HOMEMADE SLOVENIAN FOOD : SLOVENIAN DRY FRUITS BREAD - CHRISTMAS BREAD

HOMEMADE SLOVENIAN FOOD : SLOVENIAN DRY FRUITS BREAD - CHRISTMAS BREAD: Holiday season is  approaching  fast. In December, many fairs and festivals offer traditional Christmas cake or bread. Every country has i...

SLOVENIAN DRY FRUITS BREAD - CHRISTMAS BREAD

Holiday season is approaching fast. In December, many fairs and festivals offer traditional Christmas cake or bread. Every country has its own specialities for the holiday season. In Slovenia we have a few very traditional cakes and breads. 
Sweet bread made of dry fruits and walnuts is only one of them. This one is easy to make, very tasty and healthy. It is also completely vegan. 

Dry fruits bread 

BUCKWHEAT ŠTRUKLJI - BUCKWHEAT ROLLS WITH COTTAGE CHEESE

Ajdovi štruklji - Buckwheat rolls with cottage cheese feeling is a very  traditional and very popular dish that can be served as side dish with different stews, or with fruits and honey or sugar as a dessert. 

Buckwheat rolls 

BUCKWHEAT ŠTRUKLJI - BUCKWHEAT ROLLS with WALNUTS

BUCKWHEAT ŠTRUKLJI - BUCKWHEAT ROLLS with WALNUTS

Štruklji, in Slovenian language, is a very traditional Slovenian dish. This dish is made of different doughs as well as different fillings. It can be cooked or baked, served as main or side dish. Štruklji can also be a delicious dessert. 

Buckwheat rolls with walnuts

APPLE PIE

Apple pie is a very old, very traditional and very popular recipe that can be made in many different ways. We all know the famous American version. However, in Europe many countries have their own traditional recipe. We make many different pies in Slovenia and almost everyone makes it a bit differently. 

My apple pie

STUFFED CHICKEN ROAST

Stuffed Roast like chicken, goose, veal breast, pork ribs is considered to be a real festive dish. It is usually prepared for big family celebrations. What meat or filling is used, is up to you. But for certain holidays,  we prefer certain meat and fillings. For St.Martins day that is goose stuffed with chestnuts and apples. 

This time I made chicken stuffed with bread filling, which is also very traditional. Served together with Red cabbage stew and a glass of good wine, is a very delicious meal.

Stuffed chicken with red cabbage stew.

HOMEMADE SLOVENIAN FOOD : STEWED RED CABBAGE

HOMEMADE SLOVENIAN FOOD : STEWED RED CABBAGE : November in Slovenia is special in many ways a very special month. We have two traditionally important holidays. November the 1st, when we ...

STEWED RED CABBAGE

November in Slovenia is in many ways a very special month. We have two traditionally important holidays. November the 1st, when we remember our ancestors and St. Martins day on November the 11th when we celebrate the arrival of the new wine.
November is also thought to be an introduction into winter. It can be cold and wet, snow and frost are also not unusual. It is the last month of autumn and sometimes, like this year, it can be still sunny and even warm. 

Autumn, so beautiful part of the year

So colourful, so rich

HOMEMADE SLOVENIAN FOOD : AJDOV KRAPEC - BUCKWHEAT CAKE with COTTAGE CHEESE

HOMEMADE SLOVENIAN FOOD : AJDOV KRAPEC - BUCKWHEAT CAKE with COTTAGE CHEESE: Traditional buckwheat cake with cottage cheese can be sweet or savoury dish. It can be served as a delicious and healthy dessert, a very ta...

AJDOV KRAPEC - BUCKWHEAT CAKE with COTTAGE CHEESE

Traditional buckwheat cake with cottage cheese can be sweet or savoury dish. It can be served as a delicious and healthy dessert, a very tasty appetiser or a side dish. The cake was traditionally baked in special bread oven built of bricks, which made the cake even more delicious.

Buckwheat cake with cottage cheese

BUCKWHEAT BREAD WITH WALNUTS - SOBA BREAD

Every part of the world has some basic foods typical for their cuisine. For example, while an important basic food in Asia is rice, in the West is corn, wheat, bread... In many countries bread was or still is the basic, everyday food, which can be consumed as a main dish or as a side with almost every meal. 
Bread plays a special, very significant role in Slovenian diet and in Slovenian tradition. In the past every farmer's household baked their own bread in Krušna peč - special bread owen that was built of bricks and ceramics and was the centre of the house. Baking day was a special day. A day when bread was made  for the hole week. The hole house and air around it smelled on freshly baked bread - for many the smell of "home".

Buckwheat-Soba bread with walnuts

HOMEMADE SLOVENIAN FOOD : SWEET BUCKWHEAT POCKETS - SWEET BUCKWHEAT DUMPLING...

HOMEMADE SLOVENIAN FOOD : SWEET BUCKWHEAT POCKETS - SWEET BUCKWHEAT DUMPLING...: This is my variation of Traditional Slovenian dish from Kozjansko region - Kozjansko Carps -   Buckwheat Carps/link to the recipe.   Somet...

SWEET BUCKWHEAT POCKETS - SWEET BUCKWHEAT DUMPLINGS

This is my variation of Traditional Slovenian dish from Kozjansko region - Kozjansko Carps - Buckwheat Carps/link to the recipe.  Something that you can serve as a delicious and also healthy desert with a very traditional Slovenian taste of buckwheat, walnuts, dry fruits and honey.

Sweet buckwheat pockets

BUCKWHEAT SPOON BREAD - AJDOVI ŽGANCI

Ajdovi žganci is a traditional Slovenian dish made of buckwheat flour and water. More than a century ago, žganci was considered to be basic food for most of the people and very important for their survival. Žganci was made for breakfast to provide necessary energy for farmers' hard work during the day. For many people žganci was a substitute for bread. The dish was served not only as a main dish for breakfast and dinner, but also as a side dish with some other traditional dishes such as mushroom soup and different stews for lunch. 

Buckwheat-soba žganci with pork cracklings.

BUCKWHEAT PORRIDGE CAKE WITH PLUMS

Buckwheat is today highly appreciated plant. It is  healthy and doesn't contain any gluten. It can grove in poor soil and  harsh climate conditions and farmers don't need to use any pesticides.   

Buckwheat Porridge Cake with plums.

KOZJANSKO BUCKWHEAT POCKETS - KOZJANSKO CARPS

This traditional Slovenian  dish is from Kozjansko region. It is one of many traditional buckwheat dishes which are becoming more and more popular. Kozjansko carps can be served as an appetizer, as a main dish as well as a side dish with different meat dishes. It can be  also very tasty and healthy vegetarian dish. 

Kozjansko Karps garnished with roasted bread crumbs.

OBRNENK - UBRNJENIK - OBRNJENEK

Is a traditional dish made of buckwheat flour from the Upper Savinja Valley, around Luče, a very picturesque village near the road to the famous Logarska Valley. 

Buckwheat dumplings - Obrnenk 

ŽLIKROFI with SPINACH and COTTAGE CHEESE

We make the dough same as for IDRIJA ŽLIKROFI. As for the filling we can be very creative and try to do our own version, recipe. I will make few different kinds of žlikrofi today as follows.

ŽLIKROFI stuffed with Spinach and Cottage cheese 

Ingredients for the filling:

200 g fresh Spinach

200 g Cottage cheese - or Tofu

1 egg

1-2 tbs of semolina or bread crumbs

2 cloves of garlic

Vegetable oil or ghee

Salt

Black pepper 

Nutmeg

Put spinach into boiling water for a few minutes until it is cooked, then we chop or blend it and drain all water out. Put vegetable oil or ghee in the pan, add garlic, stir for a few seconds, and add spinach and all the spices. 

Wait until it cools down a bit and then add it to Cottage cheese. Add egg and mix all well together. 

Spinach - wash, cook add spices

Cottage cheese - skuta

The filling must not be too soft. To make it thicker, add breadcrumbs or semolina.

Mix spinach with skuta, egg

and semolina to make it thicker.

Now we can make our žlikrofi as we did before. 

Roll the dough over the filling, and pinch it together. Press the edges firmly, so they stick. Press each one down in the middle, to get the right shape, but be careful not to break the dough.  

Place the filling on the rolled dough.

Make  zlikrofi as in previous recipe.

Cook them in salty boiling water until they float on the surface. Drain them and serve as you want - it can be in the soup or dashi instead of noodles or with meat stew, mushroom and cream sauce etc.

This time I served them in chicken soup - all kind of vegetables, chicken, water, spices. Cook on low fire one to two hours.   

Cook the broth from chicken, 

vegetables and spices.

Clear chicken soup with žlikrof.

More photos on this link!

ŽLIKROFI with fish meat filling

You can use the same recipe for the dough to make different kind of žlikrofi, just use your imagination. I can give you some hints:

Žlikrofi stuffed with fish meat 

Ingredients for the filling:

200 g white fish without bones

3 cloves of garlic

Nira or parsley or both - finely chopped

Salt

Black pepper

Put all the ingredients in a blender and mix all together to get a thick paste. Make small balls. Now you can make žlikrofi as in previous recipes. Roll the dough, place the filling on it, roll the dough over the filling, press down between the filling and cut them. Make characteristic shape of the "hat with ears".

Mix well all ingredients and make small balls.

Press down the space between 2 balls,
cut, ...

and make žlikrofi. The shape will become better with the exercise.

Cook them in salty boiling water till they start to float on the surface and serve them hot with a sauce you like. I love to serve them with simple vegetable sauce - onions, garlic, bell pepper and tomatoes with spices.  

Or serve them very simply topped with butter, chives, parsley and broccoli  as in the photo below.  

Žlikrofi with stuffed with fish meat. 

More photos on this link.

ABOUT SLOVENIA and SLOVENIAN FOOD

Slovenia is a "small" country in Central Europe located in the Northern part of Balkan Peninsula, between the Adriatic sea, Southern  Alps, Pannonian Plains and Dinaric Karst Mountains. 

Slovenia borders Italy in the West, Austria in the North, Hungary in the East and Croatia in the South.

The geographical position of Slovenia on the crossroads between the North and the South, the East and the West of Europe, always played an important  role.  Throughout the history this transient position shaped our way of life, our culture as different influences can be noticed in all parts of our culture. 

Despite its "small" size, Slovenia is a country of a lot of varieties. This is also one of the most important characteristics of the Slovenian cuisine, which can be described not as one but as a mix of many different cuisines. In our food we can see influences of our neighbouring countries, regions and also migrations that took place across our territory. We can talk about influences from the Mediterranean Cuisine, Central European Cuisine - from Germany, Austria and France, then Hungarian Cuisine and the Cuisines of the Balkan Region that were historically very much influenced by Byzantium and Turkish Cuisines. We also have to take into account our Slavic origins and the specifics of our social structure and its development throughout history.  For many centuries we were under foreign reign. 

Slovenian food is based on a very simple and modest rustic - farmers diet made of very few different ingredients, mostly wheat -  bread, žganci, kaša and a few vegetables, which our chefs slowly developed into a rich and diverse cuisine by adding their own creativity and their own way of preparing the dishes. In different parts of Slovenia the same dish can be prepared in a different way, for example žganci, which makes our cuisine even more interesting and diverse. Over time, new foods were introduced and incorporated into our everyday cooking. Today we are talking about 24 gastronomic regions with many specific local dishes of their own. We can proudly say that our cuisine can compete and be compared to cuisines that are well known and appreciated all around the globe.

From simple farmers food like bread and žganci
towards diversity and excellence.  

In the last few decades the way of life has been changing fast. With globalisation a lot of new influences arrived, a lot of new foods were introduced and we can say that fast food took over slow food. Preparing traditional food in many cases means slow cooking and a lot of preparation. Today families don't want to spend so much time cooking and traditional recipes are starting to sink into oblivion.  Luckily we have many experts and enthusiasts who want to preserve and revive traditional cooking. There are more and more restaurants that have at least a few traditional dishes incorporated in their modern way of cooking, which is very much appreciated by their guests. This is also a living proof that our traditional dishes are very tasty and can be easily incorporated into modern fusions. 

As a member of the EU family, we registered and protected many of our traditional dishes, for which we received European certificates. We still have a long way to go and as dr. Janez Bogotaj says, we have to be much more determined and not so modest, because we have great food with excellent tastes to offer to the world. 

In last 15 years of my life I had an opportunity to live in a very different countries around the world. As a sociologist I want to learn as much as possible about different cultures, traditions… I can see how important part of every society, culture is food. And what amazes me the most is really big variety from which  we can all  benefit and enjoy. 

I can say that cooking is my hobby. I always enjoyed preparing some special meal or baking something special for family and friends. When abroad I have the opportunity to present Slovenian food, my way of course, to different people and I think they like that. In Japan where I am at the moment I am surprised, again and again, with their interest for everything new and different. And there is also something special about our food which makes this connection even stronger and that is buckwheat - soba - ajda. We have many traditional dishes where the buckwheat flour or seeds - kaša are the main ingredients. They are very tasty, not to mention how healthy they are. 

In this blog I will present some traditional recipes of Slovenian cuisine and also some other dishes that are often on my family menu and I think might be interesting for you. I hope you will be able to enjoy it too.

IDRIJA ŽLIKROFI - DUMPLINGS

Idrija Žlikrofi  are very traditional Slovenian dish from Idrija, a small town in Western part of the country. Idrija is known for Mercury Mine which was listed on the  Unesco World Heritage  in 2012. It also has a long tradition in lace making.

 Typical shape of the hat with ears.