An old tradition says that visitors should be greeted with bread and salt. What greets you nowadays are low restaurant prices and great quality food. Delicious Slovak meals are served in almost every restaurant in Slovakia.
National dish and favorite food of most Slovaks: home-cooked dumplings with sheep cheese and bacon (“bryndzové halušky”)
Slovak cuisine is full of milk products, meat (especially pork), potatoes, dumplings and thick sauces. Cabbage, onions and garlic is a must. Halusky are often finished with a glass of sour milk (“žinčica”). Milk and cheese products are best from chalets (sheepfolds), where an old guy in garb prepares it from the milk of his sheeps, goats or cows. Cookies, desserts and cakes are often prepared by our grandmas. It is unspeakable not to eat all of them while visiting.
Slovaks love good distilled beverages. Ask for a good “hruskovica” (from pears) or “slivovica” (from plums). Clean 100% distilate is the highest-quality alcohol. Be careful, it’s not for sissies.
Wine culture
Slovakia is divided in six wine-growing areas: Little Carpathians, Nitrian, South Slovakian, Middle Slovakian, East Slovakian, and Tokaj – a neighbour to Hungarian Tokaj. These regions are unimaginable without their many vineyards.
Little Carpathians, a small western territory of Slovakia, is said to be the best vine-growing area with almost a thousand years of wine-making traditions. Clay, sand, and rocky soils are exposed to the work of mountain streams and make the land very capable to produce quality vines.
Nowadays 40 varieties of grapes are grown in Slovakia.
We highly recommend a wine tour accross Slovakia’s best and famous wine spots.