Hail the dessert!

Located 25 km from the Croatian capital Zagreb, Samobor is a quaint little town whose delicacy, a custard cream pastry, is internationally renowned 
Hail the dessert!

HYDERABAD : If you are passing through Samobor, you should not miss tasting the local delicacy Samoborska Kremsnita… people often travel long distances to savour the melt-in-the mouth dessert, the friendly hotel manager advised, before we left Zagreb. He also taught me to pronounce it correctly “cream shneetha” dropping the last two syllables softly. I repeated the word quietly the next 30 minutes: all the while imagining the creamy softness of the dessert melting in my mouth as I whispered, “Cream s-h-n-e-e-t-h-a” till I got it correct. By then we reached Samobor, an ancient town located only twenty-five kilometers away from Zagreb, the capital of Croatia.

In this quaint little town with a small population that bumps into each other, our spirited guide Silvio conducted the tour, often stopping to greet the butcher, the grocer, the baker and the watchmaker. He reminded me of Topol in “Fiddler on the Roof”… singing, whistling, but no, he didn’t converse with God.

Flowerpots hanging from balconies greeted us everywhere and cyclists smiled at Silvio, giving us the way. Women at the souvenir shops posed willingly, without any fuss. We admired the Baroque architecture and churches dating back to the 13th century. Medieval to the core, the ancient town that has recently celebrated its 776th birthday is said to be one of northern Croatia’s best preserved country towns, surrounded by astounding nature and history sites.

Apart from churches and chapels, Samobor’s urban setting includes a number of 19th-century buildings and romantic bridges crossing over Gradna Stream. The town offers several walking tours you can follow on your own to discover places such as Samobor Museum (filled with exhibits from the town’s history), Liberation Park (dedicated to Croatian warriors who died in the Croatian War for Independence) or Anindol Promenade (a pretty walkway on the slopes of Tepec Mountain).

We visited the local museum, where the lady curator, who knew Silvio rather too well, dismissed him politely and took charge. With her cute broken English that brought a smile to your lips, like the ‘man of the calf’ (bull), went through the anthropological, geological, social sections of the museum in a breeze and left us with Silvio again.

Our lunch at “Samoborska Klet” was presided by the high-spirited Silvio (he was at the peak, filled to the brim with real spirits): singing, whistling, and reminiscing of the two world wars. Born in the quiet Samobor, he considers the city folk as well as his own town youth noisy (blissfully oblivious of his own noise) recalling a quieter town in his childhood. The pretty waitress recommendation a grilled fish for me: fresh catch from Sava river just as the townspeople thrive on fresh catch from the Adriatic Sea or the sweet water trout.

I regretted ordering an additional dish that sounded exotic but turned out awful, a runny, mashed spinach with potato (a sad cousin of ‘palak alu’) that almost ruined my crispy grilled fish. But Silvio made up for the fiasco with his peppy anecdotes about his wife (a devotee of Sathya Sai Baba) who made a number of visits to Puttaparthi in Andhra Pradesh. She is now a vegetarian and deeply into spiritual pursuits. Accompanying her, he too visited India a few times; fell in love with ‘chai’ and now drinks only Darjeeling tea.

We took a woodland stroll along the gurgling Gradna stream, where young and old couples sat on benches letting the time pass by serenely and unobtrusively. Some were local while some happened to be day tippers from Zagreb. They came equipped with fishing rods and photo cameras; youth were playing football half naked (hot weather), most families were swimming and bonding, lovers were locked in kisses. Lined with rose bushes, the paths along the stream were leading up to the hillside park of Anindol before darting through the forest towards the dramatic ruins of Samobor’s 13th century castle. 

I was told that songs could be heard in late summer, as residents visit lush vineyards to pick grapes, while winter provides a thick layer of white snow over the surrounding hills.
After a full day’s waiting and anticipation, the best part of the trip materialised. The overpoweringly romantic “Kavana Livadic”, that serves the best Samoborska Kremsnita / Kremsnite in town is a pretty place filled with flowers, colour, gaiety, cheer and happiness. Overpoweringly romantic, one can’t but wonder if the townsfolk have discovered the secret to happiness through simple things in life!
Giggling waitresses brought soft and crumbling Kremsnita – it’s a custard cream pastry, light as a feather and finished with powdered sugar. 

As I clicked many pictures of the prized commodity, holding it against pretty flowers, they gave appreciative glances and whispered to each other about the aesthetic photography and the honour that is accorded to their Kremsnita.I savoured every mouthful, admiring the landlady’s sense of beauty for creating such an idyllic ambience. And of course, the charming town of Samobor, for giving birth to a delightful dessert!

(The author is a documentary filmmaker and travel writer; she blogs at jayaprataptravelandbeyond.com)
 

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