Can you imagine a more perfect break from a hard day’s work or a rest after a sightseeing tour than sitting back in our picturesque baroque main square and enjoying a nice cup of coffee with homemade cakes and ice cream with the refreshing views of the green slopes of the Požega Hills? Ah… Honestly, that just might be one of the main reasons why the people here love their life.
If you are not visiting Croatia for the first time, you must have noticed before that Croats as well as locals here do much more than just drink their coffee. They usually have coffee over a nice, sometimes even ardent, conversation with their friends and colleagues, very rarely sitting alone.
The list of coffees in our coffee houses and pubs can, however, become a bit confusing, mostly because some types of coffee are named differently here than for instance in the menus along the Adriatic Coast. That is mostly because the way coffee was introduced to Croatia since the 18th century from Italy across Turkey or as it is the case in Požega and the rest of Croatia’s interior, by observing the 19th-century coffee culture in Austria and Vienna with just a splash of Ottoman way of enjoying every sip.
The most popular type of coffee order in Požega and the rest of the Slavonia region is the “produžena kava s mlijekom” which is a longer espresso with some milk. In Zagreb and west Croatia however, to get the same type of coffee, you’ll have to order a “kava s mlijekom” (“coffee with milk”) which is not to be confused with “bijela kava” in which case you’ll get a cup of milky latte.
If you get invited to coffee at your Croatian friend’s house, then you should be ready for a bit “blacker” version of the aforementioned espresso called “Turska kava” (“Turkish coffee”). You can always add milk and sugar and sometimes it will even be served with a side snack of Turkish delight.
Cakes, pies and other sweet pastry which you’ll find in local patisseries and bakeries are mostly inspired by Croatian traditions and influences from the neighbouring countries. The most popular are the cakes that you’ll find in German and Austrian traditions, like the Schwartzwald and Sacher cakes and those with a typical Ottoman-Turkish flavour such as the baklava. Typical for the lands of the former Yugoslavia, in Požega’s and other Croatian patisseries you’ll also find the delicious creamy “Krempita” (egg custard pie) and the pretty sweet “Šampita” (meringue pie). A nice cup of coffee will go well with both.
Typically Croatian cakes and pies such as the Makovnjača (poppy seed roll), Orahnjača (walnut roll), Cheese, Apple or Sour cherry Strudel you’ll mostly find in one of the many bakeries, in restaurants and if you’re invited to your Croatian friend’s home.
To fully experience Požega’s “sweet scene”, we bring you the list of the most popular patisseries:
Slastičarna Dolce Vita
Address: Ulica Sv. Florijana 15, 34000 Požega
Web: hr-hr.facebook.com/dolcevitapz
E-mail: tdreznjak@gmail.com
Tel.: 00385 (0)99 275 9000
Patisserie Aroma
Address 1: Ulica Stjepana Radića 39, Požega
Address 2: Trg Sv. Trojstva 5, 34 000 Požega
Web: Slastičarnica Aroma
E-mail: amir.aliti74@gmail.com
Tel.: 00385 (0)34 271 806
Patisserie Ivančica
Address: Ulica Kamenita Vrata 2, Požega
Web: Slastičarnica Ivančica
E-mail: slasticarnica.ivancica@po.t-com.hr
Tel.: 00385 (0)34 273 824