Mit - Index

Mit - UVK_Sinfo_2008_09_št.13 - Index

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terrine with pumpkin, horseradish, marinated salmon,
and mayonnaise with pumpkin seed oil
of people leaving the Hiša Franko Casa guarantees they will return.
And they do indeed.
Valter is not just somebody who loves wines, he is also a great wine
connoisseur, specialising mainly in naturally produced wines. He is
in love with a revolutionary idea of a group of Italian Slovenes with
Joško Gravner, Edi Keber, Radikon and their students, winemakers
Rencel, BatiË, and Edi SimËiË at the head, who are excellent at
what they do. The list could go on forever. His selection of wines
numbers about 350 of the wines, mainly Slovene, which you can
try at professionally led tastings while taking a tour of the cellar.
You can also buy these fine wines at a discount price. During a
wine tasting, Valter serves some home-made cheese. Besides the
wine treats, he can offer you a wealth of cheeses from the Tolmin
area, which Valter ages himself, so that they develop their excellent
taste. Apart from all of the above, guests will catch sight of jars of
various home-made fruit preserves, which the Franko women cook
from fruit freshly picked in the home or the neighbour’s garden.
The second pillar of the Hiša Franko Casa is Ana, once an excellent
skier and dancer, who still likes writing and sports. Today her
sanctuary is the kitchen and the herb garden behind the house,
tended by Valter’s parents. At the same time, Ana is a first-class
cook and mother of two wonderful children, whose cheerfulness
will win the heart of every guest indulging in Franko’s treats. With
Ana’s diligence and a wish to make a difference, her kitchen has
developed into a place of culinary masterpieces. Franko’s is a place
where you can escape and hide from the hustle and bustle of city
life and indulge in the dishes, producing a stunning harmony of
taste and appearance.
They offer a wide variety of dishes, prepared to seduce the eye,
which is why it is difficult to opt for one menu alone, or choose to
present a single dish. Even though the summer is over, I just can’t
forget the summer spirit meals, so I decided to present three of
their tasting meals that cover most of their specialties. It is very
important to mention that at Hiša Franko they follow the seasons
and traditions of their forbears in their selection of food. They
are also very proud that in their cooking they use aromatic herbs
from their garden, the organic and daily fresh vegetables and fruit
from a neighbouring farm and water that comes from a spring just
sinfo 13 36
behind the house. The first dish I chose is named “The garden and
the flower”. It consists of vegetable ravioli filled with mountain
cottage cheese and potato, baby spinach and truffle foam. After
the starter, come crispy lamb pockets, covered with spicy coffee
sauce and a crust of toasted almonds. The tastes just keep mixing,
but you want more. So they bring you bitter cacao noodles with
game ragout, with a balsamic apple sauce. And for almost the
last dish, roe buck filet, rhubarb chutney and traditional tarragon
strukelj. For the sweet treat, there is the secret alder tree revolution.
Besides this meal, I just can’t forget the other two summer menus,
“Easy summer” and “Collection sensations of summer 08”. With
the first, you are spoiled with English roast beef, preceded with
Mediterranean tuna fish tartar, dressed with sesame seeds and
argan oil, ≈gazpacho« of melon and frozen tomato. The dishes
that follow are ravioli filled with aubergine taggiasche olives and
Istrian tomato, cold mozzarella soup, pesto of curry and pine
nuts. Besides the above there is fonda sea bass fillet baked on
the skin side, Japanese dashi and parsley mayonnaise with fried
bread. To conclude all the great tastes: fruit sorbet on a spoon.
The dishes go on and on and the tastes never cease to inspire.
(The most traditional dish is the ‘struklji of Kobarid’, which leaves
you breathless.
The dishes above are also reasons why Hiša Franko has been
invited to be the part of Krog, the organisation which comprises six
best Slovene restaurants. As with the Pikol restaurant, described in
an earlier edition of Sinfo, the Hiša Franko Casa was visited by Dr
Tsukamota, a descendant of a famous samurai family and member
of the Japanese aristocracy. His enthusiasm for the Slovene culinary
masterpieces was demonstrated with an invitation to a ‘sanctuary’
of Japanese gastronomy, at the Mibu restaurant in Tokyo, where
tables are booked even 30 years in advance. Ana Roš and the
owner of the Pikol’s presented Slovene cuisine and participated in
a splendid culinary presentation.
venison steak tartar
meringue with lavender, orange jelly, and
crispy almond crust