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FOOD AND DRINK |
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Slovene cuisine draws on Austrian, Italian and Balkan influences.
There's a native Slovene tradition, too, based on age-old peasant
recipes, although this is gradually losing out as restaurants and cafés
become increasingly international
Food
Slovenia's well-stocked supermarkets and delikatesa are good places to
stock up on sandwich and picnic ingredients , like local cheese ( sir )
and salami ( salama ). Buy fresh fruit and vegetables ( sadje in
zelenjava ) from outdoor markets or roadside stalls, and bread ( kruh )
from a pekarna (bakery).
For breakfast and quick snacks , okrepcevalnice (snack bars) and street
kiosks dole out burek , a flaky pastry filled with cheese ( sirov burek
) or meat ( burek z mesom ). Sausages ( klobase ) come in various forms,
most commonly hot dogs, hrenovke (Slovene frankfurters), or kranjska
klobasa (big spicy sausages of local provenance).
Menus in a Slovene restavracija (restaurant) or gostilna (inn) are
dominated by roast meats ( pecenka ) and schnitzels ( zrezek ), mostly
pork ( svinjina ) and veal ( teletina ). The Slovenes are unsqueamish
about offal: liver ( jetra ) and grilled or fried brains ( mozgani ) are
popular standbys in cheaper restaurants. Goulash ( golaz ) is found
almost everywhere; segedin is goulash with lashings of sauerkraut. Two
traditional Slovene dishes are zlikrofi , ravioli filled with potato,
onion and bacon; and zganci , once the staple diet of rural Slovenes, a
buckwheat or maize porridge often served with sauerkraut. Ocvrti sir (cheese
fried in breadcrumbs) is one of the few dishes that will appease
vegetarians. On the coast you'll find plenty of fish ( riba ), mussels (
zkoljke ) and squid ( kalamari ). Italian pasta dishes appear on most
restaurant menus, and no Slovene high street is without at least one
pizzeria.
Typical desserts include several solid Central European favourites:
strudel, filled with apple or rhubarb; ztruklji , dumplings with fruit
filling; potica , a doughy roll filled with nuts and honey; and
prekmurska gibanica , a delicious local cheesecake.
Drink
Daytime drinking takes place in small café/bars, or in a kavarna , where
a range of cakes, pastries and ice cream is usually on offer. Coffee (
kava ) is usually served black unless specified otherwise - ask for
mleko (milk) or smetana (cream) - and often drunk alongside a glass of
mineral water ( mineralna voda ). Tea ( caj ) is usually served black.
Familiar nonalcoholic drinks ( brezalkoholne pijace ) such as Coca-Cola,
Pepsi and Sprite are all fairly ubiquitous.
Evening drinking usually goes on in small European-style bars or the
more traditional pivnica (beer hall) or vinarna (wine cellar). Slovene
beer ( pivo ) is of the Pilsner type and is usually excellent ( Lazko
Zlatorog is regarded as the best), although most breweries also produce
temno pivo (literally "dark beer"), a Guinness-like stout. The local
wine ( vino ) is either crno (red) or belo (white) and has an
international reputation: dry whites like Lazki rizling and Ljutomercan
are regularly found on Western supermarket shelves; the less common and
more refined Sipon and Halozan are worth seeking out. Best of the reds
are the light Cvicek and the dark, dry Kraski teran . Favourite
aperitifs include slivovka (plum brandy), vilijemovka (pear brandy), the
fiery sadjevec , a brandy made from various fruits, and the gin-like
juniper-based brinovec .
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