The tastes of Slovenia are the tastes of local nature: vegetables from typical gardens, grains from local fields, wild food from green nature, fruit from the orchards and forests of one of the most wooded countries in Europe, traditionally prepared meat dishes and dairy goods from pastures, and honey produced by the world-renowned Slovenian honeybees.
The produce from the gastronomic regions at the foot of the Alps is intimately connected with mountain pastures where cows, goats, and sheep have been feeding for centuries. Milk is the basis for original cheeses, such as the Trnič cheese from Velika Planina and the spicy Mohant cheese from Bohinj which has a protected geographical indication. Blooming meadows and the manna of the forests offer sufficient vegetation for the Carniolan honeybee, the world-renowned indigenous bee species. Honey is indispensable when preparing local varieties of honeybread. Your sweet tooth will be appeased by the renowned Cream Cake, the trademark of the fashionable Lake Bled, and by the genuinely sweet town of Radovljica (Radol'ca) with its chocolate festival. On the other side of the Alps, in the Soča Valley, the culinary delights have a close connection to the grazing of sheep and goats, and to the indigenous Soča trout.
The area at the foot of the Alps is known as the place of origin of the Carniolan sausage, which has a protected geographic indication. It is produced following a very specific procedure that has been faithfully used in accordance with the recipe from 1896. In 2006, the Carniolan Sausage was also tasted in space. Sunita Williams, an astronaut with Slovenian roots, took some to the International Space Station.
Potica is made all over Slovenia, but you can experience it in a very special way on Bled Island. The Potičnica Café offers potica baking tours and tastings.
Each of the gastronomic regions of areas known for karst phenomena and the wind burja have their own methods for drying meat products in a natural manner. Here, in the place where the tradition of salting and drying meat has lasted for centuries, you must taste the Karst prosciutto, pancetta, and the Karst zašinek (dried shoulder of pork). Many delicious stews and minestrones are made from an abundance of wild legumes and garden vegetables. The desserts of the Karst gastronomic areas are linked to local fruit, and excellent indigenous wines are paired with all dishes.
The Karst Region is becoming an area where sweet-smelling lavender is produced, and Karst land has been full of wild herbs, such as sage, winter savoury, fennel, balm mint, camomile, mint, thyme, etc. since time immemorial. Some are added to dishes and others serve as the basis for herbal teas and cosmetics
Fish, calamari, mussels – typical delights from the Adriatic Sea, salted using the famous Piran salt, share their place on the tables of Mediterranean Slovenia with various dishes, such as the typical home-made pasta and fusi, spring omelettes – frtalje with wild asparagus and other greens from nature, and with bread with olives from Istrian olive trees growing on sun-kissed hillsides. Every year, the Sweet Istria Festival, the largest festival of desserts in Slovenia, invites visitors to taste sweets. At this event that takes place in Koper, the most original Istrian dessert is selected.
Salt pan workers produce Piran salt according to a 700-year-old method and it is still harvested manually using traditional tools. The salt from the Sečovlje Salt Pans is light, rich in sea minerals, and it tastes incredible. It gives dishes a fine aroma.
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In other parts of Slovenia, people call the residents of Ljubljana “žabarji” or “frog people”, and some Ljubljana restaurants will actually serve you frog’s legs. As the capital, Ljubljana is known for a cosmopolitan fusion of culinary approaches and for original local dishes. Taste the Ljubljana Crepes and the Ljubljana Cake made from buckwheat. Not far from Ljubljana, you can enjoy the Tastes of Kamnik, the culinary delights of the Heart of Slovenia, and the Delicacies of Dolenjska. Visit various gastronomic regions of Central Slovenia and allow yourself to be surprised by štruklji (rolled dumplings), pogača breads, and various breads once used in rituals.
The Tastes of Ljubljana are inseparably connected with the Ljubljana Marketplace, located on the River Ljubljanica and designed by the famous architect Jožef Plečnik. Today, produce is still brought here by the Ljubljana lettuce vendors and other food producers from Central Slovenia. Cafés, fishmongers, and culinary events in the marketplace create a social meeting point with delicious meals.
The Idrija žlikrofi are a dish made of pasta dough with a potato filling and a distinctive shape. You may enjoy them as a starter, a side dish, or a main dish. They can be dressed with crackling or with “bakalca,” a special lamb and vegetable sauce. The dish carries the Traditional Speciality Guaranteed label, so it can only be served to you by certified experts of this Slovenian delicacy.
In eastern Slovenia, where the majority of wheat fields are located, dishes have been lavish for a long time. Gibanicas with rich fillings, meat products preserved in a special way – in tünka, žganci (mush) with potatoes, also known as dodoli – and this is only the beginning. Koline or pork meat products are also typical for the gastronomic regions of this area. However, you can also be able to find many lighter dishes with local, but also wild legumes – e.g. in the hops-producing Savinja Valley, hop shoots are used. Where the lowlands meet the Pohorje Hills, tables are adorned with stews made from multiple kinds of meat. In the Prekmurje Region, the main stew is bograč, and in the Pohorje Hills this is the Pohorje Pisker.
“I would mourn losing it even in heaven if I had to leave it behind in this world,” a Slovenian author wrote about the Prekmurje gibanica, the most famous and the most popular dessert in all of Slovenia, hailing from the region along the River Mura. Two types of dough and four different fillings, divided into eight layers, and two kinds of icing – this is how rich this protected delicacy is. It is baked in a round earthenware baking dish.
True gourmets wish to learn about all of the 24 gastronomic regions of Slovenia! This publication features typical traditional dishes from each region.
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