Food heritage of Posavje is extremely diverse and rich. Regardless of that, Posavje kitchen was not so long ago relatively unknown and neglected. In recent years, traditional dishes have become more and more popular on the menus in local cuisine and on the menus of modern local culinary offer. Ida Intihar with the help of her colleagues published a book Prehranska kulturna dediščina Posavja in which one can see the most typical recipes of our ancestors in Posavje region.
And how did our ancestors eat? They cooked simple dishes and there was less meat on the menus. The meals were stronger, with lots of different porridges, vegetable stews, they also often ate gruels and “štruklji”. Baking and cooking were more common on various holidays, for special events or when various farm chores had to be done and there were more people helping with the work.
One of the most traditional food of our ancestors was overheated cream (“pregreta smetana”) – this dish was well known in this region, from Radeče to Brežice, but not anywhere else. Even today, many grandparents have fond memories of this dish, which was prepared from fresh milk.
Today it is hard to imagine cuisine of Posavje region without krškopoljc (krškopoljski pig), capon and fish. Although many dishes and recipes of our ancestors are hard to find in modern kitchen, there are some interesting recipes you can include in your everyday food preparation. The rich cultural heritage of Posavje region offers many new possibilities for innovation in modern cuisine. Here are some interesting recipes of traditional Posavje food for you to try them out.
“Potanc”
Where there were big families and smaller farms, the children were often hungry. That’s why they were very familiar with “potanc” – simple dish, substitute for bread, made only from basic ingredients. It included corn flour, milk, and cream – they stuffed this in a baking tray and then baked it in oven. If they had luck, they put some spread on top of it, so the dish was more filling. This dish was prepared much more quickly and easier than bread, which is one reason more, why we can quickly and easily prepare it today as a snack.
Ingredients:
- – 500 g of corn flour
- – 0,5 l of milk
- – 2 dl sour cream
- – salt
Preparation:
Pour boiling salted milk over the corn flour. When the mixture cools down a bit, add some sour cream and place it on the baking tray – you easily “squeeze” it on tray with your hands. Bake it in the oven at about 160 degrees for half an hour.
»Puhla« with cracklings
Ingredients:
- ½ kg flour
- Salt
- 3 dag yeast
- 1 dl of milk
- Water, cracklings
- 3 eggs
Preparation:
First make the dough as you would for bread from ½ kg of flour. Then roll out the dough or simply spread it on the baking tray with your hands. Put a mixture of eggs and 10 dag of melted cracklings on top of it. Bake it at 180°C for about 20 minutes so the top of Puhla is baked nicely.
»Bizeljski« buckwheat cake
Ingredients (dough):
- 80 dag of buckwheat flour
- Up to 1,5 l of water
Ingredients (filling):
- 1,5 – 2 kg of cottage cheese
- 2-3 eggs
- Salt
- 10 – 15 dag of butter
- 2 dcl sour cream
Preparation:
First, put some salt in buckwheat flour and then pour it over with boiling water. When this mixture is cooled, add a bit of butter, and knead the dough. Divide the dough into 2 or 3 parts, roll each out thinly and spread them with the filling (cottage cheese, eggs, salt, sour cream). Over that cut little pieces of butter. We roll the dough with filling as a wrapper, place it on a greased or baking paper lined baking tray and bake it for about an hour and a half. First 20 – 30 minutes the temperature should be at its highest (180-200°C), then you should reduce it to 160-170°C and coat the cake with sour cream (you can do this twice). Bake it for a bit and it is ready to be served.
Pork leg – krškopoljski pig
Ingredients:
- Medium-sized pork leg (of krškopoljski pig)
- Thyme and other herbs (salt, pepper)
- Pork fat (lard)
Preparation:
Cut the skin of the pork leg the day before and rub it with herbs, salt, and pepper. Coat it with grease and leave it in the cold overnight. The next day, place the pork leg in a baking tray, filled with water and fat. Bake the leg for at least one hour at a temperature of 180°C and be careful to pour its own juice over the meat for several times during the baking. The pork leg is baked when the skin is crispy, and the fat is melted.