Aged sheep-milk cheese from the bura-windswept island of Pag, distinguished by the sage, rosemary and lavender that flavour its milk. Salty, nutty, firm, often compared to Manchego, sliced thin onto pršut boards.
Where to eat it: 4 restaurants across 1 city.
Paški sir has been made on Pag Island for centuries from the milk of the indigenous Paška Ovca breed, whose diet of wind-salted karst herbs gives the cheese its distinctive character. The cheese received protected designation of origin (PDO) and has won repeated international awards. Split's pršut boards always carry a wedge.
Common allergens: Dairy
Tip from the editors. Buy a piece direct from a Pag island producer if you can; supermarket-aged Paški sir is often less than 6 months old and missing the herbaceous bite.
Bokeria's wine room in Split shifts the Old Town restaurant into a wine-bar mood after 22:00, pouring Plavac mali and Posip by the glass into the early hours.
Signature drink: Plavac mali by the glass
Food: Cured meats and small plates from the grill
Order: Postup Plavac mali by the glass with the cured-meat board.
Tip: Sit at the cellar end of the dining room; the by-the-bottle list runs to around 200 Croatian labels.
MoNIKa's Wine Bar on Ban Mladenova in Split's Old Town pours wines from the family's Zrnovnica estate alongside Dalmatian cheese and prsut boards in a small.
Signature drink: Croatian wine flight by the glass
Food: Paski sir and prsut boards with home-baked bread
Order: Monika's wine flight with the paski sir and prsut board.
Tip: The room is small; book ahead for the evening sitting or arrive at 17:00 when the bar opens for the night service.
Uje Oil Bar inside Split's Diocletian Palace is the city's Dalmatian small-plates room, built on olive oil tastings, paski sir and Dalmatian prsut.
Order: Olive oil tasting flight with the cured-meat and paski sir board, followed by pasticada.
Tip: Start with the olive oil flight; the kitchen will then build a small-plates meal around what the morning Pazar yielded.
Sperun Eat and Drink just below Veli Varos in Split is a small-terrace konoba pouring local wine and grilling Adriatic fish daily, kept open through midnight.
Signature: Grilled sardines, Whole sea bass, Grilled squid
Order: Whole grilled squid with chard and potatoes.
Tip: Closed Mondays; book ahead for the terrace in July and August or arrive at 19:00 for a walk-up table.
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