Slovenska hisa Figovec ★ 4.3
Figovec opened in 1879 as a coachman's inn and reopened as the flagship of the Slovenska hisa family, plating the canonical Slovenian table from kranjska.
History
Bograc comes from the Hungarian Pannonian tradition that fed Slovenia's eastern Prekmurje for centuries. The dish takes its name from bogracs, the iron pot it cooks in over an open fire. Four meats (pork, beef, lamb, game) is canonical; modern Slovenian Pannonian kitchens often use three or two. Lendava in Prekmurje runs an annual Bogracfest cooking competition every August, the largest bograc cooking event in Slovenia and a touchstone for the dish's living tradition.
Make it at home
Ingredients
- 300g pork shoulder, cubed
- 300g beef chuck, cubed
- 300g lamb shoulder, cubed
- 300g venison or wild boar, cubed
- 3 large onions, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 tbsp Hungarian sweet paprika
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 500ml beef stock
- 1 red pepper, diced
- 3 potatoes, cubed
- 2 bay leaves
- Salt and pepper
- Lard or oil for browning
Method
- Brown each meat separately in lard in a heavy pot. Remove.
- Sweat the onions until golden. Off heat, stir in paprika so it does not burn.
- Return all meats to the pot. Add garlic, tomato paste, bay leaves, stock. Simmer 2 hours.
- Add red pepper and potatoes. Simmer 30 more minutes until potatoes are tender and the sauce has reduced to a thick gravy.
- Season. Rest 10 minutes before serving with crusty bread.
Tip from the editors. Paprika burns fast. Always add it off the heat or it turns bitter and ruins the colour of the stew.
This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.
Where to eat bograc
Bograc in Ljubljana
Gostilna Sestica ★ 4.0
Sestica has been an inn on Slovenska cesta since 1776. The casual side runs game stews and homemade pasta in a less formal register than the dining room.
Vodnikov Hram ★ 4.2
Vodnikov Hram in vaulted stone cellars on the market square plates Slovenian classics through the seasons: jota, kranjska klobasa and prekmurska gibanica.
More cities are in research. Want bograc covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.