Looking to taste some Slovenian food? Do you enjoy cooking? Would you like to learn more about Slovenian cuisine?
Join an evening cooking class in the centre of Ljubljana organised by the locals who enjoy cooking. You will be cooking your own dinner using fresh ingredients. Classes are organised for small groups as well as for individuals.
I’ve talked to Spela and Mateja, cooking class organisers and food enthusiasts.
- Why culinary workshops in Ljubljana? Where did the idea come from?
Ljubljana has a very big culinary offer but no culinary workshops. There are several culinary workshops near Ljubljana but those are only available once or twice a month. If a tourist comes to Ljubljana and would like to experience something special, he does not have a choice. We wanted to fill that gap and organized culinary workshops all year round, 4 days a week.
- What is your background and who are your colleagues?
I work as team building specialist and motivator but cooking is my passion. My colleagues also work in different professions like marketing and advertising. The one thing we have in common is our passion for food and cooking.
- What makes your offer different and special?
We are all culinary enthusiasts. We want to make something special and unique every time we start cooking. We love fresh ingredients and we believe that Slovenian food has the same potential as for example French and Italian cuisine. Slovenian cuisine has a very wide pallet of ingredients and tastes which are absolutely amazing but often neglected even by the Slovenians. Our culinary workshop is a very unique experience, it is all about food, wine and spending time with locals, understanding their traditions and the way of life.
- Tell me about the first reaction from your clients and tourism providers in Slovenia that you work with?
They love our project. Slovenia and Ljubljana are more and more aware of importance of culinary tourism and there are no projects like this in Ljubljana at the moment. They think it is a very nice addition to the tourist offer. Cook Eat Slovenia also made it to the finals of Snovalec tender, which was proposed by the Public Agency of the Republic of Slovenia for the Promotion of Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Development, Investment and Tourism.
- Who are your clients? Individual tourists, groups, meetings industry? Are Slovenes your target groups as well?
Our clients are basically all people who like good food. We are mostly counting on tourists and it dose not matter weather we do a culinary workshop for individuals, groups or anyone else, of course also Slovenes.
- What do your clients like the most?
Most of our clients are very impressed how we prepare idrijski žlikrofi or štruklji. We teach them how to prepare the dough and also how to prepare the filling. They also like our wines and spirits.
- At the moment your workshops are organized in Ljubljana. Do you plan to organize them also in other parts of Slovenia?
We would definitely like to expand all around Slovenia, especially in those place were there are a lot of tourists, such as Bled, Piran, Portorož and Maribor.
- What are your plans for the next season and the future?
We would obviously like to continue with the culinary workshops and also expand them to other cites around Slovenia. We are also preparing culinary vacations where we would like to combine good Slovenian food and wine with natural and cultural attractions all around Slovenia. We also have many other ideas, all involving good food and lots of fun, but let’s keep some of them as a surprise.