Cuisine of Slovenia

Forty distinct regional cuisinesSlovenian cuisine is as diverse as the terrain, with more than forty distinct regional cuisines. The six topographical areas of Slovenia have led to a great variety of traditional dishes from the countryside: with differences in style and method of preparation. Distinct cuisines also evolved from a highly stratified society; based on the town, the farmhouse, the cottage, the castle, and monastery. In the cities, cuisines from other countries were evident; dishes were from Austria, France, and Germany. This influence is already apparent in the first cookbook published in the Slovenian language by the priest Valentin Vodnik in 1799. In a cookbook in Graz in 1589, the writer refers to tarragon ‘štruklji’ as Slovenian ‘ this is the oldest known reference to a Slovenian recipe. The štruklji are a well-known speciality, made of yeast dough with a filling: over one hundred types. Slovenia has adapted and adopted some dishes from the bordering countries of Austria, Hungary, and Italy. Examples  are ‘bograč’ from Prekmurje, adapted from goulash of Hungary, ‘žlinkrofi’ from Idrija adapted from Italian ravioli.
Traditional, popular foods are: sour cabbage (kislo zelje), sour turnip (kisla repa), potatoes, wild lettuce (regrat), beans, mushrooms, buckwheat, cornmeal, and stews. Bread is much-loved by Slovenians; there is a great selection from different grains. Some traditional dishes are; jota, ričet, sour soup of Pohorje, potato soup of Dolenjska, prežganka of Gorenjska, obara, žganci, krvavice, pečenice, kranjske klobase, žolca (aspic), pršut (leg ham), kaša (porridge) – based on buckwheat, barley, and rarely now, millet.
Among cakes there are: potica, gibanica, kolače, pince, kremne rezine, zavitek, medenjaki.
‘Potica’ is the premier festive Slovenian cake, traditionally baked in a round ceramic mould (rolled yeast-dough with filling) and was served originally for only special  occasions; there are over fifty varieties of potica. The trend in Slovenian cuisine has been to adapt many old recipes which are very high in calories, and substitute ingredients for a more healthy balanced diet.

Learning activities

1. Assemble a menu
Text-type: menu
Linguistic element: nouns
Select dishes from the menu of the Ljubljana restaurant ‘Šestica’ , and write a menu
http://www.gp-vic.si/sesticaponudba.asp
http://www.matkurja.com/projects/wine/wines/

2. Select recipes
Text-type: recipe, list
Linguistic element: nouns – declensions
Select and recipes for a birthday dinner, and compile a list of ingredients required
http://www.kulinarika.net/
http://med.over.net/zdrava_prehrana/

3. Design an advertisement
Text-type: advertisement
Linguistic element: prepositions
Design and write an advertisement on’štruklji’, refer to page 262,  “Štruklji – dobra jed”
http://med.over.net/literatura/knjiga_prehrana_vir_zdravja/index.html

4. Design a brochure
Text-type: exhibition brochure, recipe
Linguistic element: adjective
Design and write a brochure on the features of ‘potica’ for an exhibition of Slovenian cuisine, include a recipe
http://www.kulinarika.net

5. Write an article
Text-type: newspaper article
Linguistic element: compound sentences
Write an article on the history of buckwheat ‘ajda’ in Slovenia,

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