salt in which is stored for three to four days. Then it must be thoroughly washed in the sea and hung to get dried in the sun and the bora, which often sweeps fiercely through the local area. At night, the fish is removed from the wooden racks because in no case should dew or rain fall on it.

Before preparing the brudet, the dried pieces of shark fish must be soaked, dehydrated and softened. Then, with a little warm water, the inedible skin is removed, so the chopped pieces are placed in the pan on the red onion previously sautéed in olive oil. With pieces of fish in the pan, Toni and Samir put both slices of potatoes and chopped garlic, and in the end, they sprinkled everything with the inevitable good white wine and a little water. A tablespoon of tomato concentrate will also give a warm colour and full taste. After an hour of cooking, that was it - an excellent and unique fish brudet that has fed generations of the Ist residents for many centuries. 

We enjoyed the dried fish brudet and the Maraština of the Zadar winery "Fiolić". Let your ship's navigation system take you to the Ist and the Carruba Olive Garden Restaurant so that you, too, can enjoy the flavours that you will rarely find anywhere else.