Who doesn't like barbecue? Is there such a person?
Really...even if you are a vegetarian or a vegan, there is something you like to "burn" on that favourite grill of yours.

Aaaaaah, that smell! What is there about barbecue that is so appealing? I mean...I even tried to grilled cabbage once...cabbage! And it was good! Not as good as a steak, but it was good.

Being the "islander", during summer vacation I always have opportunity to have encounter with various sea creatures.
One of previous summers we had the idea to try to grill some more exotic sea food.

CRAB

Crabs are one of most popular sea foods, especially big ones (lobster, king prawn, Norwegian crab...) However, even smaller species can be amazingly tasty, especially when grilled.

Local Croatian name for this crab is "Kosmej" or "Žbirac" (lat. Eriphia verrucosa). Usually not bigger than a fist (although larger specimens can reach up to 300g) this strong crab has a powerful pincers, so if you are not careful enough you can have a nasty gash when pinched by it!

This crab is very popular with domicile population on the Adriatic coast, and it is served as a delicacy, just as a treat. However, this crab is usually boiled in salty water just for a few minutes. Our experiment with grilled crabs showed to be a bingo! They were delicious!

BARNACLE

As weird as it might sound, it is another amazing treat. Basically it is a sea snail (lat. Patella Caerulea) which sticks to a firm objects as rock or boat hull. It is picked with a knife or another sharp object and usually boiled in water or used for pasta "Frutti di Mare". Our job was to get it grilled, with just a drop of oil and another drop of lemon juice. You can guess the result.

SHELLFISH

Shellfish are famous delicacies. However, some species are less renowned then the others. Smooth clam (lat. Callista Chione) is a sand clam with rather hard shell. It is very famous for making souvenirs due to its beautiful, varnished shell.

It is not less valuable for eating as well. The only catch is they need to be kept in bucket of seawater for several days to expell sand from inside. Of course, water needs to be changed twice per day. Of condiments we used only salt, pepper, olive oil and parsley.

FISH

There is no need to spend superfluous words on fish. It is proper, healthy and tasty sea food. Fish like Gilt-head Bream (lat. Sparus Aurata), Sea Bass (lat. Dicentrarchus Labrax) and Blacktail Bream (lat. Diplodus vulgaris) are culinary institutions.

Fish can be bought from fish market, but there are lots of doubts about it; where and when was it caught, how was it stored and is it wild or farmed. Farmed fish is also very well for cooking, however it is much fatter than wild caught. Since we catch fish ourselves, there is no doubt about quality.

VEGETABLE

As opposed to cooked, grilled vegetables is another dimension! There is always place for one slice of grilled zucchini, eggplant or a mushroom. Bon Appétit!

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All photos on this page are @originalcontent by @stalexmkl.

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