Culinary experiences

Weekend with chef Dejan at the Dobrovc farm below Mozirska planina

The Dobrovc tourist farm lies at the heart of the Upper Savinja Valley in the hamlet of Poljane, not far from Rečica ob Savinji and the Golte ski slope. The farm has a certificate for organic meat, milk, vegetable and apple farming.

The owner's son Dejan is a first-class cook fond of serving up surprises for his guests from his superb kitchen. He remains true to traditional Slovenian cooking and specialises in local culinary specialities and seasonal dishes. Dejan trained in France and Slovenia and has attended Andrej Goljat's culinary workshops and trained at the renowned JB restaurant in Ljubljana and the Primorka Strunjan restaurant. He has also attended dietetics, healthy nutrition and other culinary courses.

Dejan is keen to pass his cooking skills to others and has been holding culinary courses for many years. The Dobrovc family also organises cookery workshops for their guests at the farm.

For an original and unique celebration, anniversary, gathering of classmates, friends or young housewives, eager to learn, choose a weekend with Dejan, chef extraordinaire.

The programme runs throughout the year and is not limited to a particular season or culinary theme. Themes are designed to meet your wishes and may depend on which greens are in season. In April or May, for example, you may choose a workshop on wild garlic or asparagus; in summer, on healthy nutrition or fish; in autumn, on mushrooms; and in winter, learn how to make štruklji (rolled dumplings) or žlinkrofi (stuffed pasta), bake bread and potica (cake) and prepare chicory or sauerkraut dishes. You may also choose a workshop on koline – dishes prepared after the traditional winter culling. Workshops on healthy nutrition, diet foods and foods that help in weight loss can also be organised.

Discuss the themes with Dejan and he will gladly adapt the programme to suit your wishes and ensure that your group has an unforgettable experience.

Programme

Day 1

You will arrive at the farm in the afternoon and be received by your host Alojz with a shot of home-made ginger liqueur or a glass of juice and home-made biscuits. After checking into your room, Alojz will take you for a short walk across the pastures and meadows surrounding the farm. You will be taken to see the farm's deer, which you can feed with corn, their favourite fodder. From there, you will continue the walk to a captivating Karstic cave called Župnekovo žrelo. The cave is the source of the Rečica stream, which lends its name to Rečica ob Savinji.

After this brief tour, you will be invited to a dinner prepared by chef Dejan. Most of the ingredients are grown on the farm. After dinner, your host Alojz will make an introduction of the farm and the three-day programme.

Day 2

At daybreak, you will awaken to birdsong, the neighbour's rooster and the church bell. If you wish, you may take a stroll around the farm before breakfast and savour the tranquillity of the morning. White coffee, fresh farm milk and tea made from herbs collected in the vicinity are served for breakfast. Home-made jam, honey, butter, mohot (cheese and cream spread), herbal cottage cheese spread and deer pâté for your bread. You may choose between savoury buckwheat žganci (dumplings), masovnik (flour boiled in cream, a traditional dish in these parts) or sample Alojz's characteristic Upper Savinja Valley cured meats, such as salami, sausages, želodec, zašink and bunke.

After breakfast, you will accompany Dejan to the forest to collect the wild garlic that he uses in his cooking. Dejan will instruct you on its medicinal properties and on what to look out for when collecting it.

On your return, you will help Dejan prepare the wild garlic dishes, starters, spreads, savoury soups, main courses and side dishes that will be served for lunch.

In the afternoon, you may take a half-hour walk to a forest clearing called Blate, where you will also find pools locally known as žabjeki. The magnificent surroundings will help you to unwind and familiarise yourself with this natural habitat and forest. The pools are home to frogs, which are a protected species in Slovenia.

After returning to the farmstead, you will be treated to a dinner prepared by Dejan, who is renowned far and wide for his traditional cookery and for using whatever ingredients are in season in the garden, fields and forest.

In fine weather, guests get together on the terrace after dinner to chat about their day, or in the guest room in poor weather.

Day 3

Breakfast consists of bread spreads, wild garlic pesto prepared the day before and home-made delicacies, which are never in short supply at the Dobrovc farm. In the afternoon, you can visit the flower beds and blossoms of Mozirski gaj and recharge your batteries for your trip back home. A rustic room at Mozirski gaj features a permanent exhibition of the zgornjesavinjski želodec, a local cured meat speciality protected by EU geographical indication.

A local dish will be served for lunch at about 1 p.m. Afterwards, you will store the spreads and wild garlic pesto you made in small jars so that you may take them home together with the recipes for the dishes you prepared with Dejan at his workshops.

Programme:

- 2 x full board

- introduction to the farm with guided activities and culinary workshop

 

The price is EUR 119 per person.

 

Free for children under 5, half-price for children from 5 to 8, 30% off for children from 9 to 14

The minimum number of guests for the programme described above is 10 adults.

The hosts will be happy to cater to your needs and prepare other memorable experiences for your group. Your call and visit will be warmly received.

 

Information and reservation:

Alojz Potočnik

Poljane 13

3332 Rečica ob Savinji

Tel.: + 386 (0)3 583 52 59, +386 (0)41 269 103

info@turisticna-kmetija-dobrovc.com

www.turisticna-kmetija-dobrovc.com

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