I was pretty excited to cook food from Slovakia this week, as I usually really enjoy Central European cuisine. My expectations were that there would be potatoes and pork, but I didn’t really know what else.
Slovakia, which means ‘Land of the Slavs’, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, sharing borders with Poland, Ukraine, Hungary, Austria, and the Czech Republic.
Stone tools dating back to 270,000 BC have been found in Slovakia, making it clear that the region was inhabited by humans in ancient times. Later, during the Bronze Age (around 3200-900 BC), evidence suggests that copper production became a major industry.
Various ancient cultures prospered in the region, and over the centuries, prominent powers including the Celts, Romans, and Huns settled parts of the land.
Finally, during the fifth century, Slavic tribes settled in the area and stayed. The country became a part of larger states, including the Kingdom of Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Czechoslovakia. In 1993, Czechoslovakia was dissolved, and Slovakia became an independent state.
Slovakia is a developed country with a high-income economy, and it provides its citizens with universal healthcare and free education. It is also the world’s largest per-capita car producer.
What Do People Eat in Slovakia?
Slovak cuisine was influenced by the traditional cuisine of other countries in the region, but it also influenced them in return. This is why there are many similarities and even variations on the same dishes in this part of Europe.
Families used to live self-sufficiently, producing and processing much of their food themselves. They would grind wheat and make bread, dumplings, and noodles, which formed the basis of many meals. Potatoes were also very popular; they were usually either boiled or made into potato dough.
Traditional pork products still common today include sausages, smoked bacon, and lard. Although pork was and probably still is the most popular meat, beef, poultry, lamb, and goat are also consumed.
Other common ingredients include dairy products, sauerkraut, eggs, fruit, wild mushrooms, onions, and other local vegetables. Spices weren’t widely used in traditional cooking, but they are becoming more prevalent.
What I Made
- Bryndzové Halušky (Potato Dumplings with Cheese & Bacon)
- Kapustnica (Sauerkraut Soup)
- Zemiakové Placky (Potato Pancakes)
- Langoš (Fried Bread)
- Treska v Majonéze (Cod Salad)
Scroll down to read about other popular Slovak dishes I didn’t make!
Bryndzové Halušky (Potato Dumplings with Cheese & Bacon)
This is Slovakia’s national dish, consisting of potato dumplings with bryndza cheese and bacon. Since I can’t get bryndza cheese, I used feta, which is supposedly a decent alternative.
I started by peeling and grating a Russet potato. I combined it with flour, an egg, salt, and a little water. I had to add a bit more water to get the right consistency, which is like a thick batter.
I added small pieces of the dough at a time to a pot of simmering water. A spätzle maker would be ideal here. I know many recipes also say you can use a colander instead, but I tried that when making spätlzle for Germany and it did not work well for me. So instead, I just used a spoon to grab small bits of dough. I let the dumplings cook until they rose to the top of the pan. Then, I removed them and continued cooking in batches until I ran out of dough.
While the dumplings were cooking, I chopped some bacon and cooked it until crispy. I also mashed some feta cheese with heavy cream.
When all my dumplings were ready, I tossed them with the feta mixture and sprinkled them with the cooked bacon.
I ate this with a salad on the side, which was definitely needed because this was a heavy dish! However, it was also very good.
The recipe I used is from Kitchen Frau.
Kapustnica (Sauerkraut Soup)
This popular soup is made with pork, sausage, bacon, onion, apples, and lots of sauerkraut! It is finished with sour cream.
I began by adding the sauerkraut, along with its liquid, to a large pot with some water. I brought the liquid to a boil, then added chopped pork shoulder, along with peppercorns, caraway seeds, cloves, bay leaves, nutmeg, and minced garlic. Then I added a whole onion (peeled and with the ends cut off) and a whole apple (cored and peeled). Finally, I added dried mushrooms and salt, and let everything cook for a while.
Once the pork was mostly tender, I cooked some bacon and Polish sausage in a separate pan. I added this to the pot with everything else, as well as some paprika and a little cayenne pepper.
I cooked the soup a little longer. Then, I stirred in sour cream that I’d mixed with a little flour. I let the soup simmer for a few more minutes, and then I removed it from the heat.
This was quite good, but the sauerkraut taste was pretty strong. Of course, there was a lot of sauerkraut in the soup so that made sense!
This recipe is from Slovak Cooking.
Zemiakové Placky (Potato Pancakes)
I’ve come across potato pancakes as a popular dish in many countries so far, and I think I’ve made them a few times now. I decided to make them this week too, because this version has marjoram and I wanted to try it. Maybe I also just wanted an excuse to eat potato pancakes, because they are always good!
I began by grating the potatoes finely; I used Russets because they are great at getting crispy! I squeezed as much water as I could out of the potato. Then, I added grated onion, microplaned garlic, an egg, salt, pepper, marjoram, and a little flour.
I heated some oil in a cast-iron skillet, and then I made cakes out of the potato mixture and pan-fried them.
These were super delicious, as I knew they would be. I ate them with sour cream.
This recipe is from Slovak Cooking.
Langoš (Fried Bread)
Langoš is a type of fried dough or bread offered by street vendors in Slovakia and nearby countries such as Czechia. They can be served with various toppings, such as ketchup, garlic, sour cream, and cheese.
I began by combining water, sugar, and yeast, and letting it sit so the yeast could activate. Then, I added this mixture to a bowl with flour, salt, egg, and sour cream. I kneaded the dough until it came together and became smooth. Then, I set it in a greased bowl and let it rest, covered, for a little over four hours.
When I was ready to cook, I took a piece of dough and stretched it out as thinly as I could. I fried each langoš in peanut oil in a cast-iron skillet. Each side only took a few minutes. Once I removed each langoš from the pan, I sprinkled it with a little salt on both sides.
I topped my langoš with sour cream and cheese, which was delicious! Of course, it is hard to go wrong with anything fried.
The recipe I used is from Slovak Cooking.
Treska v Majonéze (Cod Salad)
I guess this doesn’t really sound (or look) that appetizing, but tuna salad is pretty common, so why not cod salad?
I began by bringing some water to a simmer along with some white vinegar, bay leaves, and black peppercorns. Then, I added a cod fillet and let it cook.
Meanwhile, I boiled some carrots briefly, and then grated them. This is what I think the recipe was telling me to do, but it was pretty hard to grate par-cooked carrots because they were too bendy. If I were to make this again, I would probably grate the carrot and then blanch it.
When the cod had cooled a bit, I added it to a bowl with the grated carrots. I added finely chopped onion, mayonnaise, mustard, vinegar, salt, and pepper, and mashed the cod with the rest of the ingredients. Then, I let the mixture sit in the fridge for a few hours.
I ate this with some homemade bread, and honestly, I was surprised at how good it was! I may actually make this again.
This recipe is from Ryba. It’s in Slovak but it’s a simple recipe and Google translates it pretty well.
Other Popular Slovak Dishes
- Fašírka – breaded and fried pork burger patties, commonly served with potatoes and cabbage.
- Šúľance – potato dumplings, typically served with ground poppyseeds, sugar, and melted butter.
- Gulaš – Slovak goulash, a thick stew which is usually made with beef and seasoned with paprika.
- Bryndzové pirohy – pierogi (Polish dumplings) filled with bryndza cheese.
Final Thoughts
This was a great week! I loved all the food from Slovakia, but I think my favorite was the langoš.
Next time, I will be cooking food from Slovenia.