Upper Savinja Valley - Recipes

Firuš (Soup Dumplings)

First cook a broth of pork bones (backbone) and vegetables (carrots, kohlrabi, onion, parsley and a little celery).

Strain the soup, salt and bring to the boil.

In the boiling liquid cook dumplings of half buckwheat and half wheat flour and pork blood.

The soup should boil for 20 minutes, then sour it with cider vinegar.

Zdrkanka (Ground Wheat Grains Kasha)


½ l milk

½ l water


Crushed wheat berries


Cook the crushed wheat berries in boiling milk and salted water. Cook for 20 minutes, until the berries are soft. Strain off and spread with butter.

It can also be spread with the solids, by adding a little flour to the cooked butter towards the end of cooking. Pour off the butter, then what is left is the solids. This dish is eaten as an accompaniment to white coffee, sour milk or with sauerkraut.

Ubrnjenik (Rich Dumpling)


20 dag buckwheat flour

15 dag wheat flour

20 dag raw butter

2 dl rich cream

5 dl milk


Roast flour until completely dry.

Mix cream with raw butter in a seperate skillet. Season with salr and bring to boil.

Bring milk to boil in separate skillet.

Pour scalded cream gradually on roasted flour while stirring continiously. Add hot milk if necessary. Stir until you obtain thick an smooth paste.

 Stir well. Bring to boil. Shape 1 big dumpling or several small balls. Serve with coffe with milk, sour milk, or tea. This dish can be served cold as well.

Ajdnek (Folded Cake)

Photo: Tomo Jeseničnik


0.5 kg buckwheat flour

0.5 l salted boiling water

0.5 kg wheat flour

4–6 dg yeast

1 tablespoon sugar

Milk as required


0.5 kg finely ground walnuts

¼ l honey

Vanilla sugar


Steam the buckwheat flour, stir well, chill and then add the wheat flour, risen yeast and warm milk as necessary.

Out of this knead a soft dough that should rise.

Ladle a layer of dough into a greased baking tin.

Sprinkle the spread dough thickly with nuts, drizzle on warmed honey and sprinkle with cinnamon and vanilla sugar. Sugar can be used instead of honey.

Cover the layer of nuts with a second layer of dough and repeat the entire process at least three times. On the top should be a layer of dough.

The cake should rise, then it is baked.

Recipes are taken from the book by Janez Bogataj, Taste Slovenia, Ljubljana 2007