Sweet and Sauer

This is a meal which I always enjoy when I visit Central Europe, because they do it very well. So, while here in Ljubljana, classy capital of Slovenia, I just had to look for it on the menus of the local restaurants and bars.

We chose a local restaurant named after a Slovenian poet, Valentin Vodnik, immortalised in a statue at the Central Market nearby. The place specialises in Slovenian cuisine, and featured just the type of dish I was looking for on its menu.

My meal is shown in the photo above. Two meaty, very traditional sausages served with sauerkraut. Sauerkraut is fermented, soured cabbage, and this serving was finely shredded and gently salted. In texture, it is not unlike the thin, fried onions that you might serve with a hot dog, but with a milder taste.

The sweet, to complement the sour, comes in the form of sweetened mustard, which I’ve found is a traditional accompaniment to sausage, or bratwurst, in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and, now, Slovenia.

The plate is completed with potatoes that, miraculously, somehow manage to be both roasted, yet served scooped and mashed (see my photo – don’t ask me how).

There is really only one choice of drink to accompany this meal, and that is a large glass of draft beer from local Slovenian brewer, Union. The glasses bear their name and their logo of the dragon, which is the city emblem of Ljubljana.