5 Facts You Didn't Know About Slovak Cuisine

You find yourself in Slovakia on a trip or a longer stay, and you’re already craving typical local dishes? Well, you’re in for a treat! Slovakia is known for its hearty and abundant meals, and home-made bryndza, smoked bacon, or korbáčiky are considered national treasures here. Let’s reveal 5 facts you didn’t know about Slovak cuisine. Sharpen your knives, polish your spoons, and let the feast begin!

Hands off my bryndza and potatoes! Dairy products and potatoes are the holy grail upon which Slovak cuisine has relied for decades. This is due to the combination of a harsh climate and a strong tradition of sheep farming. The most famous product of sheep farming is bryndza and žinčica, but excellent quality is also achieved with local cheeses, milk, yogurts, cottage cheese, and the cult-favorite korbáčiky. And what happens when these basic ingredients come together? Simple but beloved dishes. Taste, for example, bryndzové halušky, pierogi, or potato pancakes, served with sour milk or cream. These are uncomplicated but excellent dishes that are a staple in every traditional cottage’s menu.

Slovakia is the kingdom of soups. A true Slovak cannot do without a well-prepared cabbage soup, goulash, lentil soup, bean soup, or mushroom soup. Perhaps the most beloved and typical soup is kapustnica, which fills Slovak households with its aroma during Christmas on every Christmas Eve table. There are long discussions about how to prepare kapustnica, and every chef has a different recipe. Cooking an excellent kapustnica is like passing a small cooking exam. Equally popular is goulash, a thick soup made from beef and potatoes. The traditional way of preparation is cooking in a cauldron over an open fire, where a whole group of friends or extended family gathers. Also worth trying are chicken or beef broth, legume or creamy vegetable soups. Another classic is garlic soup, which can be served in a bread loaf, tomato soup with cheese, or demikát, which is based on bryndza.

The best dessert? Grandma’s yeast cake. Baking a genuine ťahaná štrúdľa with apples and poppy seeds is truly an art! And Slovak housewives know it perfectly! The basis for baking sweet desserts in the past was readily available ingredients such as flour, nuts, poppy seeds, and cottage cheese. From these, fluffy walnut and poppy seed rolls or various types of yeast cakes were baked at home. Traditional šišky or doughnuts could not be missing during Shrovetide. Later, steamed dumplings, sponge cakes, or žemlovka were added. For Christmas, traditional gingerbread cookies are baked in almost every household, decorated with icing made from whipped egg whites and sugar. A meticulously decorated gingerbread is almost an artistic masterpiece, and a good gingerbread maker never reveals her recipe! You must also try potato dumplings, which are made from potato dough. They are generously sprinkled with sugar and drizzled with butter. Heavenly!

We travel dozens of kilometers for good roasted duck or goose. Colder months in Slovakia have always been accompanied by richer, fattier foods. As soon as work in the fields ended, housewives from wealthier families could afford to bake a duck, occasionally a goose. To the delight of many gourmets, this tradition has not died out. The mecca of roasted goose in Slovakia is the village of Slovenský Grob, but you can easily get roasted duck in a restaurant, at a local fair, or at Christmas markets. It is served with braised cabbage, dumplings, or potato dumplings and must be accompanied by quality red wine. Duck and goose feasts are a culinary experience for which Slovaks are willing to travel even outside their city. So, don’t miss them when visiting Slovakia.

We are a nation of meat lovers. Whether you like it or not, the fact is that Slovaks love meat. Meat consumption per capita in Slovakia is about twice as high as the global average. It’s not the best news for our health, but on the other hand, you can be sure that in Slovakia, you can choose from a rich selection of meat specialties. Classics that have survived from the socialist era include chicken or pork schnitzel or roasted chicken. We also enjoy grilled ribs, roasted knuckle, and relish good sausages or pork specialties. If your gourmet palate craves something more special, try venison specialties, roasted lamb, roasted piglet, beef ragout, or tenderloin prepared in several ways. You won’t regret it!