Although not exclusively Croatian, rather Slavic, the mandatory hospitality gesture among fast friends known to locals is a shot of rakija (pronounced ra-ki-ya), which is hard liquor, brandy, firewater, you name it, made of fruit, predominantly grapes, plums or pears, somewhat made milder with addition of aromatic herbs, mistletoe… Sworn to relieve many maladies and pains, the popular saying may be rewritten to A rakija a day, makes the doctor away. The addition of sugar to grape brandy and the fruit to the taste, like carob, walnut, sour cherry, wild orange, or whatever is at hand in one’s garden, makes it a liqueur, less hard but equally tasty and can be found homemade in almost every household in the country.