One of the ten reasons to visit Osijek on the very last day of September was the morning feast at Osijek’s main market, colloquially known as “pija”. That weekend, two cooking shows took place, one on Friday (titled “The best fish in the East”) and another on Saturday (themed “Where are the black pigs going”).
It is the first event in a series of manifestations of the 4th HeadOnEast, a two-day festival of hedonism. On this occasion, the organizers, Osijek-Baranja County and the Tourist Board of Osijek-Baranja County, offered the best of Slavonia and Baranja to all hedonists who were headed to the east of Croatia this weekend.
At the market in Osijek, famous chefs Marko Alilović, Darko Kozma and Tomislav Đukić, with the joint assistance of students from the Hospitality and Tourism School Osijek, prepared gastronomic specialities with ingredients from local producers and those with labels “Hrana s hrvatskih farmi i polja”, a reliable direction to the domestic product. The co-organizer of the event was the Croatian Agency for Agriculture and Food (HAPIH) which is responsible for managing activities related to the promotion of the voluntary certification scheme “Hrana s hrvatskih farmi i polja”.
However, to fully enjoy the splendour of taste and smell, food must also be safe.
“Food has been linked to hedonism since ancient times. The Romans taught us that. However, if food harms us, then the pleasure disappears. Precisely with this aim, today and tomorrow, in the heart of Osijek and at the market in Osijek, in the panel titled “Knowledge to safe hedonism” and the culinary show with our best chefs, we show the citizens what are the most common mistakes they make when handling food in the kitchen and then, as a result, safe food becomes harmful to their health”, said Sara Mikrut Vunjak, assistant director of HAPIH. Along with her, participants of the panel were Andrej Kristek, the director of the Hospitality and Tourism School, Silva Wendling, the head of the Administrative Department for Agriculture and Rural Development, and Ivana Jurić, the director of the Tourist Board of Osijek-Baranja County.
Advice on safe food handling and preparation is also one of the main messages of the campaign “EU Choose Safe Food”, launched by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). For the second year in a row, HAPIH is the national ambassador of the campaign in Croatia. The show had an educational character. In a relaxed but informative conversation with the event moderator, Dražena Dragušica, Jasenka Petrić from HAPIH’s Centre for Food Safety gave practical tips on food safety. Maintaining clean kitchen surfaces, separating raw from cooked food, cooking food thoroughly and storing it properly are the basic rules that we can apply in our households, to prevent the spread of disease and protect our loved ones from food-borne diseases.
Consumers can find more information about food hygiene and other food safety topics on the campaign’s website.
