Episode 135
Poštovani prijatelji, dobra vam dan!
We have a wonderful episode for you in this 135th edition of Let’s Learn Croatian.
If you’re hungry to learn some Croatian words for appetizers, join us as we sink our teeth into a delicious spread at the dinner table!
In the second half of our show we are joined by Kristin Vuković. She is the author of the recently released novel, The Cheesemaker’s Daughter. We had the joy of interviewing Kristin and asking her many questions about her story based in Pag, Croatia!
Lesson
Appetizer - predjelo
Cold platter - hladna plata
Cheese - sir
Cured meat products - suhomesnati proizvodi
Prosciutto - pršut
bread - kruh
olives - masline
Pickles - krastavci
Soup - juha
Kristin Vuković has written articles about Croatia for more than a decade, for The New York Times, BBC Travel, Travel + Leisure, Virtuoso, Hemispheres, Robb Report, AFAR, Fodor's, and Public Books, among others. She received the 2024 Rising Star Award in Arts & Culture from the Association of Croatian American Professionals Foundation (ACAP), and two Golden Pen awards for her writing about Croatia from the Croatian National Tourist Board, most recently in May 2024. She was also named a "40 Under 40" honoree by the National Federation of Croatian Americans Cultural Foundation. In 2019, her BBC Travel piece “Dalmatia’s Fjaka State of Mind” won first place in the Society of American Travel Writers Eastern Chapter Contest, Miscellaneous category. Kristin holds a BA in literature and writing and an MFA in nonfiction writing from Columbia University. She resides in New York City with her husband and daughter.
Kristin Vuković’s debut novel, THE CHEESEMAKER’S DAUGHTER, was published on August 6, 2024. A “mouthwatering platter of culture, history, and the everlasting struggle for balance between tradition and progress” (Associated Press), “this magical, richly drawn debut novel transports readers to the idyllic Croatian island of Pag” (Woman’s World). When the protagonist, Marina, leaves New York and returns to Pag to try to save her father’s failing cheese factory, she must face her past as a refugee from the former Yugoslavia and discover where she now belongs. “[D]eftly weaves together themes of identity and belonging, love and loss, and growth and acceptance....Reading it, I was transported to that windswept island and felt like I was watching over Marina’s shoulder on her journey" (Condé Nast Traveler). “A literary page-turner with unforgettable heart” (bestselling author Caroline Leavitt), THE CHEESEMAKER’S DAUGHTER beautifully reveals “a woman who blossoms into the person she was always meant to be” (bestselling author Jill Santopolo). It might also be “the first novel that inspires cheese pairings” (Minnesota Star Tribune).
(Kristin Vuković, photo credit Sylvie Rosokoff)
