About
Hi there, so who are you and why did you create this site?
My name is Lubos, and I am a regular guy born in Slovakia, who among other things likes to cook. I’ve been living in the United States since I turned 14, and slowly and surely, began to miss the tasty Slovak home cooking. So I figured I’ll try to learn few of the recipes, and perhaps along the way learn bit more about the culture and history of my country.
What else do you do?
I currently live in Falls Church, VA (near Washington, D.C.) and I am working on my PhD in Aerospace Engineering at the George Washington University. I also work part time at NASA. On weekends I like to get out and spend the time outdoors, hiking, running, biking and so on. You can find out a lot of my various hobbies (including the main one, climbing US highpoints) on my personal site.
I have never heard of Slovak food before…
You are not alone! Slovak food is not exactly well known around the world. I am hoping this website will change that. It’s a huge shame – Slovak food is absolutely delicious. And best of all, it’s very easy to prepare. Historically, Slovaks were peasants who spent their days in the fields or herding sheep. As such, the food had to be cooked up fast, but also had to be filling. Many dishes can be prepared using a single pot. But, that doesn’t mean we don’t like the finer things in life. Part of Slovak cuisine are amazing sweets: kolache, buchty, and various Christmas cookies. You will find recipes for many of these on this site.
Where is the recipe for holubky?
Since getting involved with Slovak cooking, I came to realize that the dish most Slovak-Americans associate with traditional Slovak cooking is stuffed cabbage. This dish is referred to as “holubky” or “halupky”. So where is the recipe, since this is a site dedicated to Slovak cooking? Well the funny thing, the first time I had this dish was in the United States! After more digging, I discovered stuffed cabbage is quite popular in Eastern Slovakia, region heavily influenced by both Ukrainian and also Orthodox customs. Since this region has always been the poorest, it makes sense that most immigrants to America came from there. I am from Banska Bystrica, smack in the middle of the country and the only thing that my family stuffed were peppers. I’ll probably add the recipe for “holubky”, but not until I run out of dishes I grew up with. So it may be a while…
Where can I try Slovak food?
Well, this is bit harder. There aren’t that many Slovak restaurants around, unless you are lucky enough to live in New York City or Chicago. Perhaps through this site we can change this? I would very much like to see some Slovak staples (such as the steamed dumpling) to become a regular menu item in American restaurants. Do you own a restaurant and would you like to add something from this site to the menu? Please feel free to do so, just give the site credit when possible. And of course, when you get a chance, hop on a plane and head to Slovakia. It’s a beautiful country full of ancient castles, hot thermal springs, crystal clear mountain lakes and best of all, extremely friendly people.
I love Slovak food! What should I do next?
Great! First, leave me a comment or two. Then become a fan on Facebook or subscribe to the news feed. You can also follow the site on Twitter or Foodbuzz. Finally, let your friends know. Much of site’s traffic comes from personal recommendations so these help a lot.
How do I get in touch with you?
Shoot me email (in English, Slovak or Czech) at lubos@slovakcooking.com or leave a comment.
Ďakujem a dobrú chuť (Thanks and bon apetit).
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Hi Lubos! I found your blog while looking up Slovak recipes. I’m half Slovak on my father’s side My grandmother has been gone for many years now, and I really miss her cooking. The only dish of hers that I can duplicate is Halusky & Cabbage, so I think I need to expand my repertoire, LOL! I like your recipes – I’m going to try Spaghetti with Egg, Bacon & Cheese this week. Definitely NOT diet food, but looks so good!
Looking forward to cooking Slovak!
Maryann in NJ
ta fakt obdivujem ze sa ti takto chce vyvarat! to uz dnes malokto robi, vsetko je len fastfood ako sam hovoris..ale mas pravdu, je to treba, uchovat si to dedicstvo, a odovzdat generaciam, ked uz mi sme to zabalili z nasej rodnej hrude a zijeme za mlakou, teda ja zatial len za kanalom(uk) ale chystam sa coskoro do usa.
ps:you dont have many sweet recipes, (yes, am a normal sweet toothed girl!)
try ma fab apple strudel: its dead easy and winner at all dinner parties:
roll out puff pastry (as think as possible)
brush with melted butter and thin layer of raspberry jam,
spread thinly sliced apples (peeled) cover with sugar and cinammon, make a roll, brush with melted butter, sprinkle sugar and top and bake for 15min in a midle of an oven ( 180-200 degrees) , serve with vanilla ice cream, mnam!
dobru chut
Ahoj Martina, dakujem pekne za odkaz! I would love to add some sweets, but I have not yet gotten into baking. Maybe you could add few of your recipes to the website?
yes defo!
next time am baking i take some pics and email them to you?
Sure! Or if you like, you can sign up for an account and add the recipe yourself. Either way, I am looking forward to it!
Hi Lubos,
tak tato stranka je super, som rada, ze niekto chce zachovat slovenske tradicie. Ja zijem uz niekolko rokov v UK a tiez to tu nie je slava, i ked uz je tu par obchodov kde sa daju zohnat slovenske ingrediencie.
Aj ja rada peciem, ako spominala Martina, ze posle nejake foto, tak by som aj ja chcela prispiet, ked sa nabuduce pustim do niecoho.
How do I convert grams(flour) to cups? I would like to try some of your recipes and am used to cooking with American measures. Thanks
Hi Paula, good idea. I’ll start posting measurements in cups. The reason I haven’t done so yet, is that when I cook, I don’t usually measure things too precisely. For instance, when I made buchty, I bought a 2lb bag of all purpose flour. The bag said it weighed 907 grams, so I poured in roughly half the bag. But, in any case, for all purpose flour, you have 125 grams per cup.
Hi Lubos,
Love your site! Vyborna!!!!!
Will tell my Slovakia magazine subscribers about it (some 1500 families across the United States and Canada). If you’d like to see a sample copy of “Slovakia” let me know.
Might be nice to make a list of Slovak Restaurants across the US and Canada then when people travel they could plan to visit them.
i really love your recipes and you make it easy to follow the directions – the pictures are great – keep up the good work!
Is your Dad’s restaurant in Banska Bystrica? I lead tours to Slovakia each summer and it would be fun to visit!
helene
Lubos on measurnment in cups.
I was laughing so hard when you said how you measure, ehmm, “it says 2 lb on a package so I use about 1/2 of it” because I do exactly the same thing. How do you measure a little bit of this and little bit of that
I learned a lot from Jacques Pépin a famous French chef (I met him once), and he always says “a little bit of salt a bit of pepper, ehhm I add some more, Two garlic cloves, ehh, I add one more, I like garlic, etc.) He always says “I do not follow any recipes precisely, I like to improvise to make it my way”
BTW there are sites that do conversion, e.g.
http://www.botanical.com/botanical/cvcookix.html
cheers
Thanks for creating this site. There is so little information on slovak anything!! I enjoyed this and you are well ahead of me with language and recipes!! I am looking forward to trying this.
Hi, I came across this page through Facebook and I’m very impressed by the recipes. I would love to try making them and I will this Christmas. I’ve never tried anything from Slovakian kitchen, although I live pretty close to Slovakia – in Poland – so I should I suppose …
Keep the good work Lubos…
Dakujem vel’mi pekny for making this website! I’ve been looking for a good Slovak recipe website for awhile now, and am really excited to come across yours! My husband is from Zilina, so I’ve been trying to recreate some dishes for him! He will be excited =) I became a Fan of your Facebook page also! Thanks again!
Thanks Janet and thanks for stopping by and becoming a fan. By the way, are you also from Slovakia, since your name ends in “ova”?
Lubos:
On Christmas eve I wrote to let you know how my halusky turned out. My husband and I had a lovely Christmas eve dinner with those tasty Slovak dumplings. My mother always “sauced” hers with cabbage and bacon. I did the same – I had far too much dough even though we over did the meal, but it was divine and took me back to my childhood with parents and grandparents. So pleased to find what you’ve done with the food site and I’m impressed at the busy life you lead, work, school, travel. Dakujem for a nostalgic tour of food and travel. I’m a confirmed fan.
JoanB.
P.S. The last name is Polish, but both sets of grandparents were from Slovakia.
Thanks a lot Joan! Creating this site was pretty natural for me: I like taking photos and I like to eat.
I am currently in Slovakia, and updating the site from here is even easier: I don’t have to do any cooking.
This website reminds me on my childhood in Vricko in slovakia. When grandma cooked tasty slovak “kapustnica”, “bryndzove halusky” or “kysla fazulova polievka”. I guess that
old stove in my grandparents` blockhouse flavoured the meals with an inimitable natural taste. Fortunately I have eaten most of these foods at my parents´ house.
My mother is a master in “zemiakovy salat” and “obaleny vyprazany rezen”. My Sister is crazy about “tatarska omacka” and “treska”. I grant you, that the whole family is crazy about
„treska“ and „gulasova polievka“! My suggestions for further meals are “makove sulance”, “orechove
palacinky” and “tatarska omacka” (which fits to excellently “vyprazany syr”).
Lubos, in my opinion you have got the black belt in slovak cooking! Regards from Germany.
German:
Diese website erinnert mich an meine Kindheit in Vricko in der Slowakei. Als Großmutter die slowakische „kapustnica“, „bryndzove halusky“ oder „kysla fazulova polievka“ gekocht hatte. Ich vermute, dass der alte Ofen im Blockhaus der Großeltern die Speisen mit einem unnachahmlich natürlichen Geschmack verfeinert hatte. Glücklicherweise habe ich den Großteil der Speisen im Elternhaus gegessen. Meine Mutter ist eine Meisterin in „zemiakovy salat“ und „obaleny vyprazany rezen“.
Meine Schwester ist verrückt nach „tatarska omacka“ und „treska“. Ich gebe zu, dass die gesamte
Familie verrückt nach „treska“ und „gulasova polievka“ ist! Meine Vorschläge für weitere Gerichte sind „makove sulance“, „orechove palacinky“ und „tatarska omacka“ (die hervorragend zu „vyprazany syr“ passt). Lubos, meiner Meinung nach hast Du den schwarzen Gürtel in Slowakischer Küche! Grüße aus Deutschland.
Vielen Dank! So I had to go on Google Maps to figure out where Vrícko is located, and it turns out it’s not too far from Banská Bystrica. Treska is definitely tasty. I have posted recipe for treska, but when I made it I used a dark fish so it turned out bit different from how it looks in stores. I also very much like the Slovak “tartar sauce”. Most people just buy it in the store, but I’ll try to find a recipe. So far I have not found a suitable substitute for “tatarská omáčka” in the United States. Today we prepared home-made rezance s makom (poppy seed noodles) and I’ll be posting those shortly. I’ll also add the recipe for palacinky. I am just bit sick of eating sweets right now…
Lubos, recipe for “tartar sauce” the way I lerned it and still doing it.
- 50gr of chopped pickles/dill (about one small pickle)
- 20gr of chopped anchovies (about one anchovy)
- 2 yolks
- 1.5 dl oil (I use canola oil, olive oil gives it too much of strong flavor, though I use olive oil in most cooking)
- 1 dl sour cream
- salt, mustard, lemon, lemon zest, parsley, cumin seeds
Mix yolks with mustard (about 1 tbl spoon)
While mixing, slowly add oil while continually steering so that you get the right blend, adding oil slowly is important as if you put it in all at once it will never integrate with the rest.
Add some lemon juice from the fresh lemon, add sour cream and salt. Keep mixing.
Add chopped pickle, anchovy, lemon zest, parsley and cumin seeds.
Mixe all that stuff well and put it into refrigerator to cool and “age”, a half of hour is enough.
And there you have a good tatarsku omacku”
BTW, I like it a bist spicy and thus I add a few drops of Tabasco. Of course it’s my personal preference, not a part of the original recipe.
Ahoj Lubos,
super blog, ani neviem ako som sem zavitala (no viem, hladala som kyslu sosovicovu:) a zgooglilo mi aj teba. Robis to, co som uz chcela spravit davno, ale nikdy nebol cas a je super, ze to robis aj formou takej mensej vyuky, urcite sa zide viac takychto slovensko anglickych veci na nete. Ale tie recepty: uz som zabudla aj na sosovicu a teraz mi po rozume behaju len makove slize, mnam! Super su aj fotky a sem tam nejaka babkovska clenka rodiny:) vidiet, ze recepty su autenticke:) len tak dalej…budem sem casto chodit sa trocha poinspirovat:)
Dakujem velmi pekne! No ak teda dakedy najdes ten recept, urob fotky a posli. Sosovicovu polievku tu este nemam…
Ahoj, very nice site, especially the part about ‘zabijacka’, it reminds me my childhood at my grandparents. My parents still do the klobasy at home, but not the other products (which i’m not really fan). And your recipe for Makove slize inspired me for this weekend.
Thanks Katka. Yeah, there are many meat products that come out of zabijacka I am not very keen of. There is also something called huspenina, which I believe are jellied pigs feet. I think I’ll stick to sausages and jaternica.
Hi Lubos, I love your site. I recently started translating my grandmother’s 80 year old handwritten cookbook from Slovak into English, and have started to publish them on a blog, along with some old family stories.
I am also in the DC area, living here with my husband and kids. We will have to have a Slovak meal together when you return to DC!
Tonya
I would love to see some of your recipes in the blog! I have been thinking the same…starting a cookbook would be great way to spread our great cuisine! I’m also a graphic designer and photographer….so maybe we could collaborate!
Lorraine, you can see Tonya’s recipes at paulinescookbook.com. And keep me in mind if you ever decide to put together the cookbook. This is something I have considered myself, however I currently don’t have much free time.
Ahoj Lubos,
super stranka a tie recepty…. mnam! Chcela som sa inspirovat co na veceru pre kamaratov, no teraz si uz vobec neviem vybrat lol.
Keep it going!
Denisa
My mother made the best Czech tomatoe omacka and spinach omacka. Unfortunately I have lose the handed down recipes. I have tried to find them in Slovak cookbooks but have been unsuccessful, maybe you could help me.
Hi Lubos,
Wonderful website! I’m also from Slovakia but currently living in the US for almost 8 years. It’s great to know I can come here to find ideas for dinner. My husband is an American and loves Slovakian cuisine. More often than not I’m out of ideas what else I could cook for us. Anyway, I had to stop here and leave my recipe for ‘tartar sauce’. I have obtained it last time I was home about a year ago from the restaurant close to my parents house and they make the best ‘house made’ tartar sauce. I’ve been making it ever since and love it every time! So here goes:
Need: 2 egg yolks, 2.5 dcl (little over a cup of canola oil), two pickles (i buy polish dill pickles – not a big fan of american pickles), medium size yellow onion, 1 teaspoon of powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons of mustard (once again, if you have slovak horcica use that before you use american mustard, better yet find either polish or russian – i visit a lot of european food markets), black pepper, little bit of pickle juice.
Start out making a basic mayo. Put 2 egg yolks in a bowl and use a hand mixer to whisk the yolks for 3-4 minutes until they start looking smooth and creamy. Then you can start adding a little oil. Careful here since it really needs to be a trickle not a pour. I usually put the oil in the measuring cup with the spout and add a little trickle every 10-15 seconds while mixing the yolks in the bowl. About half way through the oil the mixture should start getting nice and thick. Once that’s done I put the pickles and onion and little bit of pickle juice into a chopper and get it all cut up into grainy mixture. You can control the size of the chunks easily since longer you run the chopper smoother the mixture. Add the pickle/onion mixture into mayo and add the mustard, sugar and black pepper and the tartar sauce is done. Add pickle juice or little bit of vinegar if for more pronounced taste. Enjoy!
Super napad Lubos, narobil si mi riadne chutky! Rozposlem znamym nech robia reklamu nasmu neuveritelne chutnemu jedlu a niektore recepty vyskusam aj osobne….cau
Ahoj Lubos,
ja som zahranicna Slovenka, narodena v dnesnom Srbsku. Je tam mnoho Slovakov ktori si krasne zachovali jazyk, tradiciu a jasne, slovensku kuchynu. Takmer vsetky jedla, ktore spominas, varime aj my; niektore trochu inak; niektore zas maju iny nazov…ale vsetko je to mnam! Uz roky zijem v UK a tiez mam problem s prisadami pre niektore jedla… NO sestra mi coskoro pride na navstevu; donesie mlety mak a budu makove rezance! Jeden tip, osobny vymysel mojho otca, ktori ma rad makove rezance ale sa mu nepaci,ze su suche a “skrtia”. Povarit trochu vody, medu a cukru a tou zmesou poliat makove rezance. Potom su stavnate a este sladsie.
Nejvetsi a Nejlevnejsi slovenske potraviny v Anglii a Skotsku online
http://www.ceskoslovenskepotraviny.co.uk/
Skvelá stránka. V zahraničí veľmi často slovenské jedla nevarim, ale po tom ako si mi práve narobil chute tak ich určite budem variť častejšie. Ďakujem za inšpiráciu a pokračuj!
Hi Lubos, I just found this website. It seems to be extremly useful, for a person like me, not talented in cooking while loving slovak food. Thank you.
Hi Lubos, I too have just found your website. I live in Australia and my father is from Terchova. My mum is a very talented cook and through my parents myself and my 2 brothers we have learnt to cook many slovakian recipes. My father still makes his own sauerkraut, smoked sausages and bacon and my mum makes the best halusky, stuffed capsicum and cabbage. If you ever come to Australia our kitchen is always open. Excellent website.
Dear Lubos:
I would like to thank you for making such a wonderful website! I am about 70% Slovak, and thanks to you, I can sample my culture through traditonal (and delicious) food! I really owe you for coming up with such great ideas and recipes!
Thank you very much! But I don’t take much credit for the recipes. They are either my grandma’s or they come from “Recepty Starej Mamy”, a really great old Slovak cookbook.
I just want to say thank you for this great site!
My Grandparents came from the Orava section of Slovakia.
We cook many many Slovak dishes from the last one hundred years or so.
Thank you again and looking forward to commenting!!
Thank you for marketing Slovak culture, Lubos.
Maja from Orava.
Thank you Maja and Jeff! And don’t forget to let your friends know about slovakcooking.com
Cau Lubos
I am 100% NOT Slovak blood, but this country is my second hometown!
I’m Warisa from Bangkok, Thailand. I had lived in Nova Bana for a year when I joined an exchange student program in 2004. It was such a magnificent time in my life. My host mother, Andrea, is a cook in the local primary school in NB. That’s why i gained almost 10 kg. during my stay
Thank you so much for making this useful website. I miss mamicka’s cooking so much (i have not returned to Slovakia for about 5 years now) and all the recipes are incredible! well, though several dishes that I try to cook don’t taste as good as mamicka’s but it makes me feel like I am home again
Warisa from Bangkok,Thailand
PS: I never ever gonna like Halusky
come back to Slovakia !! You need some more indoctrination into Slovak food. There is no Slovak cuisine without halusky!
Though I understand, some of my American friends, including my girlfriend are like “what is this stuff”?! and I am like “good, if you don’t like it there is more for me”
i love kapustnica the most!!! Mamicka’s is the best of the best
Perfektna stranka, velmi sa mi paci, ze zviditelnujes Slovensko cez nase super jedla
Drzim palce, nech vareska dobre miesa 
)
Well done, Lubos. This is a very useful and interesting website. Keep up the good work
Lubos, you know I like this site, thus I am posting this to spare some folks from being scammed like I was.
Don’t know how much control you have over ads on you site. Those ads about “Tip of a flat belly”, leading to acai advanced colon, etc. is a deceiving and will cost money if you jump on it with no clear results delivered.
I read the article (not on your site) and as I have a problem with weight I went for “1 month supply trial just for shipping and handling” Oh well, never mind, as soon as they had my credit card number, they enrolled me into automatic payment plan, said “we have no free trial” you should have turn it down in 10 days, etc.
They charged me twice for two products and overall it cost me over $300. I reported them to Better Business Bureau (they already had a bunch of complains), dealt with my CC company that I will not accept any more charges (CC company was unable to deal with internet purchases and reverse the previous charges)
I talked to both companies, unpleasant conversations. They agreed to cancel my subscription but refused to give me back money they already cashed.
Expensive lesson, and here I am, rather skilled IT professional being scammed.
Oh BTW, the product delivered NOTHING, maybe I lost a couple of pounds. For all, there are the same acai products based in good nutrition stores, whole food, etc., for a fraction of price these folks try to charge you.
I understand the business and need to get some sponsor money from ads to run a site but some of them are bad, and thus I am posting this so other folks do not lose money like I did.
cheers