February 22, 2013

Slovak Food: The 4 Best Slovak Meals

Let’s face it, Slovak food doesn’t exactly have the best reputation in the world. I think it’s safe to say the same about central and eastern European food in general. However, I adored the local Czech food in Prague (why hello, svickova) and couldn’t get enough of the plentiful, hearty and cheap food in Poland: lashings of sour cream accompanying the food prepared by my CouchSurfing hosts in Wroclaw, soul-warming grub in budget cafeterias in Gdansk and, erm, a whole lot of apple juice to go in with my bargain Zubrowka vodka.

 

I’ll be visiting Bratislava for a few days later this year, and I’m not going to lie and say that I know anything about Slovak food. Because I don’t. So, I’ve invited one of the spunkiest bloggers around, Alexandra from Crazy Sexy Fun Traveler, to tell us all about Slovak food and why it brings a smile to her face. Take it away, Alex!

 

Being from Slovakia, I grew up on the local Slovak food made by my mum and my grandma. I would be lying if I said that even after almost 10 years of not living in Slovakia, I have not found better cooks and tastier meals that would get stuck in my heart as much as some of our Slovak food back home.

 

I still think my mum and my grandma make the yummiest meals ever, and no one will convince me otherwise. Or is it just the Slovak food that they make that’s the best?

 

Each time I plan to go back to Slovakia to visit my family, I am already dreaming madly about my favorite meals. And then, once there, I always forget about my healthy lifestyle when trying to stay fit while traveling.

 

Because let me be honest with you …

 

Slovak food is FAR from healthy! Most of the meals contain white flour, cheese or potatoes.

 

But maybe that’s what makes it so delicious and unique … And sometimes, it is nice to cheat and indulge in some forbidden fruit

 

Trying to choose the best Slovak food is not an easy task. I could spend hours trying to think of them all, but here are what I deem to be the best choices.

 

Halušky

 

Slovak halušky with special sheep milk cheese on top (called bryndza) can be found on every menu in Slovakia. Made of grated potatoes, flour, eggs, water and salt, cooked and then mixed with bryndza. Bryndza is supposed to have a great effect on your stomach which makes it at least a bit ”healthy”. You won’t find halušky very often elsewhere in the world as bryndza is made in Slovakia and you can usually only get it in the surrounding Central European countries and in Slovak food.

 

Cooked pirohy

 

Another typical Slovak food, pirohy is a sort of pasty, again made with flour. My preferred filling is tvaroh cheese but at Christmas we use sauerkraut instead. Many families also enjoy pirohy with cooked potatoes inside. I am all about cheese as the other flavours are a bit dry to me. Or, as a Sunday sweet lunch maybe you could even fill them up with marmalade.

 

Fried pirohy

 

Obviously fairly similar to cooked pirohy, the dough in the fried version is a bit different as you need to add sour cream there and then just fry them up. Fried pirohy is served with sour cream or ketchup. Different families and different regions in Slovakia also use different fillings in their pirohy. Fried pirohy are even less healthier than the cooked ones; yet despite their obvious similarities, they both taste and look completely different.

 

Cabbage rolls

 

Called holubky in Slovakian, these cabbage rolls are simply made of rice and ground meat, usually beef, or you can use mushrooms instead of the meat; and then rolled in cabbage or kale. Cooked with tomato sauce and eaten then with bread. A lot tastier than they look and sound, they’re one of my favourite kinds of Slovak food

 

This Foodporn Friday Guest Post Was Brought To You By

Alexandra Kovacova is a crazy Slovak girl who made traveling the reason of her life. Her motto is ”I live to travel, I travel to live.” You can find Alex blogging about her crazy travel, fun adventures and sexy photos at Crazy Sexy Fun Traveler blog, and also at We Travel around the World and Fit when Traveling (obviously, when she is not munching on unhealthy Slovak meals). Follow Alex at @Sexyfuntraveler.

 

*Note – the image used for the cover photo is by avlxyz on Flickr. All other photos used are property of Alexandra Kovacova.

 

So there you have it, folks! Now, I want to hear from you! Have you ever tried Slovak food? Which of the meals here looks the tastiest to you? Has Alexandra missed anything off the list that you just love? Let us know in the comments below, or shout out on Facebook or Twitter.