Traditional Food and Drinks

FOOD

Slovenia is a small country but it can still charm you with unforgettable flavours that are the product of the traditional cuisine. This was created as a mixture of the influences of the Alpine, Pannonian and Mediterranean world, which is why you can find a variety of different specialities here. The world famous dishes are also protected with the designation of origin. The most famous among those are prekmurska gibanica (Prekmurje layered pastry), kranjska medica (Carniolan honey liquor), potica and kranjska klobasa (Carniolan sausage).

In the Primorska region nature gifted the people of Karst with a privilege that they have wittily taken advantage of for producing smoked ham. The secret of its success is the unique smell and taste that are created by adding care and a great deal of patience with its long-lasting maturing. This is the power of tradition that is carried over from generation to generation. It goes excellently with the famous kraški Teran (Karst Terrano), and their combination is a speciality, distinctive of this part of Karst.

By the coast you will find dishes from sea fish and sea fruits that are normally served along with the wines Refošk (Refosco) and Malvazija (Malvasia), which round up the true Mediterranean flavours.

The Prekmurje region is a place for gourmets, since it is the home of potica and a unique dessert that you have never tasted before. Prekmurska gibanica, which also has a very special name, is made of filo pastry and has four kinds of stuffing: poppy seed, ricotta cheese, walnut and apple stuffing.

On the other side of the country, Bled offers yet another sweet surprise, since they are known for making excellent Bled cream cake or kremšnita.

Also dishes made of buckwheat belong to the Slovene cuisine treasures. The buckwheat štruklji are very tasteful and you can try them with nut, tarragon, apple or curd stuffing, and the true speciality are also žganci (buckwheat flour dumplings) that are prepared together with sauerkraut or turnip and krvavice (black pudding, rice and spices).

For the lovers of fresh water fish there is the first-class feast of trout zlatovšica or the freshwater speciality, the Soca trout. A speciality of the Lower Carniola is matevž, a side dish or an independent "puree-like" dish of beans and potatoes.

While enjoying delicious dishes and drinks you are regaled with traditional Slovenian music. The most famous among all is  indeed Na Golici of Ensemble Avseniki.


DRINKS

"The vintage, friends, is over, and here sweet wine makes, once again, sad eyes and hearts recover." These were the words of our greatest poet, dr. France Prešeren. And it is true, distinguished international acknowledgements and presence of Slovene wines in restaurants all over the world confirms that the Slovene ground is viticultural and that the sweet grapes are made into quality vintage wine of the right colour and flavour. The symbol and a sign of Slovenian long and rich wine tradition is the oldest grapevine in the world, which is to be found in Maribor. It bears grapes for more than 400 years already.

In Slovenia over 1300 winegrowers bottle wine, and they produce around 60,000 litres of vintage wine every year. It depends on the area, which type of wine is most present.

The coast, Karst and Goriška brda are the home of the vintage Teran (Terrano), a dark red ruby wine from the Refošk grapes. It goes excellently with Karst smoked ham, and it is also said to have healing powers. In Slovene Istra the wine Refošk (Refosco) is made of the same grapes. In Primorska region you will find also other delicious wines, such as Rumeni Muškat, Malvazija and Rebula.

In the Posavje and Lower Carniola region Cvicek is the "king" – a light dry red wine with a low percentage of alcohol that is produced of several wine types (žametovka, modra frankinja, kraljevina). The speciality of Bela krajina is Metliška crnina, and also Modra frankinja is of great quality.

Vine-growing hills of Haloze, Jeruzalem and other parts of Podravje region in the east boast excellent speciality wines such as Renski Rizling, Traminec, Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Ranina and many other top quality wines.

Numerous wine cellars, inns and restaurants in Slovenia offer wine tasting and consultation with experienced sommeliers.

You can also ease your thirst with other drinks, typical for our area. Such is for instance the tasty Medica (honey liquor) that is produced from honey by the over 300-year-old recipe. You should also try spirits that many Slovene families produce at home from cherries, apples, piers, strawberries or blueberries.

Beer lovers can try the two Slovene beers from the grand breweries, Laško and Union. If you would like to taste some other Slovenian beers, you can stop in small home breweries which can be found in all regions of the country.

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