Springtime brings fresh herbs to our forests and meadows. Many of them are edible and we not only use them to flavour food, but also cleanse our bodies and boost our immune systems after winter. Wild garlic, or bear garlic (medvedí cesnak), as we call it in Slovak, appears in our latitudes towards the end … Continue reading Millet Stir-Fry with Walnuts and Bear Garlic
'Would you like a few zucchinis from our garden?' a friend asked me a few days ago. Of course I would. I know how versatile this vegetable is, and a home-grown organic zucchini is not what I get every day. So there came two large zucchinis, looking so pretty and tempting that I immediately started … Continue reading Fried Zucchini Rings
I have always associated lavender with the Provence region in France. The iconic photos showing drifts of purple flowers were something I could only see in display windows of chic perfumeries or on labels of expensive cosmetic creams. When I got a sheaf of dried lavender from my friend recently, I was quite surprised to … Continue reading Lavender Cookies
Pudding means different things to different people. I learnt it on my first visit to England years ago when we were served all sorts of sweet dishes 'for pudding'. My host family explained to me that this is how a sweet course after the main meal is often referred to in England. It was even … Continue reading Vanilla Pudding with Cherries and Whipped Cream
The season of fresh, locally grown vegetables is here again, and with it a penchant for a good summer salad. Although you can make one all through the year these days, I'm sure you know the difference between vegetables imported from far-away countries or grown in artificial conditions of big indoor farms, and those that … Continue reading Slovak-Style Salad with Parenitza Cheese
The book that provided inspiration for this recipe is very old. It was, in fact, the first cookbook written in the Slovak language. The author Ján Babilon published it in 1870 in Pest (today's Budapest), where he owned a restaurant and worked as a chef. There are 90 different soup recipes in Babilon's cookbook, and … Continue reading Creamy Walnut and Leek Soup
This is one of the vegetarian recipes that's still in my cooking repertoire. I first tried it years ago when, right after the Fall of Communism in my country, we were exposed to new, alternative ways of cooking. Even though my family didn't always share my excitement over new food, this particular dish has always … Continue reading Oatflake Patties with Mashed Potatoes
Buckwheat is another ancient food staple returning to our cuisine. It used to be a common ingredient of our ancestors, as Ján Babilon - the author of the first cookbook in the Slovak language says. He was a chef and the owner of a restaurant in Pest (today's Budapest), where he published Prvá kuchárka v slovenskej … Continue reading Buckwheat Groats with Braised Cauliflower and Carrots
The Slovak word for a bilberry is one of those funny words we like to teach foreigners when they're curious about our language. Why? Because Slovak is ranked among the most difficult languages in the world, and if we wanted to assess your linguistic calibre, then čučoriedka would be one of the testing words. Čučoriedky (tchou-tcho-ryiedki) … Continue reading Quick-and-easy Bilberry Cake
When I was doing research on lečo - a dish that landed in our cuisine while we were under Hungarian rule between 1000 and 1918 - I came across various recipes ranging from a meatless option to an eggy one to a letcho with a spicy, Hungarian-style sausage. What all these recipes had in common was green … Continue reading Letcho
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