Traditional Slovenian Cuisine

To compliment learning a foreign language, a knowledge of the culture and interesting facts of a country can be useful and entertaining. For that reason, I will introduce you to traditional Slovenian food.

A Slovenian Cuisine Taster

Slovenian cuisine has been influenced by neighbouring countries, including some dishes we have adopted and made our own. The most famous Slovenian food include potica, prekmurska gibanica, idrijski žlikrofi, sirovi štruklji, belokranjska pogača, matevž, bograč, blejska kremna rezina, trojanski krof, ajdovi žganci, bujta repa, and more. Some Slovenian dishes can be translated in a way that describes them, but others cannot be translated literally. For example, Potica, a nut roll, is a Slovenian festive dessert, made with many different fillings; walnuts, poopy seeds, coconut and tarragon. It’s very popular.

Ajdovi žganci is another typical Slovenian dish. It’s made with buchwheat flour and water. The word ‘žganci’ comes from the word ‘žgati’, ‘to burn’. They can be served with cracklings or with milk, and are usually served as a side dish.

Idrijski žlikrofi are similar to Italian ravioli, they come from Idrija. They are made with a potato filling.

Matevž is a side dish made of beans and potatoes and is eaten with sauerkraut. It’s a typical dish of Dolenjska region. Matevž is also a Slovenian male name, the difference is, that a dish ‘matevž’ is written lowercase.

Prekmurska gibanica is a dessert from Prekmurje region. In English it would be called ‘Prekmurian layered cake with poopy seeds, walnuts, apples, and cottage cheese filling’. It’s really filling, but delicious.

Štruklji are made of dough with different fillings. I prefer ‘sirovi štruklji’, which are filled with cottage cheese. Štruklji can be baked or cooked. The preparation is quite difficult. Our grandmas knew how to prepare them very well, but nowadays not many people would be able to prepare them on their own.

These dishes are quite old, but still a lot of people eat them. I have to say that I’m not so keen on preparing these dishes, because they require a lot of time and cullinary skill, but they are delicious, and you can get them in any typical Slovenian restaurant. Some of them can be bought frozen from bakeries too.

Nowadays, like many places in the world, Slovenian cuisine is a mixture of different cuisines of the world, called fusion food. It could roughly be said that the most typical association with Slovenian cuisine would be meat and potatoes, but that’s just a stereotype. More and more people realise the value of healthy eating and include more fresh ingredients, like fruit and vegetables.

Here you can find a full list of Slovenian traditional food.