Bela krajina is a mysterious and diverse landscape, and its cuisine is very diverse in terms of ingredients of dishes. Some of the original recipes have been preserved to the present days.
As a cold dish, they offer Bela krajina stuffing, which is made of bread, eggs and bacon. Among soups, the most recognised ones include „štrukljeva juha“ (dumplings soup) and Bela krajina „šara“ (trinket). The first one is based on beef broth, in which grated potatoes and home-made cheese dumplings are cooked, while the second one is more appropriate for winter times, as it comprises of kohlrabi, carrots, green beans, potatoes, bacon and sometimes also a cereal sausage. Cereal sausage, so called „jaglača“ or „mastenica“, is a semi-cured sausage stuffed by millet and pieces of „prata“ (a kind of stuffing made of ham, eggs, bread, onion and seasons) and better cuts of pork. Certainly the most famous Bela krajina dish are lamb and piglet on a spit grilled on open fire or roasted in a baker’s oven. Bela krajina „žlinkrofi“ (a kind of dumplings) also make a part of local cuisine. The dough is stuffed by veal lungs, bread, eggs and marjoram, and seasoned by salt and pepper.
For dessert, they serve „Belokranjska povitica“ and „prosta povitica“ (a kind of strudel). The basis for both is filo dough. While „Belokranjska povitica“ is stuffed by fresh homemade cheese or cottage cheese together with „škrlupec“, i.e. warmed cream, eggs and salt, „prosta povitica“ only contains a few tablespoons of melted fat, lard or margarine, eggs and salt. Indeed, Bela Krajina boasts a number of other kinds and forms of „potica“ (a kind of stuffed rolled cake) and pastries that appear on the table at various celebrations.
