Recipe Slovak Easter Cheese

Šelinka is a thick soup made from celeriac roots and leaves, potatoes, carrots and spices. A pig’s trotter or some other piece of smoked or dried pork meat is often cooked in it. It can be served with polenta.

Autumn in Slovakia belongs to goose feasts, with their long tradition especially in the Small-Carpathian region. Breeding of geese and goose feasts in Slovakia have about a hundred year long tradition that is related to the southern regions of our country. The tradition of roasting goose came to Slovakia from German-speaking countries, especially Austria and Germany, where it is associated with the feast of St. Martin. In Slovakia, it was mainly established for economic reasons because selling roasted goose at the local markets was the activity of Slovak housewives, which in this way improved the household budget. Gourmets from various parts of the country began to search for places where the best goose came from (Chorvátsky and Slovenský Grob). Another reason for the emergence of this habit was just to the South of Slovakia with plenty of small rivers and brooks ideal conditions for breeding geese.

Bigoli con L’Arna is one of the most mouthwatering dishes of Vicenza’s cuisine. This is an ancient recipe which brings us back in time of 16th century, when the Holy League defeated the Ottoman Empire in the famous Battle of Lepanto. To remember the glorious victory, Pope Pio V (and subsequently Gregorio XIII) established a feast called Our Lady of the Rosary, celebrated by the locals of Veneto with this special dish every first Sunday of October.

The Chestnut: sweet, healthy and low in calories. The Valle Isarco/Eisacktal Valley innkeepers show us the taste of the chestnut during the “Valle Isarco Chestnut Speciality Weeks” from the middle of October to the beginning of November when everything revolves around the fruit of the bread-fruit tree. Numerous inns all along the route of the Keschtnweg, in the traditional chestnut growing area of the Valle Isarco offer all sorts of tasty treats during this time, which are all prepared using the noble chestnut.