Pasta Grannies visits Slovenia!

Enjoy this longer ‘summer holidays special’ where the Pasta Grannies team spent the weekend in north west Slovenia, close to the border with Italy and Austria.

[Saina]

Im from Slovenia and this was a lovely surprise video to see since I’ve been following you for quite a few years! Thank you for presenting my country on your channel!🥰

[Gredinus]

Some notes for people that want to know more:

* The beef broth with "rezanci" is just the first course of sunday lunch. 2nd course then consists of the stewed beef and "tenstan krompir" which is a potatoe dish
made by sautéeing finely cut boiled potatoes with onions and "ocvirki", finnished with a splash of the broth to keep it moist.

* "Ocvirki" are just lard with cracklings. They go well with food that have a plain taste like "žganci" or potatoe dishes. They're also great for making eggs sunny side up,
kinda like frying the eggs in bacon fat and then integrating the bacon into the egg whites.

* There are many types of "žganci" that are made just with flour. Buckwheet being the most traditional and corn ones being similar to polenta.
To make "žgance" you steam the flour lump (and importantly with a hole in the middle like seen towards the end of the cooking proccess)
in simmering salted water with the lid on for about 25 minutes.
For the potatoe ones you use a one to one ratio of flour to potatoes and start the cut potaoes in still cold salted water.
You reserve most of the cooking water, add salt, lard (or oil) and then to make your life easier you mash the flour using a hand mixer with dough hooks
until it's evenly mixed (of the mixture tastes dry you add more of the cooking water).
After 5 minutes of resting you scrape them into a bowl and dress with hot lard and "ocvirki" (ocvirki are usually preserved in lard).
You can eat "žganci" as a side dish with saurkraut and sausage or as a standalone dish for breakfast with hot milk ontop.

* "Skuta" is just a type of farmers cheese. Traditionaly you'd make it by boiling milk that was going bad or acctual sour milk (note that sour milk made with fresh unpastorized milk is edible).
You can make your own by adding 25-50mL of vinegar/lemon juice per 1L of fullfat milk while it's boiling, simmering it on low heat for 5 minutes and letting it cool compleatly.
After it is cooled you just strain it using a fine sieve or cloth. You get rougly 200g of "Skuta" per liter of milk.

* "Štrukli" were traditionally boiled wraped in a cloth. Using foil to cook them is a more modern resturant adaptaion which results in drier and more presentable "štrukli".
Personaly I prefer them cooked the traditional way and with a sprinke of sugar ontop as a desert.

* When the ladies are rolling out the doughs, you can hear them say "ostra moka" meaning sharp flour, which is a coarsely milled flour simmilar to semolina.
It's much better at preventing things from sticking than regular flour and usually used when you want the dough to be less dense, like for "žličniki".

* I wouldn't call "potica" a cake since it's made with a yeasted dough similar to brioche, making it a sweet bread.
Wallnut filling is the most common but there are hundreds including "skuta" and a savoury "ocvirki" version.
Personaly I make "potica" with a sweet tarragon, sourcream and breadcrumb filling.

[suzannevega]

All these Women are beautiful 💞 none of them look their age! Thank you all for allowing us into your homes and sharing and to all that makes it possible💞

[davidpaul]

This beautiful Granny is in Amazing physical condition. Her pasta looks delicious ❤️🇨🇦

[aina]

It`s hard to believe Ana is 86 years old, such a vibrant soul!

[janetdiesnis]

This is going to be a three or four times watcher. Excellent!

[rosannapizza]

the grannies are so beautiful. i gotta say seeing the older Ana with the soup made me cry.. how tough they are but how fragile they seem.. reminds me of my late mom :(

[didisinclair]

Oh my heavens!!! a 22 minute Pasta Grannies?? I'm a happy happy girl. Thanks so much!

[kristinapoljansek]

Loove my country and food. My signature potica is hazelnut. Yummy! It is a huge deal to make potica without "holes" 😁 in the roll.

[jesscarter]

Omg.. Vickie... love love love this I couldn't believe Ana was She looked to be in her 60s... I'm telling you, it's their diets and activity level!!!! I get out of bed and I feel like I've summited Everest. Congrats, Vickie, on your accomplishments and what you and your FANTASTIC team bring to us. All of You and your lovely subjects are so loved and appreciated!!! Such sweet, generous people to open their homes to us. I'd better behave or Ana will find me with that wooden spoon... lol

[shellyb]

My son is the 5th generation to make potica in our family. I haven't traced our family to Slovenia yet; but we all know it originates from there. We HAVE to have it at Christmas. We also use walnuts. Thanks for sharing and bringing back fond family memories!

[NYSESTRA]

Marvelous absolutely marvelous. There are so many amazing Grannies just waiting for you come explore and share their countries traditional delicacies.
Thank you so much for bringing us Slovenia!

[lut]

WONDERFUL!!! It was Great traveling with you today, meeting the grannies, their hospitality and those delicious dishes. I hope I can visit Slovenia in person some day too! I enjoyed this video so very much. Thank you all 😊

[katem]

Each of these ladies deserved her own episode. More Slovenia, please!

[prissomething]

As a Canadian Slovenian watching this....this warms my heart so much thank you for crossing the border and showing an authentic zupa!!

[JustAThought]

This is just fabulous!!! What a wonderful idea used to capture timeless moments. Thank you for finding these amazing chefs, who are family matriarchs! As much as I love seeing the recipes, being introduced to the various cultures and family traditions is just as rewarding. Bon appetite!❤

[franb]

What a treat ! Slovenia is now my new favorite country. Gorgeous people, food, and landscape !

[rafaelpaiotti]

I live in Graz, Austria and frequently visit Slovenia (Maribor, Portoroz, Ptuj).
One thing I have to say about Slovenia and the Slovenian people: I love them!
After Italy, Slovenia is my favourite country.
Greetings from a Brazilian guy ;)

[VerhoevenSimon]

What a delightful episode, and just the treat one needs to wrap up the week. Especially that wallnut roll looks delicious, I can easily imagine munching on a slice with a nice cup of coffee.

[saintninansplace]

Fantastic video loved the different traditions of food in this country and the beauty of Slovenia.