There is a saying “love goes through the stomach” and the traditional Slovenian food can confirm just that. As a small country, Slovenia has a lot of traditional foods, that differ greatly from one another. By tasting Slovenian food, you not only get to know the composition, smell and texture of the dishes, but also learn a lot more about Slovenians – what are the Slovenian customs, how do we celebrate various holidays, …You can get Slovenian food and home-made products in a central market place, in specialised stores and restaurants.
Below we introduce you the well-known Slovenian food.
Kranjska Klobasa (Carniolan sausage)
Carniolan sausage is the most known Slovenian food, that has been named »kranjska« for the first time in 1896, and then became protected in 2015. It originated in Gorenjska region, from where it has grown across the whole Slovenia. This protected Slovenian food is smoked and must contain at least 68% of pork, 12% of beef, and no more than 20% of bacon.
Carniolian sausage
Potica
Potica is the most typical Slovenian dessert made of dough and filled with various fillings. We know more than 80 different types of fillings, from which tarragon (»pehtranova«), walnut, cracknels (»ocvirki«) and poppy seeds are the most famous. Potica is a very essential, traditional part of Slovenian festive menue (like Christmas, Easter, Weddings,…)
Orehova potica
Prekmurska gibanica (Prekmurian Layer Cake)
Prekmurian layer cake is a juicy dessert, stuffed with poppy seeds, cottage cheese, walnuts and apples. The funny literal translation of this Slovenian food is actually “Over-Mura Moving Cake”, but the popular translation is Prekmurian Layer Cake. It is also protected by the “Recognised trademark of traditional reputation”, so it can only be manufactured under this name after the original recipe.
Prekmurska gibanica
Kraški Pršut (the Karst Prosciutto)
Another very famous Slovenian food is the Karst Prosciutto. Prosciutto is a top product of the centuries old tradition of salting and drying meat on the Karst bora. It is on the air-dried pork thigh, that goes well with a glass of Teran.
Štruklji
Štruklji is another traditional Slovenian food made from dough and filled with a variety of fillings. They can be eaten as an individual dish or a side dish. They can be prepared from different types of dough, baked or cooked, salty or sweet. The best-known Štruklji are made of cottage cheese, tarragon (»pehtranovi«), walnuts, apple, or poppy seeds.
Štruklji
Žganci
Žganci is one of the simplest and most popular Slovenian food. Especially those made from buckwheat flour and richly dressed with cracknels. They are also considered a typical Slovenian farm dish. However, if you leave out the cracknels, you get a very healthy dish that goes especially well with sour milk, mushroom soup, cabbage, or a chicken stew.
Ajdovi in krompirjevi žganci
Jota (Yota)
Our grandmothers loved to cook Jota. As there were fewer foods in the winter the housewives had to be quite clever with the use of the ingredients. Turnip, cabbage, potatoes, and beans were very common residents of the home cellar, as they could be prepared in many ways. That is why today Jota is available practically in any mountain cottage and can be saved in a freezer for days.
Jota
