Sliced pasta (spaghetti, tagliatelle, fettuccine of various colours and flavours) and stuffed pasta (ravioli stuffed with truffles or sheep cheese or goat cheese and olives), tortellone (4 cheeses, asparagus and spinach, ricotta and spinach, prosciutto), Korčula (Žrnovnica) macaroni, Istrian fuži, pljukanci, šurlice and sauces with pasta, were prepared for journalists in Zagreb in the Cheese bar of Srđana Jevtić, promoter of Croatian gastronomy and indigenous products and finalist of the first season of the cooking show Masterchef.
The secret of the taste of Aurelia fresh pasta produced by the company "Naše klasje" is hidden in ingredients of controlled origin without preservatives: "semolina from home-made Baranja durum wheat, eggs, sheep cheese, asparagus, Dalmatian prosciutto, truffles, spinach, chard and olives. The taste, texture and smell of the pasta show that the difference between fresh pasta, whether sliced or stuffed, and dry pasta is great" said the owner and director of the company "Naše klasje", a producer of fresh pasta Aurelia, Zoran Šimunić.
"The basic food for Aurelia pasta is durum wheat, which Naše klasje buys from domestic producers. Durum wheat is rich in protein. This type of wheat contains as much as 50 per cent more protein than regular wheat, but is also rich in carbohydrates, essential minerals and amino acids. Seven years ago we started a pilot project of planting durum wheat in Baranja and we managed to achieve that today Naše klasje meets its needs with Baranja durum wheat. We connected Baranja's Josip Šipoš with Slovak experiences and we included Dario Novoselović, a scientific advisor of the Agricultural Institute from Osijek, who monitored the results of the pilot project", says Šimunić.
In designing the Aurelia brands, the main inspiration was certainly the Mediterranean diet. The benefits of the Mediterranean diet come from the balanced consumption of a variety of foods, primarily of plant origin: fruits, vegetables, fiber and starch-rich pasta, and olive oil and fish. There are various theories about the origin of pasta: one is that the Greeks brought pasta to Italy, but according to some sources, Marco Polo brought pasta to Venice from China,"said Zoran Šimunić.
The reason for the journalist's tasting of Aurelia pasta dishes was the opening of a new fresh pasta store at the central Zagreb market Dolac. Famous Croatian architect Kora Demel Zadro has been hired to design and decorate the new store. She has numerous successful projects of private and public spaces throughout Croatia as part of Studio Demel, and one of the last is the Hawaiian restaurant Poke Poke in the center of Zagreb.
Architect Kora Demel revealed the inspiration for decorating the Aurelia store and how she connected the idea of tradition and fresh food: “The story of decorating Aurelia on Dolac begins with my great-grandmother's apron, which we keep for festive occasions. The motif of richly embroidered silk flowers has always been magical, so the opportunity to process and apply the authentic motif from the women's costume of Zagreb County as wallpaper was irresistible. The chosen motif of autochthonous folk costumes conveys the idea of the survival of the traditional values of our region, where fresh food continues to be a key ingredient of everyday life.
"We are proud that through the development of the concept and strategy of designing the Aurelia retail space, we combine authentic local traditional motifs of folk costumes with fresh Aurelia food, which is produced in Croatia from Croatian raw materials. Dolac is the most important Zagreb market. For several years, in addition to being a place of purchase for the people of Zagreb, it has become an attractive lure for all foreign and domestic tourists. Guided by the vision of markets in many other European cities, such as Barcelona, we believe that Dolac deserves to become an attractive gourmet place, with the new point of sale to make a step in that direction", said Zoran Šimunić.
Recordings: Marko Čolić