If you wonder about the word kuna I am happy to report that in Croatian it represents a furry little marten. Don’t worry, these days we don’t walk around with weasel-like pets, but we do like to keep things historic. And symbolic.

Dubrovnik’s museum cats roam around freely, take long afternoon naps in front of the Serbian Orthodox church, and maintain law & order concerning the local mice population. In theory, the cats are a clawed army with one goal: to catch and kill mice who might want to chew on the artworks. In practice, they are fat and lazy.

Carob almost fell into oblivion in the second half of the 20th century. Carob pods were left unused under the tree they had fallen from, only to be rediscovered for their numerous health benefits. Carob trees can be found all over Dalmatia and provide the key ingredient for one of Dubrovnik’s popular desserts – the carob cake…