Gastro Tour of Zadar’s Advent Huts | Part 1

A fusion of culinary creativity and small-scale architectural inventiveness, these huts will be serving festive specialties and unique cocktails in the coming weeks - some beloved and traditional, others fresh and modern. In several installments, we bring you an overview of this year’s Advent gastro-nomic offer.

We began our tour on the ground level, right next to the main stage on Petar Zoranić Square. Gas-tronomy has always been - and will remain - one of the most important hallmarks of any Christmas market, including Zadar’s. At the first eight huts whose holiday food offerings we had the chance to explore, we saw and tasted a variety of delights. From the widely known and always popular fritulas by Aunt Nada, to fried carbonara, and the essential festive burgers and sausages. The offer is rich and diverse.

“For the first time, we are part of Zadar Christmas Market, where we are offering dishes created specifically for the holiday season, and testing them for future gastronomic ventures we have in mind. Everything we serve is homemade—from the bread to the meat—with our family’s signature. Alongside our already well-known Škarburger, we’ve prepared several new ideas made just for this period: Vishalica, Karalepina, Slimbasica, Gurmazalica and Mazalica, as well as two types of our homemade fritulas,” said Hrvoje, who runs the hut Kod Dragana, dedicated to their most loyal guest Dragan, whom they say inspires them because he knows how to enjoy every moment. That is also the message of their hut: relax and indulge.

“We balance between good and even better!” Hrvoje added, while at their two sister huts, Kod Rođee and Lavova kućica, we learned about Dubai fritulas and spaghetti pancakes. These are expe-rienced Christmas-Market-hut-veterans, whose offer is based on a mix of popular gastronomic trends and essential festive classics.

“Among our special items this year are sliced pancakes, with which we want to attract guests through an unusual presentation, as well as Dubai fritulas with pistachio cream, chocolate and real kadaif,” explained Matija, who hopes that their offer will delight even the most selective guests.

Topla braća and Varosh are two brotherly huts offering a wide selection of hot and cold drinks and cocktails.

“We wanted to stand out primarily with the interesting name of our hut, since this is our first year at Advent in Zadar. We’re optimistic, as six long weeks lie ahead in which we have to prove ourselves. As for food, we decided on just three dishes: Omiški soparnik, as a traditional Dalmatian specialty, and sandwiches with pulled chicken and pork,” said Antonio and Boris. Lively in both food and drink, they admit they are eager to find their place on the city’s festive gastro scene. Their colleague Toni from Varosh aims to attract visitors with cocktails and mini pancakes topped with creative sauces.

“Unlike our colleagues at Topla braća, who have their signature spice mix for mulled wine, we offer cooked Cannella—a Croatian product—and cocktails based on wormwood liqueurs,” Toni pointed out.

Veterans of the sweet Advent offer who have long delighted Zadar’s residents come from the hut Nadine fritule i palačinke. Aunt Nada’s homemade recipe combined with various toppings is the formula that has been winning over sweet lovers for years.

“We are proud of our homemade recipe, which is the key to our popularity,” said Pavla, adding that they offer something for everyone, along with mulled wine and warm apple juice for the youngest.

“The quality of our fritulas and pancakes has something to do with Aunt Nada’s birthday, which falls on the Feast of Our Lady of Health—or as we like to say, Our Lady of Fritulas,” Pavla noted. Last year, their hut received two awards: first place for the best mulled wine, and a silver medal for the best sweet dish.

Slavonska čarolija is a hut well known to Advent visitors from the very beginning of the event, as this Slavonski Brod family based in Zadar offers dishes infused with Slavonian tradition every year.

“We are proud of our Slavonian specialties, because we enjoy combining modern cuisine with the Slavonian spirit. This year we highlight fried carbonara, ćevapčići in a Slavonian coat, and a sand-wich with lamb pašticada,” said Anđela. Alongside their Slavonian dishes, they also take pride in their hot bećarac cocktail made from cooked rakija.

Ivanka from the hut Plan B offers a wide variety of sweets, both traditional and modern, aiming to delight the youngest Advent visitors and all sweet lovers.

“Arancini, limuncini and caramelized almonds are here for fans of traditional treats, along with gin-gerbread cookies that I decorate myself, heart-shaped licitar cookies, and colorful lollipops for chil-dren. The stall is colorful and cheerful, but also homemade,” Ivanka concluded.