There’s are always two things I’m rather adamant about when traveling. First, when Tim and I are on the hunt for a restaurant, I’m always saying we need to go over at least one street from the main tourist drags. Second, food tours are an excellent way of discovering a city and I mean both its food and culture. Both of those things were undoubtedly confirmed on a Ljubljana food tour we recently took with Ljubljananjam.
Ljubljana’s a city we’ve been to at least a dozen times. Heck, we’ve been there five times in the last month alone. And it’s been funny to watch it grow from a virtually unknown-to-Americans city into an “it” capital to visit over the last few years. Like Budapest and Prague Ljubljana has a river splitting the old town into a right bank and a left bank. An imposing fortress overlooks it from a hill. And bridges criss-cross the river making it easy to zig-zag from right to left bank and back again. But what people might not know is that Ljubljana an impressive foodie scene.
So what is Slovenian cuisine? For such a small country, Slovenian cuisine is extremely diverse and has a lot of influence from all of its neighbors: Austria, Italy, Croatia and Hungary. The tiny country is divided into 23 gastronomic regions and there are 170 recognized and typical dishes. That’s a lot of variety packed into a country comparable in size to the entire state of New Jersey.
Our food tour with Ljubljananjam introduced us to a handful of the varied cuisines you can find just in Slovenia’s capital. Iva, owner and guide at Ljubljananjam, customizes every one of her tours to your personal tastes so every food tour is a little bit different.
A variety of homemade Slovenian breads
We started with a visit to the covered market, which I must admit I’d walked by countless times and never even noticed. There inside the covered market hall were local producers selling everything from homemade breads to various cuts of meat. Iva told us that Slovenians love their bread and we tried a variety of breads made with various grains and cereals. We also tried a Slovenian sheep’s cheese aged 10-11 months from one of the cheese sellers.
A bowl of mushroom soup hit the spot to warm us up. There are over 100 different soups alone in Slovenian cuisine and I was fascinated to learn that meat-based soups are served only on Sundays and feast days.
Sea bass atop lemon mashed potatoes
Sea bass is one of my favorite kinds of fish and we tried a sea bass filet from Piran (also one of our favorite places in Slovenia) served atop a bed of lemon mashed potatoes in a parchment paper. The delicious scents drifted out as the parchment paper was opened. And I’ve got to try making lemon mashed potatoes at home. Yum!
Na zdravje!
Slovenia also makes delicious wines and has around 28,000 wineries. That means they’re growing a lot of grapes in a country slightly smaller than the state of New Jersey! It’s mainly a white wine producing country and we paired a white wine called Zelen from Vina Dornberg, a winery from one of the windiest regions in Slovenia where winds can reach over 100 kilometers per hour.
Goat cheese, marmalade, caper berries, olives and sun dried tomatoes
Perhaps one of my favorite stops of our tour was for more cheese, this time a goat cheese platter served with two kinds of Slovenian marmalade, caper berries, olives and sun dried tomatoes.
Pumpkin oil is a staple Slovenian condiment
One thing you might notice when dining in Slovenian restaurants is that pumpkin oil is placed on the tables right alongside olive oil and vinegar. It’s a typical Slovenian product that is drizzled over salads, soups and even ice creams. No Ljubljana food tour would be complete without tasting this typical product and we tasted both a cold pressed and a roasted pumpkin oil. I prefer the roasted, personally. And don’t worry if you don’t like pumpkin. The taste isn’t at all what you might expect.
Sarma and polenta
Remember that I said that Slovenian cuisine takes its inspiration from its neighboring countries? Sarma is a perfect example of that. It’s not a Slovenian dish, but it is loved and made by Slovenians. Sarma is a type of cabbage roll filled with minced meat. We actually tried a vegetarian version on our tour and while it was tasty, Tim and I both agreed we would have preferred the meat version.
Carniolan sausage
Our sarma was served with Carniolan sausage, which is kind of similar to Polish kielbasa that we know in the US. It’s one of the many protected foods in Europe. Like Champagne can only be called Champagne if it comes from a particular region of France and is produced in a particular way, these protected foods are highly regulated in order to maintain their traditional origin.
It’s made from pork, bacon, salt from the Sečovlje salt pans, garlic and black pepper. The meat must be cut up to a very specific size, then is stuffed in to a casing of another very specific size before finally being smoked and cured. We tried it with just a little bit of mustard. Delicious!
Slovenian craft beer
Craft beer definitely is a new thing on the Slovenian foodie scene, and craft breweries are popping up all over the capital. I was again surprised to learn that there would not be Belgian beer without Slovenia hops! Slovenia is very rich in hops, so it was only a short time before the country began producing its own beer.
Ljubljananjam offers a whole craft beer tour focused just on beer, but Iva wouldn’t leave out the opportunity to taste at least one. We tasted a traditional Belgian recipe wheat beer with orange peel and spices added. I’m not usually a beer drinker, but I liked it and even finished mine off.
Sour cherry strudel
No food tour is complete without dessert and the sour cherry and apple strudels we finished off our multi-course meal with are another great example of how Slovenian cuisine is inspired by the country’s neighbors.
It sounds like we ate so much we had to be stuffed for weeks after. Don’t worry. You won’t need to acquire your own pair of Thanksgiving pants. The portions are just enough to get a good taste, yet leave room for all of the delicious things you’ll eat. We also walked and wove our way back and forth across the Ljubljanica River from one end of the old town to the other, learning tidbits about Ljubljana and Slovenia all along the way.
Audrey Hepburn said “Paris is always a good idea,” but I say a food tour is always a good idea!
Know Before You Go
Our Ljubljana food tour was provided by Ljubljananjam in order to bring you this story. However, Luxe Adventure Traveler maintains full editorial control of the content published on this site. As always, all thoughts, opinions, and enthusiasm for travel are entirely our own.
Larry says
All the food looks absolutely delicious! This article might be too good. I have to go find some sausage and cheese now.
Jennifer Dombrowski says
Come visit and we’ll take you on this food tour! We also bought some bear salami at the Central Market, that is pretty tasty.
Isabelle says
Ljubljana is one of our favorite cities. We’ve been there so many times but I don’t think I’ve ever seen this covered market!! I must go back. This food tour sounds great. Thanks for sharing
Jennifer Dombrowski says
Us too! The covered market is so easy to miss, yet now that I know where it is I can’t believe that I never noticed it before. I was back in Ljubljana again yesterday and popped in to pick up a few things. I wish I had a market like that nearby where we live in Italy…
isabelle says
Is it close to the outdoor market? Close to the lock bridge? We are going again really soon and I want to make sure we don’t miss it this time around.
Jennifer Dombrowski says
If you’re in the Central Market facing the castle, the covered market is the building on the right edge of the Central Market. You can go in the door right from there.
Iva says
It’s very easy to spot as it says POKRITA TRŽNICA in big letters. :))) But no worries, I’ll teach you some Slovenian 🙂 Welcome for my foodwalk anytime!
Iva says
It’s very easy to spot as it says POKRITA TRŽNICA in big letters. :))) But no worries, I’ll teach you some Slovenian 🙂 Welcome for my foodwalk anytime!
Rebecca says
Sea Bass, lemon mashed potatoes and a typical Slovenian white wine – yummm. I’m happy to know that Slovenian cuisine is so varied as I’ll be spending a week in Ljubljana, a few pounds heavier at the end it sounds like!
Jennifer Dombrowski says
You’ll enjoy Ljubljana, Rebecca! With all the walking, biking and even hiking that you can do in and right around the city, I bet you’ll easy be able to keep those extra travel pounds off.
Vesna says
Great blog post about Slovenia culinary scene. In such a small country Slovenia you can taste many local delicacies. As a local I can say that Iva simply rocks in Ljubljana. Welcome back anytime to experience more of Slovenia. Vesna
Jennifer Dombrowski says
Thanks Vesna! We love Slovenia and always enjoy it when we visit.
Marnely says
Oh this looks like a dream food tour! Whenever we visit a new city, we try to do the same – thanks for sharing!
Jennifer Dombrowski says
It was definitely a delicious food tour. And the thing about food is that it always has connections to the history. Delicious food knows no language barriers!
Lori says
Ok, so I’ve never even heard of Ljubljana and you’ve been there a dozen times?? Clearly, you travel often! Looks like a lovely place to experience. Definitely adding it to my bucket list for travel!
Jennifer Dombrowski says
I don’t think we’d heard of Ljubljana either until we moved to Italy. I’m pretty sure the first time I ever went was because that is the closest US Embassy to where we live and then I thought, what the heck I’ll look around. It’s a wonderful little city totally not on most Americans radar.
Kimberly says
Slovenia is such a gorgeous country and I’ve been so happy to see its tourism industry come to life. I enjoyed this virtual food tour and the sprinkling of culture and history – thanks!
Jennifer Dombrowski says
We’ve lived in Northern Italy for seven years now and being so close, we’ve been able to watch Slovenian tourism evolve. Even three years ago you’d never run in to Americans on holiday in Slovenia. That’s definitely changed now! The day we went on our food tour, we were joined by an American couple that was traveling in Slovenia for their vacation. It’s great to see this beautiful country finally on people’s radars.
Deborah says
I love to get to know a country by their cuisine. I would have not known at all what Slovenian food was, so this was so interesting! And I’m completely intrigued by that pumpkin oil.
Jennifer Dombrowski says
I still prefer olive oil to pumpkin oil, even though I’m a big fan of pumpkin. The roasted had much more flavor and Slovenians even use it on ice cream. I’m not so sure about that, but I’ll try just about anything once!
Joanie says
When my husband and I travel, our favorite thing to do is explore the area through their cuisine. What a fun experience this must have been. Definitely putting this area on our travel list.
Jennifer Dombrowski says
You really can learn so much about the culture and history through food! Countries constantly undergo change, but one part of their identity they always manage to maintain is the food.
Sandy says
I’d love to be a part of a Ljubljananjam Food Tour – this food looks amazing. Love the sausages, and you got me at the strudels! 🙂
Jennifer Dombrowski says
Everything was really delicious, but those sausages were one of my favorite bites on the tour.
Ursha says
I was on a cruise ship recently which stopped in port of Koper, Slovenia. I went on several tours and shore excursions. I must say that Slovenia really is a hidden treasure. People are very kind. A vacation to remember!
Jennifer Dombrowski says
Slovenia is definitely a gem a lot of people don’t consider visiting. I’m glad to hear that you got a taste of it on your cruise!