Zadar - the City Where Bluefin Tuna is the Most Delicious in the World

Why do Japanese people love Croatian tuna? 

There might have been three reasons: a desire to return to their homeland, the fact that the Adriatic Sea was calmer and safer than the dangerous Pacific off the coast of the Australian continent, or that the Atlantic bluefin tuna caught in the Adriatic and the Mediterranean was the highest quality tuna of all, and due to the quality and fat levels of the meat most suitable for top sushi and sashimi. Anyway, Vidov and Šantić founded "Kali tuna", the first Croatian tuna farming company, and from the cage near the island of Iž at the end of 1996, they took out the first 34 tonnes of farmed tuna and sold them to Japan at such a high price that was inconceivable in Croatia at the time. 

Tuna fish was popular and appreciated in Dalmatia, and especially in Zadar. Occasional catches of fishing boats when small whitefish nets were replaced with tuna catching ones were more than enough for the local market's needs, and a tuna tinning factory was opened. At that time, tinned tuna was almost as well known as freshly grilled tuna steaks or umido tuna (tuna cooked in tomato sauce, actually a particular version of brudeto).

The popularity of Adriatic tuna, the demand for it and the prices on the Japanese market where it was sold at auctions at Tokyo's famous Tsukiji fish market triggered off the establishment of several more companies for farming, more precisely fattening tuna. 

In addition to Kali tuna, whose owner is the Japanese manager Jiro Kambe, today there are four of them operating on the Adriatic, three of which are in the Zadar area. Therefore, the statement that the highest quality tuna in the world is grown right here, near Zadar, is quite correct.

The arrival of the famous Nobu Matsuhisa, owner of the world's most renowned chain of sushi and sashimi restaurants and bars, and his partner, even more famous Robert de Niro, in Kali in 2018, to personally arrange the delivery of Adriatic tuna to their restaurants around the world is just a confirmation of this product top quality. Today, farmed tuna is one of the most successful Croatian export projects. 

At the end of May, a one-month tuna catch begins with cage seine nets. Atlantic bluefin tuna in the Adriatic is constantly present simply because it is in continuous motion, in search of food, but also the cleanest sea because it consumes vast amounts of oxygen in its travels. It does not spawn in the Adriatic but comes here to enjoy the abundance of sardines and anchovies. For cage farming, fishermen catch schools of tuna with specimens weighing eight to 12 kg. International agreements introduced strict tuna fishing quotas, so in 2021 in the Croatian part of the Adriatic, the quota was 950 tonnes of tuna, most of which was for cage farming - 883 tonnes. 

It will be raised in cages for about one and a half years, during which time each tuna will grow up to six or more times in size. In the cages, it feeds primarily on the fresh catch of small oily fish, the same sardines and anchovies that made her come to the Adriatic and why its meat is so superior, fatty and desirable.

Tuna connects Japan and Croatia 

It is interesting how tuna has become a medium for rapprochement between Japan and Croatia, especially Zadar. In 2014, gastronomy and tuna led to the launch of an exclusive and permanent tourist and gastronomic several-days event - Tuna, Sushi & Wine Festival, initiated by the Croatian-Japanese Friendship Association, organized by the Zadar Tourist Board and supported by many state and local institutions, especially the Embassy of Japan in the Republic of Croatia. Over the years, the festival has become more than a tourist attraction and a gastronomic event. It is here that the residents of Zadar learned about new ways of preparing and consuming tuna and even discovered why it is so highly valued in the world. 

Although the inhabitants in Zadar will never give up on grilled tuna or the one prepared in a sauce, many of us also took a liking to the dishes of Japanese gastronomy, new flavours and ways of preparation. 

For this reason, the Zadar tourist entrepreneur Tomislav Fain came up with the idea to open the first Zadar sushi bar, more precisely a sushi bar and a restaurant of Asian cuisine, which he located in the very centre of old Zadar and named "Maguro". Maguro is the Japanese name for tuna, and under the brand "Toro Cro Maguro", "Kali tuna" sells its tuna worldwide. And the chefs and the restaurant "Maguro" prepare sushi and other tuna dishes with exclusively Adriatic farmed tuna, from the cages of "Kali tuna"… 

Hawaiian Poke the Zadar way ?! Why not! 

It is interesting that, unlike most other sushi restaurants in Croatia, Maguro does not have a single Asian or Japanese chef or sushi master. Nonetheless, with its choice of dishes and their performance and quality, it has reached the level of authentic Asian excellence. The menu, i.e. the selection of dishes and recipes, was set by one of the best connoisseurs of Asian cuisine in Croatia, Vid Nikolić. He trained several young Zadar chefs to prepare the best sushi rolls and other dishes with tuna and other fish and dishes from the different national gastronomies in Asia.  

Robi Skoblar, chef of Restaurant "Maguro" and sushi master Ivan Bašić from the attractive menu with meat, fish and vegetarian Asian dishes chose three with tuna, and they presented their approach and knowledge of this type of gastronomy. The young master Ivan wrapped the simplest hoso maki-sushi. He daily makes about 15 different types. However, this simple, one in which small akami steaks are alone, with no other ingredients, wrapped in rice and seaweed leaf, rolled, and served with wasabi sauce and pickled ginger, actually best highlights the superior taste and quality of the fresh tuna meat. 

While Bašić was rolling these simple sushi rolls, his colleague Robi prepared a Tuna steak for us in the way of this restaurant: he "drowned" the meaty akami steak in black sesame seeds and seared it briefly on a frying pan. He would later serve it in a stunning creation with a quickly blanched spinach topped with soy sauce, sesame oil, water and dashi stock, and rice paper chips. He complimented the dish with katsu vegetable sauce, sprinkled with pansies and served with wasabi mayo sauce, to which he added lime juice. 

Hawaiian Poke was the third dish and the most attractive dish from the Maguro sushi bar workshop. On a base of cooked rice, the young master Ivan arranged a rich combination in which the main stars were cubes of fresh fatty tuna mixed into a poke marinade with chilli, soy sauce and lime. He then added shrimp salad, fresh soybeans, avocado slices, pickled ginger, algae salad… 

The richness and variety of flavours blended brilliantly into a beautiful summer and refreshing pleasure in which discreetly prevailed the flavours of the sea depths brought with it by the superb Adriatic tuna. 

Yes, you might say: well, such a beautiful dish, but still a dish from some distant Pacific archipelago, can't be a Zadar delicacy ?! Of course, it can, because the tuna is ours, Adriatic, Zadar, and even in someone else's good recipe always – out of this world !!