I have mentioned it a lot before that traveling is not just about far away and exotic places, nor just about expensive and popular spots. Those who have been following my journeys could observe that I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to see some common destinations like Italy, Spain or Greece, but I was not frightened either, when I had to explore some Slavic countries in the neighborhood of Hungary, such as the Czech Republic, Slovenia or Poland. 

That is how I have decided with my friends to start discovering our closest neighbor, Slovakia by car. Last time I told you about our trip to Levice and Nitra, now it is time to move on to our second journey. Before starting our next trip to the Northeast, I would like to talk a little bit about Slovak gastronomy: at least the meals that I had the opportunity to try so far.

My number one and in general also a favourite of many Hungarians going to Slovakia is called bryndzove halušky, which got its name due to the fact that it is made of some particular small dumplings named halušky (in Hungarian: galuska). 

The adjective is derived from the word bryndza, which is the sheep milk cheese, a key ingredient of the Slovak cuisine. (Once we even tried a pizza which was called bryndzová, so we immediately knew that this would be something with sheep cheese - let’s say that the Slovak interpretation of pizza, which was a strong and delicious combination.)

Other ingredients are fried bacon and usually cut onion on the top, and as it is true about many tasty and satisfying dishes, it is not so difficult to prepare this food. Neither is difficult to make it disappear from the plate. 

We, Hungarians should really pay attention though for asking this food, especially if we intend to do so in Slovak: namely, the Hungarian name of this meal is sztrapacska, but strapačky is certain type of halušky with potato, sausage, meat and sauerkraut. Most probably it is as delicious as its cheesy version, but better not to mix the two dishes up!

Mentioning cheese, there are two other famous kinds of cheese in the country: parenica, a sort of smoked cheese (even the meaning of the name refers to it) and korbáčik, which means 'little whip' due to the long, twisted shape of how it looks like. 

Just as Czechs, Slovaks also adopted many Hungarian meals and developed their own versions of it: such food is guláš (gulyás), langoš (lángos), paprikáš (paprikás) and perkelt (pörkölt), but due to some Hungarian roots and ancestors the fish soup and many other meals are also well-known and popular.

We can also mention a special white bread or roll named knedlík (in Hungarian: knédli) which, apart from Slovakia, is common among Czechs and Hungarian-Germans (Swabians) too. 

The chimney cake that we call kürtőskalács, as I realized in Prague and Ostrava before, is known as trdelník in Czech and Slovak territories and has a funny fact: while Hungarians claim that the food has a Transylvanian origin, Czechs say that it is from Moravia and Slovaks also believe that trdelník is their invention.

A Czech town, Český Krumlov also claims the food as its own and it is considered as a UNESCO heritage. Well, to be honest, trdelník and kürtőskalács are not exactly the same and most probably it is a common heritage of the Eastern-European gastronomy, so let’s hope that we will never ever witness something like a ‘Czechoslovak-Hungarian chimney cake war’.

When I was in Nitra, I also had to taste the local alcoholic spirit and it was impossible to skip it due to my curiosity and respecting the manners. 

As a waitress told me, it is almost obligatory for foreigners in Slovakia to try borovička, a spirit made of juniper berries, which is as controversial at least as ouzo for tourists going to Greece or the famous Czechoslovak caffeinated soft drink, kofola, which is an all time favorite for me, but people usually either love it or hate it. 

Borovička was indeed very strong, but with a characteristic, sharp taste and, as I experienced later, it is not easy to choose a good one in the shops. Actually my first encounter with it was a disaster and I did not like it at all, but later I explored some other brands in the supermarkets and I changed my pointo f view. So if you manage to find a trustful producer, it is worth to buy it.

For those who know only the popular Tatratea among Slovak spirits, it can be a shocking first time, because borovička is not a drink with dozens of different flavors and not so soft as the cinnamon-based Becherovka from Czech Republic or the bison grass-based Żubrówka from Poland. 

Last but not least, it is important to highlight that the transmission of traditional meals also works the other way around, because there is a popular Slavic food made of fish which is very popular in Hungary: we call it ruszli and I found some information that the word rusle also exists in Slovak (at least for conserving cucumbers, but it might be a false suggestion). However, normally when you see a can of it, it is written on the label that it’s sleď (herring).

So what is the food which is known in Hungary as 'ruszli' exactly? Well, apart from herring, which is the key ingredient, it contains vinegar, usually a lot of (really a lot of) onion, salt, sugar and sometimes other vegetables like cucumber or carrot which makes it sour and long lasting. It can be eaten on its own, but it is also popular to take it as a sort of salad for main courses.

This type of herring is considered a sort of national food in Slovakia, which is also funny, because taking into account that herring is sea fish, Slovaks could not eat it without importing it! Of course, it happens mainly from Poland, where it is also a traditional and popular fish - so much, that there is even a pub franchise called ‘Ministry of Herring and Vodka Affairs’. I think nothing can be more Slavic than this single expression.

Actually, if I think about the fact that the European hake which is associated in Hungary with lake Balaton is also a sea fish and has nothing to do with the famous Hungarian lake, we also have such national meals with a weird and unusual origin… it does not change the special connection though that we have with these meals, so the 'Slovak herring' is just as a valid and existing cultural phenomenon as the 'Hungarian hake' regardless our current knowledge of biology.

Our second trip began with the wonderful town of Zvolen (in Hungarian: Zólyom), which was also the capital of the county bearing the same name throughout the centuries (Zólyom vármegye in Hungarian).

Hungarians, especially from my home area of Esztergom, can immediately have the association with the famous Hungarian poet of the Renaissance era, Bálint Balassi, who was born in Zólyom and later became an iconic writer of Esztergom. When we entered the yard of the magnificent castle of Zvolen, there was even a memorial plaque dedicated to him.

The castle, having both Gothic and Renaissance characteristics, is a very romantic and enormous fortress that shines nowadays in its whole beauty: partly due to the fact that the Ottoman army could never invade the city and it was not destroyed in the long and cruel Turkish wars like many castles and palaces in present-day Hungary.

The halls serve today as the exhibition rooms of an art museum, which is full of old wooden statues (mostly replicas), carpets, altar paintings (triptychs) and art pieces connected to churches, chapels and religious buildings.

The dozens of saints with their different, sometimes bizarre shapes and huge, surrealistic heads recreate the eerie atmosphere of the Middle Ages and we are invited for a real time travel among the walls. 

The upper floors also host a gallery of Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo and Romantic paintings, which was most probably the most gorgeous and memorable part of the exhibition: a collection of mainly Dutch, Italian and German artists showing portraits, still lives, scenes of the everyday bustle with city views, palaces, fruits, vegetables and amazing countrysides.

Due to a national holiday we were able to see some folklore dancers and listen to some folklore music, but there was also a small festival on the main square, Námestie SMP (Slovak National Uprising square), which also works as a sort of corso with a park, the city theater and the enchanting Gothic Church of St. Elisabeth (Kostol sv. Alžbety).

Well, these were my impressions of Zvolen based on the couple of hours I spent there, but this was just the beginning of a beautiful trip (and friendship) to the lands of former Hungarian counties Zólyom (Zvolen) and Hont, which I am going to describe next time...