Mit - Index

Mit - UVK_Sinfo_2008_02February4 - Index

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Guests ask for the menu out of habit, maybe to browse the offering
for extremely slow eaters. But there is only one best proven
method: let them recommend to you the dishes of the day. Most
importantly, the possibilities depend on the season. Almost everything
actually comes from what nearby fields, pastures and stables
have to offer, what can be bought from local suppliers and what is
growing in the garden on those days (vegetables, aromatic plants,
etc). One would not believe what all they can do with homemade
cheese. They are real masters of variation.
If you are weary from the road, you will get home herbs soaked
in brandy. Women typically prefer the bilberry brandy. You will
probably want to find out which dishes brought Martina victory
at the competition and the Cook of the Year title, although you
might not be able to order all of them on the day of your visit. For
the appetizer she prepared an artful composition of salmon embracing
smoked trout. The main course consisted of a baked trout
roll wrapped in pork membrane accompanied by avocado puree
and a daring yellow sweet pepper sauce with rosemary and forest
honey. For the dessert she produced bean cake, yes bean cake,
with marzipan. With Martina’s victory, trout from the Savinja River
gained a strong reputation. They have been praised for centuries,
especially by high church officials from Gornji Grad and Ljubljana
who enjoyed good food.
“Awarded cook of the year trout” is always on the menu and so is
the homemade smoked trout pate, accompanied by fennel. Trout in
lemon mousse is also worthy of sin. You will likely be able to treat
Pork filet filled with dried fruit
sinfo february 08 26
yourself to a pork filet filled with dried apricots - or even better with
home dried pears, and rolled in minced herbs and breadcrumbs
producing a wonderful herbal crust which sealed in the meat juice
while baking. Martina always adds something new to her recipes;
that is why on this occasion she does not enrich the sauce only with
cabernet but with port and coffee as well.
Apart from the ordinary soups on the menu, in the wintertime apple
and nettle soups and cold cucumber soup are the most renowned.
Green nettle juice is added to some homemade pasta giving it a nice
colour while the filling is made of minced game and spruce juice.
They really know how to prepare game. Different types of honey are
often on the menu as well. Sometimes they are made in combinations
which make you raise your eyebrows but taste so good that
you can only sigh. One thing is sure and certain: in the kitchen, Martina
is not afraid of any new ideas. This means that dishes are based
on local customs and food, but under Martina’s hands the cuisine
of the Savinja Valley becomes European cuisine. Many evaluators
acknowledge this fact, let alone other gourmets.
Kohlrabi is an ordinary vegetable, not highly praised and suitable
only for a stew. People used to say it is “only good for pigs”. Martina
turned this insignificant vegetable into a sophisticated pudding
with orange sauce and a touch of ginger, which is like the icing
on the cake. Vegetable soufflés, juicy as well as light ones, are enriched
with herbal sauces. Speaking of herbs from Martina’s garden,
thyme is one of her favourite aromatic plants, especially when preparing
a young goat or a lamb. A foal is not a bad choice either. Now
we will piece together a vibrant menu which will show us Martina
Breznik in her true colours. In the springtime we shall start with lamb
pate, buckwheat bread and walnuts, followed by cheese mousse
with elder juice and nettle or wood garlic soup. Traditionalists will
probably prefer mushroom soup. For a warm appetizer we will have
slightly roasted aromatic porcini mushrooms with spoon dumplings
made of paljeno testo (a special kind of dough produced by pouring
flour into boiling water with butter and stirring until the dough
comes away from the pot. The dough cools in a different pot, and
when it is lukewarm it is formed with decorating bags and tips).
The main course will consist of a pork filet filled with dried fruit and
rolled in herbs accompanied by cabernet sauce. And for the dessert
we will order a pear with marzipan and pine nuts. And what will we
drink? What the men of the house will recommend, of course. At
the Raduha inn, you can choose from Bijana sparkling wines to the
Veliko rdeËe red wine from Movia and anything worth mentioning
in between. If your mouth is overwhelmed with flavour and the Upper
Savinja Valley’s beauty is too much for your eyes, you can relax
and spend the night since the inn is a boarding house as well. This
way you will not have to worry about your breakfast either!
Porcini mushrooms with spoon dumplings
made of paljeno testo