Ribafish also served for DiVan more than a delicious and greasy conversation about food

In the second round of DiVan's online Advent, Domagoj Jakopović Ribafish was a guest in the gastro house. It was a very delicious, juicy and fatty conversation that we bring in writing

Divanila: Matina Tenzera

Domagoj Jakopović Ribafish is a renaissance man with several dozen hobby occupations which, with decades of practical work, has led to true professionalism. We didn't dare to count what it all does, so we are grateful that it doesn't even need to be presented. Who cares, Ribafish about food through a delicious, juicy and massive conversation created in the second round of DiVan’s online Advent!

Have you come to your senses since these holidays, have you sobered up?

I didn't drink much I can tell you. Namely, for me as a professional eater and local, there is a kind of sipping and eating every day, so now that I'm home all day, I just watch those old series, read Dežulović and sip Schweppes.

But you don’t have to drink to feel hungover, it’s enough to overdo it with food.

We did not exaggerate. The suckling pig fell, the salad beans fell, even I gave my contribution. A lot of cakes are baked, but I’m not made of sweets. If there is, I will take, but if I will wire – I will not.

Ribafish: "The worst thing for me is when people travel somewhere and eat at McDonald's"

From which country did you return from your many trips with the most pounds?

Well… from each (laughs)! But it was great, say, in Prague. My doorstep was soft for a good meal, but I hadn’t been there for sure for ten years. But those five times I was then I enjoyed their dumplings and canapes sauces. Although I don't really like those sweet toppings that they like to put in food. I loved their sausages, dumplings and of course – a lot of beer. I may not have tried some epochal dish of my life in Prague, but I gained a kilo there.

In which country were you impressed by the attitude of the locals towards food?

The first ones that come to mind are Cambodia and Thailand where there are constant street spikes. And markets. Whenever I go to a country, to a city, I like to go to the market because that's where you best see how some people breathe. In Zanzibar, I saw probably the dirtiest market in the world where people don’t sell from stalls, but from large concrete stands. I order a piece of meat and the saleswoman asks me if I want to consume it on the spot or take it with me. As flies flew everywhere, a little skeptical I told her to throw it on the grill. And the saleswoman took that steak worth one kuna, put it on the grill, turned it over three times and handed it to me in newsprint. And so you eat that meal that you will never eat again, you don't even know what's inside, it can be a dinosaur, some animals… Basically, you enjoy and you're happy while you chew it. The worst thing for me is when people go to a country and then eat at a McDonald’s because they are there as safe with always the same offer. Then why do you travel when you always eat the same thing?

Do you have any gastronomic guilty pleasure?

Look, recently my favorite meal – not bacon, not that quality bacon, but a hamburger. It’s actually cooked bacon and it’s salty anyway, there’s more red than white and there’s some gluttony in between. I am a rag man, I love liver, brisket, white kidneys, cheeks…. but I say, I like that simplest meal. I toast with bread, add some spreadable cheese or just bacon – bacon and onion a little. I’m otherwise more of a food trash character than that fine dining foam on a tear from a unicorn.

Food bloggers. Is it about selling a hollow story or a good refreshment on the gastro scene?

It’s good to have people working hard and to spread the gastro story. After all, those who really know how to cook will recognize who promises and who will record three videos and then give up. It's wonderful to watch. I was very lucky to be the editor-in-chief of the Gastro.hr portal for four years, because during those years we organized the selection of the best food blogger in Croatia …