Štruklji, Slovenia's most recognisable dough dish

What are štruklji?

The base is a thin dough, stretched or leavened, spread with filling and rolled up. It’s then cooked one of three ways, boiled, baked or steamed, and served in slices. Taste Slovenia says they’ve been part of Ljubljana’s cooking since the 17th century and that fillings run to about 80, sweet or savoury. The classics are curd cheese, apple, tarragon and walnut. The other typical dishes are in Slovenian food.

Where to eat štruklji

At inns, tourist farms and, above all, mountain huts. Taste Slovenia says many hut keepers are masters of štruklji and strudel, and gives the example of Dom na Kofcah, in the Karawanks, chosen best hut of 2019 for its many kinds of home-made štruklji. How the huts work is covered in mountain huts in Slovenia. In winter there are also štruklji and potica festivals, according to Taste Slovenia.

Sweet and savoury fillings

Štruklji can be a dessert or a main course depending on the filling. On tourist farms, covered in farm stays in Slovenia, they appear among the home-made desserts, according to the Tourist Board, alongside potica. In mountain huts they’re eaten at any hour, as a reward after the climb. Taste Slovenia points out that hut kitchens work with what’s at hand, sometimes without power or a fridge, so home-made štruklji up there are quite an achievement.

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Kranj štruklji

The Tourist Board publishes a recipe for Kranj štruklji, a baked version made with pancakes. First you make slightly thick pancakes from milk, egg, flour and salt. The filling starts with a dough of two egg yolks and flour, grated and cooked in milk or cream until thick, then, once cool, mixed with butter, more yolks, vanilla, sugar, whisked egg whites and plum or apricot jam. It’s spread over the pancakes, which are cut into thirds, covered with sour cream beaten with egg and baked for 10 to 15 minutes at 200 °C. The town is covered in Kranj.

Starting in Ljubljana

Since štruklji have been eaten in Ljubljana for some four centuries, the capital is a natural place to start. Taste Slovenia groups them with walnut potica among the typical dishes of Ljubljana and Central Slovenia, and the Tourist Board notes that the central market has stalls of dairy and baked goods, where skuta, the curd cheese of the classic filling, is on sale. Christmas fairs, Taste Slovenia adds, are another good place to find them in winter.

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Close relatives

Don’t confuse them with other dough dishes. The Tourist Board mentions, for example, the curd-filled krapi from Rateče, and Taste Slovenia the kvočevi nudlni of Koroška, filled with dried pears, each from its own area. If you’ve a sweet tooth, the other cake I’d look out for is Bled cream cake.

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