Perhaps the most iconic traditional food of this region, the dish known in modern Croatia as kaštradina was called castradina Schiavona during Venetian times, the same as the basket-hilted schiavona sword. It is thought that both earned their name from the soldiers from Dalmatia and the Balkans who fought bravely to protect the Venetian lands. Anyway, kaštradina in the Zadar region is usually smoked mutton or goat meat cooked in sauerkraut. You’ll find it in the hinterland and on Pag island in winter, the time when fresh meat is scarce. It’s a warming dish that is great washed down with strong local red wine