There is an apple. There is prosciutto.
And a sprig of rosemary.
Outlaw Chef Damjan Bistričić is a cook from the Istria region of Croatia. On the Istrian news site istarski.hr, he writes a recipe column called "Nedjeljna škola kuhanja" — Sunday Cooking School.
In the column of October 18, 2026, he made "Jabuka s dušom od pršuta i ružmarina" — an apple with a soul of prosciutto and rosemary.
This was not just a baked apple. Fruit from the tree in his garden, olive oil from his father-in-law, and a Higonokami close at hand.
Together, they became one dish.
The Answer Is to Combine
"I love prosciutto, and I love apples, and right now those are exactly the two things I feel like eating," he writes. "But having them with some bread and cheese? That's so boring!"
So what now?
"Kombiniram" — I'm putting things together.
Borrowing the catchphrase of an old-school detective, he arrives at his answer.
Hide the prosciutto inside the apple.
Strips of prosciutto are tucked inside the apple, the halves are pinned together with skewers, and the whole thing is wrapped in aluminum foil and baked.
Olive oil, green peppercorns, and flakes of sea salt bring the apple and the prosciutto together. Thirty minutes in an oven at 190°C takes care of the rest.
Behind the playful words is a careful eye for ingredients.
Apples from the Tree, Oil from the Family
The apple should be a small one, both sweet and slightly tart.
"I picked mine from the tree," he writes. "You can pick yours at the shop."
The olive oil came from his father-in-law, Valdi.
He does not go searching for special ingredients.
He uses what comes from the tree in the garden and from the hands of family.
Outlaw Chef's cooking is always an extension of everyday life.
Shaping the Apple, Chopping the Herbs
The recipe simply says "with a sharp kitchen knife."
Yet in the photographs, the blade beside the apple is the Ichizo Higonokami.
Trimming the skin. Removing the core. Chopping the herbs. None of these is a job for a large kitchen knife.
They are exactly what a small blade that fits in the hand does best.
These are not dramatic moments. But small acts of handwork like these add up, and they shape the first bite out of the oven.
Unwrapping the Foil
A fork goes into the baked apple.
The salt of the prosciutto has soaked into the sweet-tart apple.
Over it come the aromas of green pepper and rosemary.
"Mamma mia! Ke gušti!"
What a delight!
He exclaims it the Istrian way.
That flavor, he writes, will show you the way to your inner satisfaction.
And at the end, he adds:
"Dobar tek, dragi ljudi!"
Enjoy your meal, dear people!
Strip Away, Then Combine
A round apple, trimmed into a square.
What is unnecessary is cut away, and only what is needed remains.
Looking at this dish, we feel that something Ichizo Honpo holds dear — stripping away everything unnecessary to keep only what is essential — appears here in another form.
And then, what remains is combined, with whatever is at hand, in his own way.
Outlaw Chef's cooking is always full of respect for its ingredients.
That a small blade from Banshu sits beside his kitchen counter means more to us than anything.
You can also watch the cooking in this reel.
Original article (in Croatian):
istarski.hr — "Jabuka s dušom od pršuta i ružmarina"
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All photographs and words from Outlaw Chef are published with his permission.