Do You Speak Zagreb Food Lingo?
The influence of German language on Zagreb was quite strong and long-lasting in the past. As it was inside the huge Habsburg Monarchy for centuries, where Vienna was the big capital and role-model, part of Zagreb's heritage derives from Austria. Zagreb dialect owes a lot to the German language, which was the official language of the Empire. Also, Zagreb either directly copied or adopted and modified many dishes coming from the Austrian cuisine. Taking the historic background into account, no wonder Zagreb's gastronomy still uses plenty of names and terms originally coming from German language, although a bit localized, sometimes beyond recognition. They are specific to this area, often incomprehensible or just funny to people from other Croatian regions. I want to share my random top ten list of Zagreb culinary terms coming from German (Austrian dialect, to be precise) and still in wide use today.
- Grincajg
Coming from the word Grünzeug, grincajg is one of the basic items in home cooking, denoting a pre-prepared bunch of root vegetables and greens without which no vegetable consommé or broth soup is possible.
- Cušpajz
Zuspeise is the root word, meaning simply a side dish, something eaten alongside the central part of the meal. For us, it is now the generic term for a rich and thick vegetable stew usually also containing some kind of meat. Typical examples are leek or kale stew served with faširanci (minced-meat patty) – which is yet another German-derived word, coming from the verb faschieren, to mince.
“Typical cušpajz stew for the winter/fall season.” Image credit: Taste of Croatia
Schneenockerl is an Austrian dessert, little dumplings made of whipped egg whites, floating like snowballs in cooked egg yolk, vanilla and milk cream. Eaten either warm or cold, it's quite old-fashioned now, the dessert of our childhood.
As the root Eingemachtes suggest, it’s “all in one” – something between a soup and a stew, made with chicken giblets originally, now also with pieces of chicken meat, root vegetables and little dumplings. Definitely among the top of Zagreb’s comfort food.
“Ajngemahtec, more than just a chicken soup for the soul.” Image credit: Taste of Croatia
- Ajnpren
It's probably harder to recognize the original word – Einbrenn. Which is the good old roux. Modern cooking considers it outdated and not so healthy, so it's less used these days, giving place to other thickening methods. Ajnpren juha, or roux soup, used to be a simple soup „for the poor“, but nowadays it's mostly prepared when you catch a stomach bug.
Gleichgewicht means „equal weight“ or „balance“, and precisely explains the philosophy of this dish. It is a simple pound cake made with the identical quantity of eggs, butter, sugar and flour, usually with seasonal fruit, like apricots, berries, cherries, apples, whatever is fresh and in season.
“A somewhat upgraded version of the glajhgeviht cake, with plum sauce.” Image credit: Taste of Croatia
- Krmenadla
Obviously deriving from the word Karmenadel, this means a nice peace of meat with a rib, like a cutlet, usually pork or veal. Another flashback from my childhood days – every proper summer barbecue just had to include a few of kremenadli.
- Abšmalcati
The verb abschmalzen means to toss in fat, to fry in a special way. Actually, I can only think of green beans (abšmalcane mahune) as something we like to abchmalz – first they are boiled, and then sauteed with breadcrumbs in lard.
- Žemlja
Yes, that's our twisted pronounciation of Semmel, or bread roll, traditionally a simple one made with white flour, shaped like a coffee bean. A special kind of roll is called Kaisersemmel originally (also known as Vienna roll), and kajzerica in Zagreb. It's round and has typical cuts on top, dividing it into five segments, considered to resemble a crown.
- Gablec
A localized version of Gabelfrühstück, which translates to „breakfast eaten with a fork“. This is actually an affordable and filling lunch for the working people, eaten between 11 am and 1 pm, and equivalent to what they call marenda on the coast.
“Thick kale stew with faširanci – it’s a gablec classic.” Image credit: Vinodol FB
Header Image Credit: Image credit: Cooking Croatia
Author: Morana Zibar / Taste of Croatia