Slovakia - Eastern Europe - page 608

SLOVAK PEOPLE & CULTURE
With the country's expanse of unspoiled nature, Slovaks, generally speaking, fancy
themselves as simple folk, with a taste for fun, rich food, and strong drink. Folk music,
while certainly an anachronism, can still be heard in some of the smaller towns and
villages. Slovaks are generally known for being gregarious, generous, and loyal. On the
negative side, they can sometimes seem stubborn or even hotheaded. Of course, these
are generalizations. In reality there are as many “typical Slovaks” as there are people
living here.
The vast majority of the population is ethnic Slovak, though a sizable minority of
around half a million Hungarians still lives in the south of the country along the Hun-
garian frontier. There's also a large community of Gypsies, or Roma, spread out
around the country, most living in squalor in the countryside or in decrepit public-
housing projects outside the large cities. The Roma represent a seemingly intractable
problem for the Slovaks. The Roma, with some justification, say they are routinely dis-
criminated against and forced into substandard schools and living quarters. The Slo-
vaks, for their part, say the Roma rigorously resist integration into mainstream life.
There's truth on both sides, but sadly no solution in sight.
SLOVAK CUISINE
As with culture, it's difficult to pinpoint Slovak cuisine with any certainty. If you had
to generalize you'd be safe in saying it's similar to Czech and Austrian cooking, but
spicier, more adventurous, and often better. That means lots of meat dishes, with beef,
pork, and chicken popping up on menus most often, but with a fiery taste that's often
lacking in the countries to immediate west.
Many meals are built around the ubiquitous halu s ky, the Slovak equivalent of
dumplings in the Czech lands. Halu s ky are little noodles made of potato meal, flour,
and egg, which are then boiled and served as mains or sides. The national dish is
“bryndzové halu s ky,” where the halu s ky share equal billing with a deliciously sharp,
sour sheep's cheese, and small chunks of bacon.
Mealtimes hold to the Continental standard. For breakfast (ra n ajky), Slovaks take a
light meal that may only consist of a bread roll with tea or coffee, though hotels and pen-
sions typically offer the standard table of cold cuts, cheeses, and cereals. Lunches are larger
and usually served from noon until 2pm. Here you'll be offered two courses: a soup
(polievka) and a main dish. Common soups include a deliciously sour cabbage (kapust-
nica) and vegetable (zeleninová). Mains are usually built around meat of some kind, with
pork (brav c ové) the most common, followed by beef (hovadzie) and chicken (kur c a).
You'll usually be expected to order a separate side dish. Potatoes (zemiaky) are the most
common, usually served boiled or as fries, or something called “American potatoes,”
essentially large fries served with the potato skin intact. Dinners are more substantial, con-
sisting of an appetizer, main course, and desert (dezert). Deserts are normally built around
pancakes of some sort, usually featuring chocolate and nuts, or fruit jam.
Vegetarians will find Slovak restaurants disappointing. Most restaurants offer salads,
omelets, and fried cheese, but few if any meatless entrees. Menus typically include a
section called “Meatless Dishes,” but these too, curiously, usually contain a piece of
ham or bacon.
LANGUAGE
Slovak is a western Slavic language, closely related to Czech. The two are mutually com-
prehensible. For centuries Hungarian was the official language in much of the territory