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Papua New GuineaFlavors · Idrija
Small dumplings filled with potato, onion, bacon, and herbs, shaped like a little hat, from the old mining town of Idrija. The traditional accompaniment is bakalca, a lamb stew with vegetables.
Traditional dish from Idrija, Goriška
Also known as: žlikrofi de Idrija; žlikrofi
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
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Idrijski žlikrofi — Idrija, Slovenia
Žlikrofi are small filled dumplings typical of Idrija, the town that lived for five centuries from its mercury mine and is now a UNESCO World Heritage site. The dough, made of flour and eggs, is rolled very thin; small balls of filling made from boiled potato mixed with sautéed onion, lard or smoked bacon, and herbs like marjoram and chives are placed on it. The dough is folded and pinched around the filling balls, and each žlikrof gets a cavity in the middle that resembles a little hat.
In miner households, everyday food came from the garden, and žlikrofi were reserved for special days. The oldest written source about them dates from 1936. The traditional pairing is bakalca, a lamb stew cooked with vegetables; today they are also served with roasts, with porcini mushrooms, or simply with butter and breadcrumbs.
In 2010 idrijski žlikrofi were the first Slovenian dish to receive the European Traditional Speciality Guaranteed label, and in 2019 they entered the national register of intangible cultural heritage. Only certified producers may sell them under that name.
Idrija celebrates the dish in August with the Praznik idrijskih žlikrofov: certified producers demonstrate the preparation, local cooks create new sauces, and hunting clubs compete for the best game-meat bakalca. Outside the festival, žlikrofi appear on the menu of almost every restaurant in town.
Idrija , Goriška
Traditional dish of the mining town, celebrated at the annual žlikrofi festival.
Dough: wheat flour, eggs, water, and salt. Filling: boiled potato, sautéed onion, lard or smoked bacon, marjoram, chives, salt, and pepper. Bakalca: lamb meat, vegetables, and seasonings.
Quickly boiled in water and served hot, with bakalca on the side or on top; also served with roasts, mushrooms, or butter and breadcrumbs.
Once reserved for special days in miners’ families; today served year-round and celebrated at the August festival in Idrija.
Your questions
They are small dumplings filled with potato, onion, bacon, and herbs, shaped like a little hat, typical of the old mining town of Idrija.
The traditional accompaniment is bakalca, a lamb stew with vegetables. They are also served with roasts, mushrooms, or butter and breadcrumbs.
Yes. In August Idrija holds the Praznik idrijskih žlikrofov, featuring certified producers, sauces created by local cooks, and a competition for the best game-meat bakalca.
Flavors of Slovenia
Buckwheat flour cooked in water and fluffed into small clumps with a fork, served with pork cracklings. For a long time it was the everyday food of the central and alpine regions, and it is considered a national Slovenian dish.
Sweet leavened dough, rolled out very thin, filled, rolled up and baked in a round pan with a hole in the middle. It is the festive pastry of Slovenian celebrations, with fillings of walnuts, tarragon, raisins or honey.
Thin dough rolls filled and cooked in water, steamed, or baked. They come in sweet and savory versions, with fillings such as fresh cottage cheese, tarragon, walnuts, apple and dozens of others, and are found in all regions of Slovenia.
Sweet square from Bled: a puff pastry base, a tall layer of vanilla custard, another of whipped cream, and a thin pastry sheet on top, dusted with powdered sugar. It has been made by the lakeside since 1953.
Round, flat bread from Bela krajina in southeastern Slovenia, brushed with egg, caraway and coarse salt, and marked with a grid of score lines. It is eaten warm, broken by hand, never cut with a knife.
Light, acidic wine from Dolenjska in southeastern Slovenia, made by a required blend of red and white grapes, with low alcohol content. It has the recognized traditional designation PTP and is the region’s everyday wine.
Thick soup of beans, potatoes and sauerkraut or fermented turnip, cooked with smoked pork. It’s the spoon food of western Slovenia, and the Karst version, with sauerkraut and potatoes, is the best known.
Dark, acidic red wine from the Karst plateau, made only with the refošk grape grown in the region’s red soil. It has Slovenia’s recognized traditional designation PTP and pairs with the ham and dishes of the Karst.
Layered Prekmurje cake from northeastern Slovenia: on a shortcrust base, sheets of stretched dough alternate four fillings — poppy seeds, fresh curd cheese, walnuts and apple — topped with cream.
