Honey, the Superfood of the Entire Planet, is Hidden in the Rustic Medovka Cake

It was also the original civilization’s sweetener, a superfood that, among other things, supplied the user with much-needed energy. Even today, it is contained in many dishes in the kitchens of intelligent and creative chefs.

Bees, beekeepers and honey from the Zadar region 

In good years' harvest, about 200 beekeepers in the Zadar area discreetly and diligently produce several hundred tons of raw honey of the highest quality. A good or bad harvest of honey depends, of course, on the fickle weather - neither too much rain nor months without it are beneficial to bees and their production. No matter how much bees might produce, and beekeepers separate from honeycombs, the Zadar area honey is always top class. Of course, the reason for this lies in the quality and diversity of plants in the Zadar region, rich bee pasture that allows beekeepers to move their hives to nearby islands. They may also take them to the vast plain of the Zadar hinterland, Ravni Kotari and Velebit, a mighty mountain that hides thousands of plant species, among which a good portion of them are endemic. Thus, the splendour of the Mediterranean and Dalmatian flora, its smells and aromas are transformed into dense honey gushes.

Photo: Anete Lusina

Beekeepers and their bees start looking for sage pollen on the famous islands of the Kornati already at the beginning of spring. In the summer, they will move to the mainland to pollinate Christ's thorn. Finally, at the end of summer, they will finish their journey on Velebit, feeding on heather and maple trees. Of these types of plants, bees will give us a variety of honey of different tastes and health properties. Honey bees will also collect sap and pollen from the flowers of many other plants such as dandelion or rosemary and thus create unique blends which do not lag behind the varietal types of honey in quality.

Photo: Anete Lusina

It is best to buy honey from verified Zadar beekeepers and in herbal pharmacies or at the city marketplace. However, concerning the offer of industrial honey in shopping centres, it is best to be sceptical. If that is the only remaining choice, it is good to believe that the higher price will ensure quality. 

 "Coffee & Cake" - a modern version of the old Zadar cafes 

The young Zadar caterer Šime Šokota delighted his guests with his honey cafe - ''Coffee & Cake'' in the very centre of Zadar, even to his surprise - with a dessert with honey - Medovka cake. He included it in his restaurant's offer because it fit perfectly into his concept of a modern cafe, which combined this hospitality form with a health food restaurant. In this place, healthy and original snacks and drinks are offered with coffee.

Šokota was bothered by the traditional café's disappearance before the invasion of small Italian-style coffee bars, which appeared first in Zadar in the second half of the last century. In them, the relaxation of the cafe disappeared, and the coffee was drunk quickly, off your feet. Another story is that Zadar's coffee bars have meanwhile become pubs. Although already from the 17th-century, cafes were irreplaceable as places to meet, socialize, read newspapers, have long conversations, and ritual slow-drinking coffee, when the legendary Kalelarga "Central" cafe closed down, as such, they have almost wholly disappeared from Zadar. 

That is why Šokota created the "Cofee & Cake" story, an elegant space with a great interior and a small art gallery. The new cafe became famous for the great coffee and derivatives, excellent cakes from its own production, and later for a fantastic early brunch offer. Šokota and his team follow local traditions in some dishes. For breakfast, they will offer fried eggs with pečenica, steaks of smoked and short-dried pork chops, but also, for example, acai bowl, thick smoothies made of several types of fruit, and, of course, acai berries and peanut butter.

With such an offer, "C&C" won over mainly younger customers and vegans at both his locations, one in the centre and the other in Franje Tuđmana Street in Zadar's eastern part.

Discreet taste of simple Medovka 

Of course, honey had to find its place in such an offer of excellent and healthy superfoods in "Coffee & Cake". It hid, among other things, in the rustic cake of our grandmothers known as Medovka. The cake has Russian roots, but it is not surprising that its recipe has reached Dalmatia - honey is a global value used in all parts of the world. Medovka was reconstructed and is now constantly prepared by the main confectioner of "C&C" Kristina Jurešić Heđi.

Medovka is a simple cake that can be made quickly. Kristina first made honey-based pancake-shaped discs. She mixed honey with butter, eggs and finally added a little flour and whisked them all together. Then she made the mixture into slightly thicker pancake-like discs and baked them. The filling is also straightforward - it's a mix of cream and sugar.

That is why Medovka is light and refreshing, and its taste is dictated by honey. All other ingredients are mild, soft in the mouth, and the long after taste is initially that of honey. It will undoubtedly be enjoyed even by those who do not like the "heavy" taste of raw honey and do not even want to taste it as such. However, that is their huge mistake, so Medovka is an excellent way to correct such a mistake.