Kruh, mast i paprika is a Croatian open-faced sandwich that has been at the height of its popularity during the war in the 1990s, although it is slowly experiencing a renaissance at Croatian Christmas markets, because it is, after all, a typical winter snack.

It consists of a thick slice of bread topped with a layer of pork fat, a bit of salt, and ground red paprika. Inexpensive and extremely simple, this sandwich is often considered a poor man’s meal. However, whole generations of people have been raised on it in the 1990s.

Of course, there are many variations, so the sandwich is sometimes additionally topped with raw onions or garlic. There is also the sweet version known as kruh, mast i šećer, where paprika is replaced with sugar.