YES, WE do have great football players the world won’t stop talking about, but we also have some absolutely brilliant dishes everyone should try at least once. If you haven’t had čvarci, you haven’t lived.

But, there’s even more. These are the ten dishes you absolutely need to try.

1. Sarma

A traditional Croatian dish made of ground meat, rice and spices, wrapped in cabbage or vine leaves and boiled.

2. Brudet

One of the most popular dishes of the Mediterranean cuisine. Slow cooked sea fish, onions, tomatoes, wine, and herbs. It is usually served with polenta.

3. Štrukli

Štrukli are a dish from the mountainous Croatian region Hrvatsko Zagorje, and along roast turkey with mlinci, it’s the most popular dish of that region. Štrukli are prepared with freshly made dough and a creamy cottage cheese filling. They can be baked or boiled.

4. Grilled fish

If you visit Dalmatia, you must try this simple, yet amazing dish. The fish is prepared on a previously heated grill and it’s drizzled with olive-oil-drenched rosemary while being grilled. After it is grilled, while still hot, it’s seasoned with a mixture of home-made olive oil, vinegar, finely chopped garlic, salt and pepper. Traditionally, you will drink wine with it.

5. Čvarci

The favourite snack of many, this delicacy is made of fried pig fat. They are kept dry, and served as a snack or as an appetizer with bread.

6. Octopus salad

This salad is ideal for hot summer days and it’s very simple to make. It’s made of octopus, onions, parsley, olive oil, and vinegar.

7. Roasted lamb on the spit

Lamb on the spit is a Croatian favourite. If you don’t like lamb, you can have roasted pig, a similarly prepared dish made of pork meat.

8. Pašticada

Pašticada is a traditional Dalmatian dish made of beef round, and its preparation takes quite some time. The meat needs to be marinated in vinegar or wine and then cooked for several hours. It is usually served with gnocchi or noodles.

9. Peka

Peka is an iron lid or a "bell" which is put over a pot and then covered with hot coal, which makes it into something like a slow-cooker. You can use this to prepare various kinds of meat, such as lamb or pork, but also octopus, potatoes, and other vegetables.

10. "Black risotto"

Black risotto is one of the best known Dalmatian delicacies and the specific black colour of this dish comes from cuttlefish ink. It’s made of rice, cuttlefish, cuttlefish ink, onions, garlic, red wine, and olive oil.