Hey there, fellow foodies! If you’re looking for a deeper understanding of how Slovenians talk about food, you’ve come to the right place.
In this blog post, we’ll go through essential Slovenian food vocabulary, from dishes to ingredients, along with how to order in a restaurant and common phrases related to this topic. Let’s go!
Table Of Contents
Essential Slovenian Food Vocabulary
Like everywhere else, food is an important part of Slovenian culture. Slovenian food includes many traditional dishes that are a big part of the Slovenian culinary heritage. Learning these words and phrases will help you when you’re traveling in Slovenia and greatly enhance your dining experiences.
Basic Food Vocabulary
Firstly, let’s take a look at some of the basics. Mostly, these will come in handy if you’re in a grocery store, stocking up to prepare a nice home-cooked meal.
| English | Slovenian |
|---|---|
| Bread | Kruh |
| Cheese | Sir |
| Meat | Meso |
| Milk | Mleko |
| Flour | Moka |
| Fish | Riba |
| Chicken | Piščanec |
| Beef | Govedina |
| Pork | Svinjina |
| Butter | Maslo |
| Eggs | Jajca |
Fruits In Slovenian
The word for fruit in Slovenian is sadje. Here are some easy examples:
| English | Slovenian |
|---|---|
| Apple | Jabolko |
| Banana | Banana |
| Orange | Pomaranča |
| Pear | Hruška |
| Grape | Grozdje |
| Strawberry | Jagoda |
| Cherry | Češnja |
| Peach | Breskev |
| Plum | Sliva |
| Watermelon | Lubenica |
Vegetables In Slovenian
If you’re trying to eat more healthily, vegetables are your best bet! In Slovenian, they’re called zelenjava. Here are some words for vegetables in Slovenian:
| English | Slovenian |
|---|---|
| Potato | Krompir |
| Carrot | Korenje |
| Tomato | Paradižnik |
| Onion | Čebula |
| Cabbage | Zelje |
| Lettuce | Solata |
| Cucumber | Kumara |
| Garlic | Česen |
| Pepper | Poper |
| Spinach | Špinača |
Cooking Methods In Slovenian
Preparing a lovely dish and trying to follow a Slovenian recipe? These recipes can either tell you what to do or talk in the first person. I’ll use some examples from actual recipes, where the instructions are used in the first-person plural, and their translations, to help you understand what they mean.
| English | Slovenian |
|---|---|
| Peel | Olupimo |
| Dice | Narežemo na kocke |
| Cook (boil) | Skuhamo |
| Add | Dodamo |
| Stir in | Vmešamo |
| Fry | Pražimo |
| Pour | Prilijemo |
| Cover | Pokrijemo |
| Cook (boil) | Kuhamo |
| Mix in | Primešamo |
| Mix | Zmešamo |
| Pour | Vlijemo |
| Season | Začinimo |
| Serve | Postrežemo |
Just to make this a little more clear, here are some sentence examples:
| English Sentence | Slovenian Sentence |
|---|---|
| We peel and dice the potato | Krompir olupimo in narežemo na kocke |
| We add garlic | Dodamo česen |
| We mix flour with water | Moko zmešamo z vodo |
| We season with salt and serve | Začinimo s soljo in postrežemo |
Slovenian Dining Words And Phrases
Once you’re in either Ljubljana or Bled, you’ll for sure wanna try out some delicious Slovenian restaurants. These common words will help you with navigating menus and ordering food and drinks.
| English | Slovenian |
|---|---|
| Menu | Meni |
| Table | Miza |
| Waiter | Natakar |
| Waitress | Natakarica |
| Reservation | Rezervacija |
| Water | Voda |
| Wine | Vino |
| Beer | Pivo |
| Appetizer | Predjed |
| Main course | Glavna jed |
| Dessert | Sladica |
| Bill/check | Račun |
| Tip | Napitnina |
| Fork | Vilica |
| Knife | Nož |
| Spoon | Žlica |
| Plate | Krožnik |
| Glass | Kozarec |
| Salt | Sol |
| Pepper | Poper |
Ordering At A Restaurant
Another thing you might need is essential Slovenian phrases for when you want to order food at a Slovenian restaurant:
| English | Slovenian |
|---|---|
| I would like to order… | Želim naročiti… |
| What do you recommend? | Kaj priporočate? |
| Can I have the menu, please? | Lahko dobim meni, prosim? |
| Do you have vegetarian dishes? | Imate vegetarijanske jedi? |
| How is this dish prepared? | Kako je pripravljena ta jed? |
| The food was delicious, thank you! | Hrana je bila odlična, hvala! |
Meals Of The Day In Slovenia
Slovenians follow a simple routine when it comes to daily meals. They start with breakfast, then have lunch and dinner. Let’s take a look at each one of these and what a typical Slovenian meal might include.
Breakfast
Slovenian breakfasts include different foods, depending on the mood. These are common foods found in a Slovenian breakfast:
- Bread – kruh
- Yogurt – jogurt
- Milk – mleko
- Coffee – kava
- Tea – čaj
- Cereal – žitarice
- Honey – med
Lunch
In Slovenian, lunch can be called malica, and is typically eaten during a school or work break, or it can be called kosilo, the meal you eat after school or work. A Slovenian lunch will often start with a soup (juha), some kind of meat (mesna) or vegetable dish (zelenjavna jed), and end with a dessert (sladica).
Dinner
Dinner is typically lighter than lunch in Slovenia, and could just be a simple salad (solata), or a sandwich (sendvič).
Snack
Who doesn’t love a midnight snack? When feeling hungry in between meals, you can always have a quick snack, or prigrizek, as Slovenians say. This is the time to munch on some sweets (sladkarije):
- Cookies – piškoti
- Chocolate – čokolada
- Pastries – pecivo
- Ice cream – sladoled
- Torta – cake
How Do You Say Food In Slovenian?
The word for food in Slovenian is hrana. You might also see the word živilo, which is not used in daily conversations but can be found in grocery stores, media, food regulations, or in discussions about healthy eating habits.
Frequently Asked Questions About Slovenian Food
What Is The Most Popular Dish In Slovenia?
The most well-known Slovenian food is the Carnolian sausage, or the kranjska klobasa. This dish originated from the Gorenjska region in Slovenia and is famous all across the country. It’s made from ground pork, pepper, paprika, salt, garlic-wine mixture, onion, and bread.
Is Slovenia Self-Sufficient In Food?
In Slovenia, they’re quite self-sufficient in growing their own cereals and raising animals for meat. But when it comes to vegetables, they rely mainly on imports. In 2020, they only covered about half of their vegetable needs locally. So, while they’re doing okay on the food front, they’re not totally self-reliant.
What Is Typical Slovenian Street Food?
When you’re out and about in Slovenia, you can’t miss trying two street food snacks: Burek and Kremšnita. Burek is like a crispy pastry filled with meat, cheese, or veggies, all baked up together. And then there’s Kremšnita, a creamy cake with layers of flaky pastry and custard inside, topped with whipped cream. They’re both super popular and totally delicious, perfect for grabbing a quick bite while you’re exploring the streets of Slovenia.
Feeling Hungry Yet?
Learning a new language can be really fun, especially through food! I hope today’s Slovenian vocabulary about food helped you understand this language a bit better and that you’re ready to travel to Slovenia and try some delicious dishes.
