Ancient Romans used to call the variety of Istrian culinary resources- "royal". The Istrian cuisine is based on seafood and fruits of the rich Istrian red soil: simple natural ingredients and a lot of imagination - a spoonful of olive oil, a touch of Mediterranean herbs, a pinch of flower and salt and few drops of water - make wanders even for the most sophisticated palates.

Delicacies worth tasting are the Istrian prosciutto and sheep cheese, the traditional manestra (vegetable and smoked meat casserole), fuzi (variety of home-made pasta) with a free-range chicken, or gnocchi with a deer ragout, sausage in wine, pasutice (home made pasta) with stock-fish, fritaja (frittata) with green forest asparagus or mushrooms, lasagne with truffles, goatling stewed on the open fire, radicchio with hardboiled eggs and beans, a wide variety of seafood (grilled, boiled, fried, stewed) and seafood specialties such as brodetto, buzara, and many more.

The most popular types of Istrian grappas or traditionally made brandies are rutha (grappa with rue, a bitter herb), medica (grappa made of honey), biska (herbal brandy with white mistletoe and four types of herbs), but there are numerous other sorts as well: with, St. John's wort, sour cherries, mint, walnuts...