The 15th Winter Fair and Čvarakfest was held in honor of “Baranja truffles”!

I love old customs, and I like to go to such events. That’s why I embarked on a long journey to Baranja this Saturday. I have never visited this part of Croatia, so my excitement was even greater because on November 30, in the town of Karanac in Baranja, the 15th Winter Fair and Čvarakfest took place.

Karanac, Photo: Adria fun

In this region, the cracklings are called a type of “Baranja truffles”, so I was excited to see how they prepare it. The weather helped me: a cold but sunny winter morning dawned, four to five degrees, just as it should be at the end of November.

Crowds were already visible on the approaches to the venue, and as I passed parked cars, I caught sight of registration plates from all over Croatia, but also from nearby Hungary. What about cars… There were also organized bus arrivals, and the fairground near the church of St. Donatus was filled with thousands of people.

Apparently, a large number of people also liked these events, when it was not difficult for them to travel a few hundred kilometers to enjoy the tastes and smells of the varied offers of almost sixty local producers of domestic products, mostly from Baranja and Slavonia family-owned businesses. Organizers from the Tourist Board of Baranja and the Association of Keepers of Old Crafts from Karanac say that visitors love coming to this ethnic village so that they can make purchases and fill their shelves in the pantry for the whole winter.

Winter fair and čvarakfest Karanac, Photo: Adria fun

So let’s see what’s there… Already at the very entrance to the fair area, the hunting society was making stew made of deer and boar meat in two cauldrons, so I promised myself that I would try this when it was ready.

Winter fair and čvarakfest Karanac, Photo: Adria fun

It wasn’t easy to get to the stands because of the crowd, and taking pictures was limited because of that as well, but I indeed got lucky when it came to various homemade cakes…

Of course, dried meat products (kulen, bacon, sausage, ham) were everywhere. The price of 15 euros per kilogram was no obstacle to buying in bulk, so next to me I listened to a lady from Zagreb cheerfully ordering real Slavonian bacon and saying… “give me three pieces… we’ll finish one even before we get to Zagreb”…

Other products such as wine, rakija, juices, cheeses, pastries, honey, ground red pepper, but also woven baskets, wooden kitchen utensils, souvenirs, and antiques are sold at the Winter Fair.

Winter fair and čvarakfest Karanac, Photo: Adria fun

In addition to family-owned products, you could also enjoy the traditional Baranja specialties of shepherd’s pie, beans from a clay jar, kotlovina, roasted sausages, and carp on forks, which attracted my attention and the desire to taste a little bit of everything.

Winter fair and čvarakfest Karanac, Photo: Adria fun

It is a sin to come to a fair like this and not eat anything, almost like going to Rome and not seeing the Pope. However, in the end, I decided on the hunter’s stew from the beginning of this post… and I was not wrong…

Winter fair and čvarakfest Karanac, Photo: Adria fun

However, the main star of the Winter Fair was the cracklings, which were sold for 20 to 30 euros per kilogram! In the middle of the fair area, cauldrons were lined up in which about fifteen teams were melting pork fat to turn it into the specialty of the day – cracklings!

Winter fair and čvarakfest Karanac, Photo: Adria fun

It wasn’t easy, the fat had to be constantly stirred so that it wouldn’t burn, and curious people like me and other journalist teams were constantly visiting the contestants looking for the best shots, so in that cacophony of sounds, smells and crowds, we certainly only made their job more difficult.

When the cracklings were ready, the three-member jury began the hard work of tasting all of them and then deciding which one was the best.

Winter fair and čvarakfest Karanac, Photo: Adria fun

In the end, the jury declared that the best cracklings were melted by the Osijek-Beketi team of Šuška Association, the second place was given to OPG Hrvoje Kraljak, and the third place was won by the guests from the Zagorski čvarak team, which came to Karanac from Veliko Trgovišće.

Šuška Association, Photo: Adria.fun

The creator of the whole story is Vladimir Škrobo-Bajo, who told the assembled journalists that this year’s Winter Fair and Čvarakfest are the most visited so far and that visitors have a rare opportunity to see the entire preparation process and then buy cracklings right after.

Winter fair and čvarakfest Karanac, Photo: Adria fun

Satisfied and full of impressions, I set off on my way home with the promise that I would return next year.

This publication was co-financed by the Fund for the Promotion of Pluralism and Diversity of Electronic Media.