THE SCENT OF OUR COUNTRY’S CUISINE Slovenia: A Cook Book 1
THE SCENT OF OUR COUNTRY’S CUISINE. Slovenia: A Cook Book Recipes, photographic material and translation School project: OŠ Polhov Gradec Editing Darinka Orel, Tanja Metež Omerzel, Maja Koritnik Cover design Darinka Orel
Primary School Polhov Gradec Polhov Gradec, 2013
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CONTENTS SLOVENIJA: značilna slovenska kuhinja SLOVENIA: typical Slovene cuisine TRADITIONAL DISHES Veal Stew Buckwheat Mush Hearty Sausage and Sour Turnip Stew Cheese Leavened Dumplings - Štruklji Potato Plum Dumplings Walnut Cake - Potica Apple Strudel WILD FOOD Wild Asparagus with Eggs Nettle Spinach Dandelion Salad Fried Elderflowers Elder Juice CONSERVATION Cherry Compote Spruce Tips Herb Salt Wild Garlic Pesto HONEY Groats with dried Plums and Honey Gingerbread Biscuits 3
TRADITIONAL DISHES Telečja obara Veal Stew 1 kg veal (the neck, shoulder, breast) 8 dl oil 50 g flour ½ onion 3 cloves of garlic 1 parsley root and leaves 1 carrot, a piece of celery 1 kohlrabi, ½ beetroot marjoram, pepper, salt
Wash the meat and cut it to smaller pieces. Clean all the vegetables and cut them to small pieces. Heat the oil. Add the onion, meat, vegetables and flour and sauté. Pour in the water and bring to the boil. Cook on the small heat till the meat is soft. Season with spices – marjoram, parsley, pepper and salt – then simmer. At the end add some white wine or good vinegar. Serve with buckwheat mush.
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Ajdovi Şganci z ocvirki Buckwheat Mush 700–800 g buckwheat flour 2 l water 150 g lard salt cracklings
Sift the flour in boiling water. Cover and leave to boil for a while. Make a hole in the middle and let it simmer for about 30 min. Pour some liquid away and stir well. If the mush is too thick add some liquid. The mush gets easier to stir by adding some hot lard. Leave to rest for 10 min. Crumble the buckwheat mush into an earthen bowl and garnish with cracklings.
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Jota Hearty Sausage and Sour Turnip Stew 2 cups beans, soaked overnight in cold water 1 smoked sausage (or smoked pork ribs ) 1 onion 2 cloves garlic 2 cups stock 2 tbs tomato paste ½ kg potatoes (peeled and diced ) ½ kg sour turnip (or sauerkraut) salt and pepper
Drain the soaked beans and cook them until tender but not mushy. Drain and set aside. Put the onion and garlic in a large sauce pan, and sautĂŠ until onion is golden, but not browned. Stir in stock, tomato paste, potatoes and sour turnip (or sauerkraut). Simmer it uncovered for at least 20 min until potatoes and sour turnip are very tender and the mixture is thick. Cook the sausage, cut into bite-sized pieces and return to the saucepan along with the cooked beans and warm through, about 10 min. Add salt and pepper. Serve with bread.
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Sirovi štruklji Cheese Leavened Dumplings eggs flour yeast cottage cheese butter breadcrumbs
Knead the dough from eggs, flour, water, yeast and a pinch of salt. Leave it to rest and rise. Roll it out to a thin square. Spread over the cottage cheese and melted butter. Sprinkle with sugar. Roll tightly together then bake. However, it is even better to wrap the dough into a table cloth and cook it in a pot of salted boiling water. When the dough is cooked, unwrap it and cut into pieces. Garnish with golden brown breadcrumbs previously fried in butter.
Slovenes make more than 100 versions of štruklji. They can be either baked or cooked, sweet or savoury, dark or light, depending on which flour and fillings are used.
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Slivovi cmoki Potato Plum Dumplings 1 kg yellow potatoes 1 egg 2 cups flour sour cream pinch of salt Filling dry or fresh plums Garnish 2 cups breadcrumbs 2 tbs butter
1/2 cup sugar cinnamon Cook the potatoes, peel and mash them. Add sour cream, an egg, a pinch of salt and flour. Mix everything together and knead well. Tip the dough on to a lightly floured surface and roll it out to the thickness of a little finger. Cut the dough into little squares 3cm x 3cm in size. Put 2 cooked drained (or fresh) and previously stoned plums on top of each square. Wrap the dough around them and make dumplings. Put the dumplings in a pot of salted boiling water and cook for about 10 min. Gently take them out and place them on a plate. Garnish with golden brown bread crumbs which you previously fried in butter. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Serve hot or cold! 8
Orehova potica Walnut Cake – Walnut Potica 1 kg plain flour ½ l milk 100 g sugar 120 g butter 1 tsp salt 2 tbs rum 1 tbs lard 2 egg yolks 30 g yeast
Tip the flour in a bowl and place it somewhere warm. Heat ¾ l of milk in a small pan until lukewarm. Stir in the sugar, fresh butter, salt and flour. Add the risen yeast and 2 egg yolks. Whisk until combined. Stir in the lard, sprinkle the dough with flour and cover it with a towel. Put in a warm place and leave to rise. Tip the risen dough onto a flour-dusted surface and roll it out to a thin square. Cover it with the filling, cut away the sides, roll tightly and put the cake in a well buttered baking tin. Press on top with your hand and pierce in several places with a knife to let the air out. Leave to rise again, then drizzle with cream or an egg and bake. To make the filling you need: 0.3–0.5 l milk, 2 tbs honey, 150–300 g sugar, 500 g ground walnuts, 2 handfuls of breadcrumbs, 100 g fresh butter, lemon zest, a pinch of cinnamon
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Boil the milk and pour it over walnuts, sugar and honey. Stir in the butter, lemon zest and cinnamon. When it cools down add 2 egg yolks, rum and extra breadcrumbs if necessary. This should be enough for 2 middle-sized cakes. Poticas have various fillings. Beside walnuts the filling can also consist of nuts, carobs, raisins, cream, chives, tarragon, poppy, dry pears, cracklings and many others.
JabolÄ?ni ĹĄtrudelj Apple Strudel 200 g flour lukewarm water, salt 1tb oil 1 egg For the filling: 150 g fresh butter, 100 g bread crumbs, 1.5 kg apples 150 g sugar, cinnamon, vanilla sugar
Prepare the puff pastry. Then cover it and leave to rest for an hour. Tip the pastry on a floured surface, roll it out, drizzle with oil, then stretch it with your hands. Cut the edges and scatter the pastry with fried breadcrumbs, apples, sugar and cinnamon. Roll together and put it in a buttered baking tin. Brush with melted butter and bake. Sprinkle with icing sugar and serve. 10
WILD FOOD Divji ĹĄparglji z jajci Wild Asparagus with Eggs 1/2 kg wild or green asparagus 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped 4 eggs olive oil salt to taste
Rinse asparagus and cut off the woody ends. Pour enough water to cover asparagus. Bring to a boil. Place the asparagus in the boiling water for about 2-3min. Remove from heat and drain. Allow to cool a few minutes. When cool enough to touch, cut stalks into pieces. Peel and finely chop the garlic. Heat olive oil in a frying pan and sautĂŠ the garlic. Add the asparagus and salt to taste. Beat the eggs and pour into a frying pan with garlic and asparagus. Stir until the eggs are done.
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Koprive kot ĹĄpinaÄ?a Nettle Spinach 1 bowl of young nettle 1 tbs of butter 2 garlic cloves 1 dl of sweat cream salt
Wash the nettles and cook them in boiling water for 2 to 3 min. Strain and puree the nettles. Melt the butter in a pan, add chopped garlic, nettles and sweat cream. Salt to taste. Serve with mashed potatoes.
Regratova solata Dandelion Salad 250 g dandelion greens 80 g smoked bacon 2 potatoes, 2 eggs vinegar, (pumpkin) oil salt, pepper
Cook the potatoes and hard boil the eggs. Cut dandelion greens into small pieces. Peel and slice potatoes and eggs and mix with dandelion greens. Season with salt and pepper. Chop the bacon and fry it in a pan until crispy. Sprinkle over dandelion salad, add oil and vinegar, and toss well. 12
Ocvrto bezgovo cvetje Fried Elderflowers Pancake dough: 20 dag flour, 2 eggs, ¼ l milk, salt 8 larger elderflowers oil icing sugar
Clean the flowers. Mix flour, eggs, milk and a pinch of salt to make the dough. Let it rest for 20 min. Heat the oil. Dip the flowers into the dough and fry them quickly. Blot the grease and dust with icing sugar.
Bezgov sok - šebesa Elder Juice 24 elderflowers 2 lemons glass of vinegar 1 kg sugar 10 l water
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Put all the ingredients in a bowl. Leave to rest for 24 hours. Stir several times. Similar drink can be done with lime tree blossoms or ½ kg of wild berries. 13
CONSERVATION ÄŒeĹĄnjev kompot Cherry Compote firm fresh cherries sugar water lemon zest, cinnamon, vanilla, cloves Wash the cherries and remove the stems. Pour the remaining juice into the syrup.
Syrup: put sugar into lukewarm water in the proportion of 3 cups water and 1 cup sugar. Heat the liquid slowly until the sugar melts. Add some spices to the taste: lemon zest, cinnamon, vanilla and cloves. Place the cherries into the jars and pour the hot syrup over them. Close the jars and cook them in the steam for 20 min.
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Smrekovi vršički Spruce Tips spruce tips sugar
Pop off the first light green spruce tips in spring and clean them. Put them in the jar in layers with sugar: one layer of tips, one layer of sugar. End with sugar. Put the jar in the sun and let it rest for 40 days. Drain and pour into dark bottles. This is the best cough syrup but you can also enjoy it as aromatic sweetener with your tea!
Zeliščna sol Herb Salt 6 tbs dried herbs like savory, thyme, oregano, parsley… (choose one or a combination) ½ kg salt
Combine the ingredients in a mortar and crush with a pestle until combined. In summer when there’s an abundance of herbs, we dry them and use them for making herb salts. Herb salts are aromatic and healthy and help us to use less salt.
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ÄŒemaĹžev pesto Wild Garlic Pesto approximately 1/3 pine nuts or almonds 1/3 wild garlic leaves, stems removed 1/3 olive oil salt and freshly ground black pepper Place the wild garlic in the food processor and whizz until it’s finely chopped. Put into a bowl and set aside. Roughly chop the pine nuts. Slowly pour in the oil on the garlic until a thick sauce has formed. Stir in pine nuts and a generous amount of salt and pepper. Taste the pesto and adjust the seasoning. You may add lemon juice. Put it in the jar and store in dark place. Use it as pesto with pastas, on bread or as salad dressing.
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HONEY Slovenes have always been a nation of bee-keepers. We are the only EU member state, which has protected its own autochthonous grey honey bee called Carniolan Bee. It is famed for its hard work, humility and excellent sense of orientation. This breed of bee is regarded as the second most widespread bee breed in the world. For this reason special attention is devoted to preserving and cultivating the pure Carniolan bee, which is also regarded as part of the natural and cultural heritage of Slovenia. Another special feature of Slovenian beekeeping that has gained international recognition is a folk art of painting beehive panels, something not known anywhere else in the world. The beginnings of this folk art can be traced back to the middle of the 18th century. Numerous Slovene beekeepers still like to decorate their bee houses to this day along the old patterns, but using modern motifs which makes our bee houses special and unique.
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Main types of Slovene honey Acacia honey is quite unique. It is typically very light, with a very tender odour and a weak aroma. It is possible to denote only sweetness in the taste. Chestnut honey comes from nectar and honey- dew, which the bees collect from a true chestnut tree. Due to its quite bitter taste and very distinctive aroma, chestnut honey differs considerably from others and is one of the most appreciated honeys in Slovenia. Flower honey – its taste depends on the type of flowers. It is light and has a medium to strong taste even very, very sugary with a spicy after taste. Forest honey is a mixture of different types of honeydew and it can differ a lot according to colour, odour, taste and aroma. There is a balance of sweet and sour in the taste. It is often mixed with floral honey. Linden honey is refreshing and the odour and taste reminds you of linden blossoms. It crystallizes rapidly and forms big crystals. Spruce (or fir) honey is very dark having a grey brownish colour with a green reflection. It is usually opaque and does not crystallize. The aroma is very characteristic of caramel and powdered milk.
The use of honey in Slovenia In Slovene honey is very widely used in all aspects of every day’s life: for natural medicine, cosmetics and as an important ingredient in cooking.
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Prosena kaša s suhimi slivami in medom Groats with dried Plums and Honey ¼ l groats dried fruit lemon zest honey salt
Rinse a handful of dried plums and cook them in a pot of water. When the fruit is half done, add the groats, grated lemon zest and a pinch of salt. Bring to the boil and then leave to simmer, stirring regularly. It has to be thick but be careful not to singe it. Sweeten it with honey. Serve hot or cold, with stewed fruit.
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Medenjaki Gingerbread Biscuits For the dough: 500 g of flour 1 tsp of baking soda 80 g of butter or margarine 190 g of honey 200 g of icing sugar 2 eggs 2 tsp of sour cream lemon zest 1 tsp of cinnamon and cloves For the lemon icing: The juice of 1 lemon 150-200 g of icing sugar
Put flour and baking soda into a large bowl and stir well. Make a hole in the middle and put in butter, honey and other ingredients. Quickly mix the dough. Make little balls with damp hands and place them onto the baking paper. Preheat the oven to 160 째C and bake the gingerbread biscuits for 19 min. When they cool down, spread the lemon icing on top.
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Hyv채채 ruokahalua! Dober tek!
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