"Šurljan baba parala / I zetu se nadala / Dođi zete do veče / Zaklat ćemo goveće / Ako dođeš popodne /Bit će ti šurljana i čorbe". A traditional rhyme recorded in the study area (Pristeg and Dobra Voda), translation below:"An old lady picked shepherd's purse [=Capsella bursapastoris] / Hoping for her son-in-law / If you come, son by the evening / We will prepare beef / If you come in the afternoon / There will be shepherd's purse and soup".
IntroductionIn some countries of Europe, e.g. Spain, Italy, Poland and Estonia, intense research on the documentation of traditionally used wild food plants has been carried out over the last few years [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. In some other countries, reviews of older ethnographic literature concerning this issue have been published, e.g. Slovakia, Hungary and Sweden [13][14][15].The countries of the former Yugoslavia, in spite of their great biocultural diversity have produced relatively few ethnobotanical studies concerning wild food plants. Here we should mention the articles on wild food plants used in Bosnia-Herzegovina published by the late Sulejman Redžić [16,17]. Also, earlier, in 1976Also, earlier, in -1979, Bakić and Popović interviewed 5000 households on the Yugoslavian coast, all the way from Istria to the present Montenegrin-Albanian border [18]. (With the exception of a small section now belonging to Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro, the coast constitutes a part of Croatia). The authors asked which of the local land and aquatic plants and animals were eaten during World War II. Unfortunately only data for the most commonly used taxa are published. Bakić and Popović report the use of 120 species of vascular plants. Out of them 38 were used by more than 30% of households. Interesting observations on the plants eaten along the Adriatic coast of Croatia and sold in its local markets can also be found in the edible plant guides of Ljubiša Grlić (e.g. [19,20] It must be stressed that none of the above mentioned studies is a case study where a small rural area is researched
AbstractCroatia is a country of diverse plant use traditions, which are still insufficiently documented. The aim of this study was to document local traditions of using wild food plants around Lake Vrana (northern Dalmatia, Zadar region).We interviewed 43 inhabitants of six traditional villages north of Lake Vrana. On average 12 species were listed, which in total produced an inventory of 55 food plants and 3 fungi taxa. Wild vegetables were most widely collected, particularly by older women who gathered the plants mainly when herding their flocks of sheep. Wild fruits and mushrooms were rarely collected. The former used to be an important supplementary food for children, or for everyone during times of food shortage, and the latter were relatively rare due to the dry climate and shortage of woods.The most commonly collected plants are wild vegetables: Cichorium intybus, Foeniculum vulgare, Sonchus oleraceus, Asparagus acutifolius, Papaver rhoeas, Rumex pulcher, Daucus carota, Al...
