Croatia named among top 20 cuisines in the world
- by croatiaweek
- in Food & Wine
Punjene paprike (Photo: CroChef/Zagreb Tourist Board)
The TasteAtlas world food atlas has published its annual list of the best cuisines and dishes worldwide.
According to TasteAtlas, the rankings are based on 477,287 ratings for 15,478 dishes and ingredients in their database.
For the first time, Greece has claimed the top spot on the list, highlighted by products such as Aegean pistachios, olive oil from the island of Finiki, Kalamata olives, Santorini fava beans, and Cretan oranges.
The second cuisine to “try in 2025” is Italian, while Mexico takes third place.
Croatia achieved an impressive 17th position.
Recommended Croatian dishes include Slavonian kulen (4.6), Zagorje mlinci (4.6), Pag lamb (4.6), grilled fish (gradele) (4.5), and Istrian pasta (fuži) (4.5). The numbers in brackets represent the ratings given to these foods by TasteAtlas visitors.
Kulen (Photo: Frka/CC BY-SA 3.0
Top Croatian gourmet producers include Aura Distillery, Oleum Maris olive oil, Rossi Distillery, Orna olive oil, and Gligora Cheese Dairy.
Noteworthy local and traditional restaurants are Bistro Esplanade in Zagreb, Konoba Vinko in Konjevrati, Hotel Dunav in Ilok, Mala Hiža in Mačkovec, and Restaurant Johnson in Mošćenička Draga.
Turkey with mlinci
Five Croatian regions among the world’s top 100
No fewer than five Croatian regions feature among the top 100 food regions in the world.
Istria ranks as the 30th best food region globally, followed by Dalmatia at 34th, Northern Croatia at 58th, the Primorje and Lika region at 76th, and Slavonia and Baranja at 83rd. Italy’s Campania takes the top spot.
Zagreb is ranked 59th among the best food cities globally, while Split comes in at 72nd. According to TasteAtlas, the world’s best food city is Naples.
No Croatian dish among the top 100 traditional dishes
Unfortunately, no Croatian dish made it into the list of the world’s top 100 traditional dishes. The number one spot is held by Colombia’s Lechona, a roasted pig stuffed with a flavourful filling.
The pig is typically filled with rice, peas, onions, garlic, spices like cumin, and occasionally pieces of pork. It is then slow-cooked for up to ten hours until the skin becomes crispy and golden brown.
(Photo: Taste Atlas)
All the awarded dishes, ingredients, cuisines, cities, and regions can be found here: www.tasteatlas.com/best/
