Zagreb Kitchen Class - Štrukli and Beyond

The Zagreb Kitchen Class focuses on the Continental Croatian cooking tradition distinct from the seafood-centric cuisine of the Dalmatian coast, offering a three-hour hands-on workshop in a renovated 19th-century Zagreb townhouse kitchen in the Gornji Grad (Upper Town) district of Croatia's capital. The session centres on three dishes central to Zagreb's culinary heritage and the broader Zagorje-Slavonia inland cooking tradition.

The class opens with Štrukli, Zagreb's most iconic dish and a holder of UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage status. Participants learn to prepare the cottage-cheese filling and to roll the dough by hand before folding it into the characteristic shape; the class produces both the boiled version (kuhani štrukli) and the baked version (pečeni štrukli) topped with sour cream, allowing a direct comparison of the two preparations. The host explains the dish's origins in Zagorje farmhouse kitchens and how it became the defining comfort food of Zagreb restaurants throughout the twentieth century.

The second preparation is kremšnita, the custard-and-whipped-cream vanilla slice that Zagreb's cafés have elevated to an art form, with a notoriously competitive baking tradition across the city's historic pastry shops. Participants prepare the choux pastry and vanilla custard from scratch. The third element is kulen sausage from Slavonia, Croatia's eastern agricultural region: the host demonstrates slicing and cold presentation of the paprika-cured pork sausage, accompanied by commentary on the distinct culinary identity of Slavonian versus Zagorje regional cooking.

The session concludes with a tasting of all prepared items accompanied by herbal tea or loza (Croatian grape brandy). Group sizes are capped at eight participants. The class runs in English and is designed for all skill levels; the Štrukli dough requires some physical effort to roll but no specialised equipment. Participants take home a recipe card set in English.