Re: History of Absinthe and Travarica

Hey folks,

Just noticed that my blog entry was linked here and came to join the
4.5 year-old fun.

I returned to the US from Croatia back in mid-September. I lived and
worked as a chef through the summer of 2007 in a small fishing village
called Marina on the Dalmatian coast. I also spent 5 months in Croatia
in 2006, living primarily in Zagreb, but also travelling throughout
the country and working briefly as a chef on the Peljesac peninsula,
across from the isle of Korcula, not far from Dubrovnik. I have
drunk(!) travarica and many other Balkan spirits/fruit brandies in
many forms. I suppose those are my qualifications for giving an
authoritative answer on the subject...

Travarica does exist in many forms. Essentially, the word is a
diminutive form of 'trava' which technically means 'grass', but can
mean something like 'herb'. In the strictest sense of the literary
dialect of the Croatian language, though, 'biljka' is the word used to
refer to herbs. On the Dalmatian coast, however, where dialect and
life are far more laid back than in Zagreb, fewer words are used to
refer to a larger number of things.

Travarica is considered a Dalmatian concoction throughout the former
Yugoslavia, but it is made in the home just about everywhere
throughout Croatia and the other ex-Yu republics. One need only throw
a bunch of aromatic herbs into a bottle and then fill 'er up with
grape brandy. Technically, one should not use grappa. Grappa is, as
the previous post mentions, produced from grape pomace - the stems,
seeds, skins and other detritus left over from making wine. Lozica
(also called groždica outside of Dalmatia) is pure grape brandy.
That's what you need for a proper infusion of travarica.

My neighbors in Marina and around Zagreb make their own wines and
brandies, and so subsequently they make their own travarica. None of
them use wormwood. I don't believe anyone in Croatia uses wormwood in
their travarica. I've never heard of it being included. So, to answer
your original question, Richard: No. Travarica is not in the absinthe
family. It contains no wormwood. But technically speaking, absinthe is
in the travarica family.

I've written a fair amount on Croatian and Balkan food at my culinary
blog, http://articlesofmastication.com, and I'm developing a website
specifiaclly dedicated to Dalmatian gastronomy at http://dalmatiancooking.com
if any of you are interested in further information. I'll be updating
more frequently soon. I've only just now completed another year of
furious travelling and research, and life is gradually returning to
normal. I look forward to sharing more information on these little
known culinary idioms. Incidentally, those who are REALLY interested
in Dalmatia and its cuisine are free to contact me about the
gastronomy tour of Dalmatia I've designed in conjunction with the
luxury travel agency Secret Dalmatia (http://secretdalmatia.com). I'm
able to offer a lower promotional price for the tour than what's
offered at Secret Dalmatia.

Thanks for checking out my sites. I just found this group, and I like
what I see. Perhaps I'll chime in from time to time...

Pozdrav,
John J. Goddard





On Mar 3, 9:58 am, Christophe Bachmann <Chris_...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Richard Wright a écrit :> As the OP, let me say (4.5 years later) that I never did get an answer
to my original question. Is the Serbian/Croatian drink 'Travarica'
within the range of variation of other European drinks called
'Absinthe'?

Looks like some Travarica could resemble in some ways Absinthe, but
AFAIK Travarica are a whole range of brandies infused with herbs.

Fromhttp://www.johnjgoddard.com/2008/01/13/travarica/:
In Dalmatia, the king of all rakijas is travarica (TRA-va-ree-tsa), a
sophisticated spirit acclaimed as a superb digestive aid and tonic. It
is quite simply an infusion of grape brandy and a variety of herbs, and
there are as many recipes for travarica as there are people producing
it. Some contain as few as 10 herbs, while others can contain 20 or
more. Travarica often contains rosemary, chamomile, lavender, rose hips,
matgrass, juniper, thyme, currants, mint or sage, but the list of
possible additions is practically endless.

No special mention of wormwood, the essential ingredient of absinthe,
and that seems corroborated from other sources all around the web.

HTH
--
Greetings, Salutations,
Guiraud Belissen, Château du Ciel, Drachenwald,
Chris CII, Rennes, France

.

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