Austria-Hungary, agriculture, and the shaping of Slovak cuisine across centuries
The cuisine I grew up with wasn’t labeled as “Slovak.” This was probably because at my grandmother’s house — where I spent a large part of my childhood — as well as at our own home, we tended to cook Prešporok-style cuisine (Prešporok, or Pressburg, is the pre-1919 name for Bratislava).
I grew up in a trilingual Bratislava, where Slovak, Hungarian, and German were commonly spoken, and this was reflected in the kitchen. At home, meals were prepared in a varied and balanced way using local ingredients for as long as I can remember. Even though food was hard to come by and cooking a varied menu was a major challenge back then, we rarely had the same meal twice in a week.
We went to the market regularly, where we could buy fresh seasonal vegetables and fruit from Žitný ostrov, Stupava sauerkraut, pickled cucumbers and vegetables, and fresh poultry, especially ducks and geese. And also the very best raw korbáčiky (traditional plaited string cheese), which the vendors brought all the way from Zázrivá.
The market offered everything that made up the foundation of Prešporok cuisine: fresh and fermented vegetables, legumes, potatoes, poultry, and occasionally pork products — bacon, sausages, lard, or cracklings. Grandma also always knew where to get fresh meat or offal, especially liver.
In our household, we ate everything, and the meals varied depending on the day of the week: on Monday, we finished off Sunday’s leftovers, Tuesday was for side dishes with protein — hard-boiled eggs, fried eggs, meatloaf, sausages, or “meat in gravy.” On Wednesday, we ate “dough” dishes — savoury or sweet — accompanied by a thicker soup. Thursday brought another side dish, Friday featured something delicious made from dough, and Saturday was more or less whatever we felt like eating. Sunday lunch was always the highlight of the week. A hearty broth was a must, always served with homemade noodles. The main course consisted of meat with a side dish — potatoes, rice, Viennese dumplings, or tarhoňa, all homemade, of course. After lunch, dessert with coffee, usually homemade, but sometimes from the neighbourhood pastry shop.
A cuisine with roots in Austria-Hungary
Food has the power to inspire and connect cultures. Even those who disagree in everyday life can sit down peacefully together at a table full of food. Food — especially the kind we enjoy — becomes a part of us over time and comes to be called “ours”. In Slovakia, a very long time ago, we used to eat grain porridges made from buckwheat, barley, and rye. We also ate some legume porridges — fava beans, lentils, and peas. We baked unleavened flatbreads on a stone or in an oven. Bread didn’t come along until later. We ate root vegetables — turnips, carrots, and beets. Meat was scarce. We sweetened our food with honey and treated ourselves to apples, plums, pears, and cherries, both fresh and dried, as well as walnuts and hazelnuts.
Our culinary traditions were significantly enriched by the Vlas, shepherds from Romania and the Balkans, who migrated to the Northern Carpathians and also came to our mountainous regions in the 14th–17th centuries. They brought us the practice of raising sheep in the mountains, and the production of dairy products and cheeses directly on the mountain pastures. Thanks to them, today we take pride in “our” bryndza, parenica, and oštiepok.
Potatoes arrived in Slovakia in the 18th century. Although they had reached Europe much earlier — as early as the 16th century, in fact — they were initially grown as ornamental plants. Here, they were first grown by monks in monastery gardens and by the nobility on their estates. By the end of the 18th century, they began to be cultivated mainly in northern Slovakia — Spiš, Liptov, and Orava. Since they were more hardy than grains, they provided a reliable harvest and served as a sort of safeguard against famine. Starting in the 19th century, they became a staple of our cuisine and gave us harule, šúľance, lokše, pirohy, and, of course, halušky.
When I look back today, I realise that I grew up on Austro-Hungarian cuisine, and this has been reaffirmed during my travels to Hungary, Austria, Slovenia, and even the eastern regions of Italy. There, I often eat dishes that are familiar to me, and their flavours take me back to my childhood. From my perspective, the Austro-Hungarian empire had the most significant influence on our culinary heritage. Perkelt, paprikash, goulash, strudel, schnitzel, side dishes and sauces, meat broths, buchty, dumplings, and various cakes and pastries have become “ours” thanks to the multicultural space of Central Europe. As a native of Prešporok, I feel honoured.
Petra Molnárová
Petra studied German and Italian translation and interpretation, and it was during her studies that she developed a passion for the Italian countryside and high-quality artisanal foods. She has been dedicated to the topics of good food and rural tourism for more than thirty years, both in her own projects and in collaborative ones. As a “food scout,” she connects farmers with end customers and the culinary world, and thirteen years ago she introduced the ideas of the global Slow Food movement to Slovakia. In addition, she founded Slow Food Pressburg and continues to lead it to this day. Through this convivium, she works on meaningful projects such as the Degustorium Artisan Food Festival, the Náš TRH platform, and the international professional conference SOILutions.
