The Best Palačinke Is...
A crepe by any other name is a palačinka, which sounds like pah-luh-CHING-kuh in English. I know it’s a mouthful for a simple, perfect item but once you get used to it, the word rolls off your tongue just as it does for millions of children all over the world.
Palačinke translate into “pancake” and they are at some level, a pancake, except they are extremely thin and flat when you compare them to what we call a pancake in the USA. The beauty of these culinary cuties is not their fluffy nature, but in the way they sizzle up. Unlike the American pancakes, which are wonderful in their own right, these pancakes are more about the pan and less about the cake. The batter is kept thin so it spreads and swirls into a whole. They’re like the ones they make in France, but generally with less butter, at least that’s true here on the coast. This land doesn’t support cows so the butter, if any, is found in the batter not the pan.
So with legions of men and women making these daily for centuries you might want to know, who makes these pancakes the best? Well, the answer is always the same, it’s your Baba. Baba makes the best palačinke because she makes them in seconds and fills them with whatever you want. She makes them when you’re sleepy in the morning and when you’re hungry from swimming in the afternoon.
Now your Baba might fill them with jam or Nutella, or she might sprinkle them with sugar. She might fold or roll your griddle cake when she serves it. She might even let you help her in the process. Anything is possible with a staple food item that serves as well as a breakfast item as it does as a dessert. Yet I have to admit I was pleasantly taken off course when I found a palačinke dish that surprised me recently. It did not come from a Baba or even my mama. It came from a restaurant, from a tiny place on a tiny island.
At this small but powerful place known as Oliva restaurant, you can easily spot the coordinates of the restaurant on the outside. You can check them if you would like. It takes a ferry to get here, and probably a taxi, and a flight before that. If you’re already on the Croatian coast you can drive your own car until the last leg when you too will need to abandon your car and find a nautical lift, since the best palačinke that aren’t made by your family exist in this place, and it is a trip.
Oliva is the type of restaurant that achieves cult status for many reasons. The location is where for generations townspeople gathered to mill and press their olives into oil. The inside still holds the stone basin and mill. The current owners are delightful and real. They take reservations and the boaters who pass through the harbor for shelter, often come ashore for a taste of the local cuisine, and an easy time. As is the case around here, most languages are spoken, including English.
At Oliva the tourists and locals alike find treats with a modern flavor, an open mind. Everything at Oliva is curated and yet it’s still really easy. It’s easy to laugh and to smile, and it’s easy to find a palačinka that is not covered in sweetness. In fact, it’s their palačinka with black truffle honey that I now crave on a daily basis. It’s kind of sweet, kind of savory. It has shaved walnuts along with the honey. It’s not for kids, and that’s unusual in restaurants these days where you almost lose the purpose and flavor of palačinke. This is to say that the role of palačinka is as a wrap as much as a pancake. It’s more of a utility and a way of making something that serves in minutes to do anything you need; as a way to settle stomachs as well as minds.
If you find yourself at Oliva, if you’re that kind of person who will travel far for a small type of treasure, then I highly recommend you get your maps and charts out and set your course for the island of Ilovik. Marko and the gang will be sure to greet you with lots of fine dishes, but save yourself room for these palačinke. You can get the ones with marmalade, Nutella or ice cream but if you’re up for trying something that features the nearby bounty of truffles found in Istria, this is the one for you.
Last note, before I forget, this palačinka goes great with coffee or with wine. Not every pancake can do that.
