Are you familiar with the saying, "Tell me what you eat, and I’ll tell you who you are?" If you wish to know what Slovenians usually eat, you should tuck into a typical Sunday lunch when you come to Slovenia, enjoy a stew during the week, and let’s not forget the street food options offering local and world flavours. Whatever you eat, you will taste the characteristics of the region you’re visiting in every mouthful. Slovenian people strive to use local produce grown in complete harmony with nature.
Immerse yourself in the unique stories that simmer in the Slovenian gastronomic pot. Discover the secret of fullness of flavours, learn about the close connection between people and nature in food production and about their dedication to tradition, then indulge in the boldness and innovation of top Slovenian chefs. Visit the Taste Slovenia website where you are sure to find the content to your liking and enjoy every mouthful of gastronomic exploration.
Although Slovenian cuisine is very diverse and cosmopolitan, you will get quite similar answers when asking locals about what comes to mind first when thinking about a typical Sunday lunch, holiday feast or snack on the go. Learn about some of the "stereotypes" that Slovenians like to enjoy.
Do you know what a typical Slovenian (Sunday) lunch is comprised of? Soup is served first, followed by meat with a side dish and a salad served together with the main course. The lunch is completed with a dessert. Typical soups include beef soup with noodles, selected vegetable soups, and often mushroom soup is served as well. A typical Sunday meat dish includes a roast or fried chicken. A very typical Slovenian side dish served with a meat dish is roast potatoes. A salad is a must for Slovenians. Many places offer Slovenian pumpkin seed oil or olive oil as a dressing.
To enjoy a delicious Slovenian-style snack, you have to try a dish that is eaten with a spoon. You will find those, especially, when exploring countryside trails and mountain and other stopovers. Snack and brunch options often include the excellent Slovenian hotpot dishes, such as goulash, stews, minestrone, including jota and ričet. Try the Kranjska sausage either on its own or with a stew. This typically Slovenian delicacy has also travelled into space with Sunita Williams, a US astronaut of Slovenian descent. You might be offered žganci with sour milk if you visit mountain pastures where shepherds live.
Particularly enticing smells come from kitchens on holidays when special delicacies are prepared. Certain dishes, for example potica, can be found on the festive table during all holidays, while others are typical of specific festive occasions. Learn about certain festive feasts in Slovenia.
Enjoy the Slovenian holiday culinary delights!
Celebrate Easter with traditional Slovenian festive delicacies.
Toast the new wine in Slovenia!
Enjoy the Carnival season at a table laden with the season's finest dishes.
Maintaining garden plots, either in nature or on balconies and terraces in towns, is a special feature of Slovenian people. Different types of vegetables and herbs are grown in Slovenian gardens. Fruit trees, usually apple, pear, plum or cherry trees, grow in larger orchards and on plots surrounding farms. Different cereals, potatoes and other arable crops grow in fields. What could be better than to pick nature’s own fresh fruits and immediately enjoy their full flavours?
Marketplaces in Slovenian towns and cities provide great energising snacks. The famous Ljubljana marketplace, a much-loved feature of Slovenia’s capital, along with the country’s other marketplaces, also usually feature small food stalls with specialised offerings of meat, dairy, baked goods, vegetables and various delicacies. Foreigners are often fascinated when they see milk vending machines in Slovenia. These offer fresh milk from nearby farms 24 hours a day.
If you want to take a little piece of Slovenia or the specific places you visited home with you, then look for products equipped with local certificates. You will find delicious food and handicraft products typical of certain regions under various destination brands. But you can also stop at inns and restaurants where you can try dishes with local certificates.
Each place has its characteristics. Some are so special that they are embellished with special protected designations. Discover ingredients, dishes and food products equipped with protected designations of origin, protected geographical indications or traditional speciality guarantees.
Find seasonal culinary events all over Slovenia where locals and other providers offer local gastronomic specialities. At some events, participants compete in preparing typical dishes, which can then be tasted and reviewed by the visitors to the local Golažijada, Bogračijada, Potato Festival, Frika Festival, and similar themed events. Cherries, persimmon, asparagus, apples, olive oil, chocolate, beer and wine are also celebrated at special events.
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Discover inns, restaurants, cellars, and other places where you can taste good food and wine throughout Slovenia.
Original cuisine is delightful to taste and enjoyable to experience. Choose your experience from the 84 pages of the 2021 European Region of Gastronomy brochure, where Slovenia is presented not only a superb food destination, but also as a land of excellent wines and honey. Besides the authentic flavours of four Slovenian regions, you will get to know the best chefs, top-rated restaurants and inns, culinary events, delicious souvenirs and much more.
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