Recipes of traditional dishes from the Lower Sava Valley
The particularities of the culinary traditions of the Lower Sava Valley have been preserved in their essence to this day in certain locations, but many local restaurants and inns will take these typical dishes and prepare them in a more contemporary way or shape.
Some of the recipes below represent a selection of traditional dishes of the Lower Sava Valley (Posavje in Slovene) featured in the cookbook written by Ida Intihar, who involved various collaborators, cookery associations and culinary experts from Posavje in the process of compiling and writing down these recipes. The focus of her book are dishes that do not contain (much if any) meat, flour-based recipes, štruklji rolls, groats, various cereals, cultivated and forest fruits. One of Posavje’s most characteristic ingredients featured in the book is the so-called pregreta smetana (‘overheated cream’, a type of reduced slightly caramelised cream) from fresh farm milk used in many regional specialties. People used to cook and bake a lot in festive seasons, to mark special events or during key farm chores. The other recipes were originally published in the book Okusi Posavja (Flavours of the Lower Sava Valley) by Lea Kužnik and Marjetka Rangus.
Of course, there is no lack of meat in today’s cuisine of Posavje: the main focus is on krškopoljski pork, capon is another specialty, followed by duck and goose, etc., as well as fish prepared in a variety of ways.
Keep on reading to find recipes that will allow you to make a lavish lunch consisting of typical dishes from the Lower Sava Valley.
And when you do visit, this brochure listing the restaurants and inns who partake in the Okusi Posavja/Taste Posavje
gourmet project will surely come in handy, too.