Honey from Golden Slavonia is the king of holiday cuisine

(Photo Borna Subota/ TZ PSŽ)

Have you tasted top quality honey from Croatia’s eastern Požega-Slavonia County? It is an indispensable food in modern cuisine, just one teaspoon a day strengthens the immune system, and in Europe, malt oak malt is highly valued.

From top-notch marinades to traditional gingerbreads, each of these recipes will be given a special flavour. It will turn almost any dish into a ultimate pleasure – it will enhance the taste, give it a special crunchiness, it is an excellent food for sweetening, and, for example, it will keep the cake fresh for longer. Honey is that secret ingredient, an ally of the most famous chefs who – when it comes to quality – do not agree to compromise.

In Požega-Slavonia County, they boast top quality Slavonian honey. Whether it is made of acacia, linden, chestnut, floral, its specific taste delights, so it will immediately become a valued food in your kitchen, and it is a real ace up your sleeve in the winter part of the year when colds are common. 

Honey from ‘Golden Slavonia’ should be found in every household, and if you like to cook, let it be an inspiration for delicious dishes, perfect for your holiday table. Whether it is local specialties or international recipes, the pleasure will be the same.

(Photo Borna Subota/ TZ PSŽ)

Not for cooking, but it is an exceptional guardian of health

It is slightly darker in coloUr and less sweet than other honeys, so it is not used in the kitchen, but its quality is unmatched. The top honey from Papuk, Krndija and Dilj Gora ranks us among the honey elite of Europe. Bees create it from the honeydew of malt oak. True connoisseurs emphasise its superior quality in nutritional and medicinal terms.

Due to its high level of iron, Medun honey is recommended for anemics, it is very rich in easily absorbing minerals, and it contains higher amounts of antioxidants, amino acids and enzymes. In addition to sucrose, fructose, glucose it contains a higher amount of high sugars that are very easily absorbed by the body and have a prolonged effect. One teaspoon a day maintains health and strengthens immunity.

100 plus honey producers

It is very simple to get hold of a jar of Slavonian honey There are a large number of honey producers in the area of ‘Golden Slavonia’, so the Požega-Slavonia County Tourist Board has singled out a list of associations with 100 plus honey producers which you can find on its website 100 plus proizvođača meda u Zlatnoj Slavoniji

The European Union has also recognised the quality of Slavonian honey and protected it with a prestigious label of origin. 

Three recipes using Slavonian honey 

Holiday gingerbread

(Photo: Unsplash/Dilyara Garifullina)

Ingredients: 1 kg flour, 200 g ground walnuts, 250 g sugar, 0.5 kg honey from Slavonia, 4 eggs, 140 g butter, ground cinnamon, cloves

Preparation: mix all the dry ingredients, then, little by little, add eggs, honey and butter. Knead the dough from everything and leave it to stand for half an hour to an hour in a cool place. Then knead the dough well once more, roll it out and shape it into biscuits with the help of different moulds. Bake the gingerbreads at 200 degrees until golden brown. 

Crispy pork roast with honey

(Photo: Pixabay)

Ingredients: 1.5 kg pork leg, 2 lemons, 2 cups of white wine, three tablespoons of Slavonian honey, two tablespoons of cognac, 50 grams of butter, salt, pepper, rosemary

Preparation: season the meat with rosemary, salt and pepper. Add two tablespoons of oil and the juice of one lemon to the wine, pour over the meat and leave it to stand for one hour in the fridge. Before baking, put pieces of butter on the meat and bake at 240 degrees. When the meat turns brown, reduce the temperature to 200 degrees. Pour the sauce over it from time to time. Towards the end, pour over the meat with a sauce prepared from Slavonian honey, the juice of another lemon and cognac. Leave it to bake a little more. Serve it with a side dish of your choice.

Glazed salmon with honey and ginger

(Photo: Pixabay)

Ingredients: ½ cup of honey from Slavonia, ¼ cup of soy sauce (less salty), a piece of fresh ginger (approximately 1.5 cm, thinly sliced), 1 clove of garlic (grated), 4 salmon fillets, 2 cups of cooked brown rice

Preparation: mix Slavonian honey, soy sauce, ginger and garlic and heat everything in a small pot over medium heat. Sauté for a few minutes, stirring often. Remove from the heat and cool the marinade to room temperature.

Pour the cooled marinade over the fillet and let it stand for 10 minutes. Then strain the marinade into a small bowl and then boil the liquid (without pieces) for another five minutes on medium heat. Arrange the salmon fillets in a baking dish and bake for ten minutes at the highest temperature. When they are done, pour a few tablespoons of the marinade over them and bake for another minute or two until they are done and glazed on top. You can serve them with salad or rice.