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Hamburgers, pizzas, Japanese, Chinese or other restaurants – we encounter all of these every day. But how did our ancestors eat in the past? What foods were their everyday fate? Once foods born of necessity, today exceptionally tasty specialties of home cooking.
How was food cooked?
At first all dishes were prepared over an open fire. But they smelled of smoke and therefore later the predecessor of the stove was invented, an iron plate was placed on the hearth . The poorest families baked in an earth oven. It was simply a dug-out pit, the meat was surrounded by heated stones and covered with earth. The kitchen corner was always the exclusive territory of the housewife.
Many Slovak dishes had for many foreigners an unconventional slightly sour flavor . Whether it was sour cream, cultured milk or cabbage. Many natural spices were also added to the dishes, including caraway, dill, onion, garlic, rosemary and others. Cloves, paprika or ginger were only brought from abroad over time.
The basic components of the diet were milk, potatoes, legumes, cabbage and flour. Milk was popular not only sweet but also sour, whether in the form of žinčica. For people it was more advantageous to have a long-term supply of dairy products from cattle than a one-time meat feast.
Porridges and dumplings filled you up
Many dishes were based on cereals from wheat, rye and millet. Around the 18th century rice and maize arrived here. Porridges were also made from them . It was a cheap and simple food, so many families had it on the table every day. Barley, groats, corn and so on again and again.
The most famous and most popular Slovak dish is halušky. Before the arrival of potatoes they were made from rye, millet and buckwheat flour. They had many types: from bryndza, through strapačky (with cabbage) to at that time less common halušky with quark. Besides them, dumplings filled with fruit, meat or bryndza appeared on the table occasionally . Meat, however, was really rare on the menu.
We still enjoy soups today
In the past thick and hearty soups were the center of attention. The best known are cabbage, lentil and bean soup. Garlic soup is also enjoying extraordinary popularity to this day. Everything that was at hand was put into soups. From vegetables, through meat, fish to mushrooms. Thickened sauces, a kind of thickened soups, later developed from soups. In every household once in a while pumpkin, bean or pea stew was on the menu.
Popular sweets
Even in hard times there was at least a few times a year an opportunity to prepare something better that children especially looked forward to – favorite cakes. Often they were baked especially at Christmas and Easter, so they were not an everyday meal. Over time they became a common part of the menu, mainly various strudels and rolls . More festive cakes include štedrák, cat’s eyes, bear paws, gingerbreads, pagáče. Škubánky became popular for their quick preparation. Noodles with poppy seeds or quark were also popular .
Many of our typical dishes also reach children’s plates in school canteens. Who would not know rice pudding, steamed buns or bread pudding? Today somewhat underestimated dishes, but it should be noted that, for example, steamed buns were once a delicacy of the burghers and are popular not only with us but, for example, also in Austria.
We still enjoy soups today
