Eating at Home

Slovak cuisine is influenced by the Hungarian, Austrian, Czech, and Polish cuisines. Every region really has its own cuisine; the authentic “Slovak” cuisine comes from the mountainous northern region. It is hearty and high-fat, drawing from the small variety of staples grown in this harsh climate: potatoes, cabbage, sheep milk, onions, and pork fat. The main meal of the day is traditionally lunch; it consists of a first course of a soup and a main course of a meat with potatoes, rice, or steamed dumplings. Dessert is not traditionally eaten right after lunch but in the afternoon. Typical Slovak desserts are poppy-seed or ground walnut rolled cakes ( makovník , orechovník ), Christmas honey cookies (medovníky ), or pagáce (yeast crackers with pork grease and bacon).

One of the most popular national dishes is bryndzové halušky - potato-based dumplings with bryndza , a unique sheep cheese, and fried bacon. Other very typical Slovak foods are smoked cheese, potato pancakes, lokše (dry-fried potato pancakes), poppy-seed noodles, jaternice (pork sausages, white bread or rice, and pork blood), roasted geese and ducks with fried sauerkraut, and the traditional breaded Christmas carp. Perhaps the most important staple of Slovak cuisine, regardless of region, is bread, eaten traditionally for breakfast with butter, jam, or honey, and providing a basis for almost any dinner. Bread is eaten with cheese, ham, bacon, klobása (dry paprika sausage), or simply greased with goose, duck, or pork melted lard and sprinkled with chopped onion.