Spring
Breakfast:
My favourite childhood dish for brekfast or dinner, milk grits is easy to prepare and is popular with children and adults.
Lunch:
- Ramson (Wild Garlic) Soup
My family forages everything edible that grown in fields, meadows and forests, and each year we engage in Olympic-level ramson gathering. But knowledge is essential here, because if you don't know what you're looking for, you might accidentally gather a look-alike that is poisonous. Autumn crocus and Lilfy of the Valley might be mistaken for wild garlic at first glance, but neither has a garlicky scent to its leaves. A delicious, creamy wild garlic soup that is very easy to make will undoubtedly delight you and ring in the spring.
- Smoked and Cooked Beef Tongue
You may wonder why anyone would eat beef tongue. But once you savor this simple delicacy, you'll regret not having tried it before. We most often indulge in it around Easter. You can serve it either lukewarm or cold, with dandelion or potato salad.
Slovenians are crazy about dandelions. We don't see them as unwanted weeds, but rather as delicious plants. They are celebrated by young and old, who flood the meadows in the spring to gather this popular plant, which makes for a refreshing and healthy salad. It is eaten as a snack, for lunch or dinner, with people happy to consume the whole bowl of it themselves.
Dandelions are best before they bloom, when the leaves are young and soft. To offset their bitter taste, we combine them with boiled potatoes, eggs and cracklings, which could be swapped out in favour of smoked backon. These warm extras will will soften the leaves and rock out the bitterness, bringing the dish to another level.
Before donuts became the star of the carnival sweets lineup, "mice" were the most common pastry. In Slovenian Istria, these sweet, fried balls, which are much easier to make than donuts, are known as fritole, fritle or fritule and also contain rum-soaked raisins or pine nuts. While frying, they form little "mouse tails," hence their name. "Mice" are a mandatory pastry in the carnival season. Simply irresistible. And gone before you even know it.
Dinner:
My family's favourite is veal liver, but feel free to use either chicken or pork liver instead. For a quick and tasty lunch, my mom's go-to dish was pan-fried veal liver. It is supple and savory, melting in your mouth, with the sauteed onion sauce so scrumptious that we's find ourselves reaching for another piece of bread or spoonful of mashed potatoes to sop it up.