Konzum

I decided to wander up the road to the intersection of the road into Makarska and the Croatian Coast road, mainly because I knew that there was a sports store there and thought that I could perhaps get a new running top (believe me, I’ve tried in lots of other places to find one) to replace the raggedy old thing that I am handwashing every day. Before you get too excited, that’s a no go – there were tennis dresses, lots of football (soccer) clothes …. I told you, no-one runs here.

But one of the other shops in the little industrial area is a Konzum – a huge one, a bit like a warehouse. You can buy a huge range of things there under the auspices of ‘supermarket’, and I spent a good forty minutes wandering around. You need a weed-eater

or a coffee machine, it’s there. I wanted to buy so many things to try, but was aware that I would have to carry it all back to the apartment, a reasonable walk with an unreasonable weight to carry in the heat. One of the surprising things (and only because my frame of reference is NZ Supermarkets) is that you can buy spirits there (yes, I was hanging around in the alcohol aisles)

– every conceivable type of spirits including all of the perennial favourites - Cherry Brandy, Walnut Brandy, Rakija. And in case you were going to ask, yes, I found a bottle of the beautiful white wine that I tried at the Wine Expo – very exciting – it’s in the cupboard to be opened when Danica and Samuel arrive here.

There were two and a half aisles of laundry washing products – now that says something, and the something is that clean clothes are pretty important here. So often I walk past people and they smell delicious. When I get my laundry back from the Praonica (who turns out to be a cousin) I want to just sit there and inhale. I don’t know which product she uses, but it will have been in that aisle somewhere amongst the myriad of other flavours that were there. My clothes smell divine!

Half of one freezer shelf was stocked with frozen strukli – I was reading in the Croatian version of Cuisine Magazine (Ice & Pice- both c’s are ‘ch’ sound) that because these are so difficult to make, concessions are made- where other ‘prepared foods’ are looked at with mistrust (especially by your mother in law), frozen strukli are ‘acceptable and not perceived to be a result of insufficient attention’. I’m sure the Croatian women would say Amen to that – they are busy enough as it is than to take time to prepare this labour intensive food! The pastry has to be pulled out very thinly over a tablecloth… and has been known to reduce a cook to tears of frustration in the effort. The origin of this national dish is thought to be in the hearths of Austro-Hungary.

Check out the range of honeys you have to choose from - and not a vegemite, marmite or peanut butter in sight!
I did splash out and buy a new dzezva – coffee pot- (the ‘dz’ make a ‘j’sound like in ‘jazz’) because the one that I have in the apartment nicely makes one cup of coffee – and I have impending guests! (The dzezve are the ones with the wee handles out the side - you pop them on the gas hob...)