Treats from Bovec and its surroundings
- Čompe na skuti - Potatoes with cottage cheese.
February 2010
Bovec and its surroundings are attractive for the unspoilt and wild nature, the mountains and the emerald Soča, the gentle, unique interweaving of the Alpine and Mediterranean climate, centuries of maintained tradition, genuine people, their outstanding hospitality and of course their excellent food.
When a link was established at the beginning of January between the ski slopes of Kanin on the Slovenian side and the Italian Sella Nevea, Bovec and its surroundings became an even more attractive destination.
Lovers of nature will be enchanted by the numerous hiking trails strung out through the hills that surround Bovec. Bovec is also an adrenaline paradise in what it offers for rafting along the Soča, canyoning, hydrospeed and other adrenaline-pumping pursuits.
- Bovec cheese (bovški sir). Photo: Tomo Jeseničnik
Above Bovec and in the surrounding areas there are numerous sheep pastures, and dairy herding is still pursued there. For that reason the best-known culinary treats are linked to it. Various cheeses and other dairy products are an indispensable part of the food. These include for instance Tolmin cheese (tolminc), which bears a geographical indication of origin label.
Meanwhile Bovec cheese (bovški sir) is also protected with a geographical indication. Nowadays Bovec cheese is only made on Mangartska Planina, in Loška Koritnica and Krnica It pure sheep’s cheese, characterised by an aromatic, full and even slightly tangy taste and smell.
Dining tables in the Bovec area commonly offer (maize) polenta and potatoes (čompe) with the addition of dairy products (cottage cheese and cheese). Another typical dish is pickled turnip with smoked pork ribs and budlji. Many dishes are based on cheese and cottage cheese.
Another true delight is the Soča trout, which is, however, ranked among the endangered fish species and is protected.
Those with a sweet tooth will drool at the dessert dumplingsAnd of course the local potica cake, a must for major holidays. And pancakes with cottage cheese, jam, strawberries and raspberries, jam pastries, fried pastries including with leavened dough, doughnuts and meat-stuffed ocvirkovca bread, while the potica cakes feature lovage and tarragon stuffing.
Text by Polona Prešeren, Sinfo February 2010
Update, 21 August 2012
Bovec Cheese Gets Special EU Status
Bovški sir (Bovec cheese) is the fourteenth Slovenian food product registered by the EU. The European Commission has entered it in the register of protected designations of origin.
The traditional bovški sir is made of sheep milk, with cow or goat milk added occasionally. The milk comes from a sheep breed indigenous to the Upper Soča Valley.
The cheese, also referred to as Formaggio di Plezo vero, was first mentioned on a price list in the Italian town of Udine in 1756.
A number of traditional Slovenian dishes have already received one of the three EU protected geographical status labels. The list of registered products includes: Nanos and Tolminc cheeses, the kraški pršut prosciutto, kraški zašink dried meat from the Karst region, extra virgin olive oil from the Istra region, forest honey from Kočevje, prleška tunka cured meat, belokranjska pogača bread, idrijski žlikrofi dumplings from Idrija, prekmurska gibanica pastry from Prekmurje, zgornjesavinski želodec and šebreljski želodec meats, and Ptujski luk, a sort of red onion grown in the area of Ptuj.
Recipes /Bovec and its surroundings
Čompe s skuto – Potatoes with cottage cheese. Čompe is the local dialect for potatoes in the Soča River valley. Served with cottage cheese.
Poštóklja - a vegetable and potato puree-type dish with dripping, very popular dish in the Kobarid area.
Frika is grated cheese fried in fat, with various combinations of potato, eggs, bacon, salami, cottage cheese or sausage.
Bovški krafi pies - an original local Bovec speciality. This is a type of dough dessert typically eaten on Christmas Eve before going to midnight mass.
Source: Janez Bogataj, Taste Slovenia, Ljubljana 2007
Feature
The connection of the two ski areas is the realisation of a ten-year dream (February 2010) - The opening of the cross-border connection of the Kanin ski area represents the realisation of a long-held wish of the inhabitants of Bovec in particular, and something for which they have waited several decades.