Cooking bohemian

Books, fashion and cooking. What do these three things have in common for you?

They are all occasional activities that have become jobs for us over the years. As a result, we professionalized hobby activities such as writing, cooking, interest in fashion, etc. Sometimes we also have concerns, because we don't want everything we love to become our job.

Love through the Stomach... a show, later a book. Your long-standing desire or a combination of circumstances?

We have wanted to publish a cookbook for several years, as publishers we specialize in publishing cookbooks. Luke's mother, Edvina, started Vendelina and laid the foundations in the publishing house of the modern Slovenian cooking tradition. The recording of the show only accelerated the publication of the book. We wanted to create a more modern attitude towards cooking here. Fifteen years ago, we didn't even think of recording a cooking show, which would be accompanied by the release of a new cookbook. Cooking in front of a camera gives a chef a different, special charm compared to reading a recipe in a book.

They are the first in our country to include the whole family in a cooking show. What are the reactions of people around you?

Cooking cannot be an end in itself. We are always cooking for someone. We cook for our family, so the kitchen is our natural space, where we don't hide anything. It's about love for the world, for your loved ones, which you show by inviting someone to a good feast. This is the most basic pleasure you can offer to friends, acquaintances, surroundings... People have been doing it since time immemorial. Today, unfortunately, people do this less and less.

Do you have a particular favorite spice?

Luka: People think that the secret of good cuisine lies in spices, but the secret lies in quality basic ingredients. Spices are there to spice up a good base, to give it the finishing touch. Recipes should not be taken completely literally. Of course, we can replace some ingredient or spice with another that we have. In most cases, it doesn't really matter whether you have thyme or marjoram.

Valentina: It is necessary to have a lot of practice and feeling for substitutions. We have to decide on one spice, because sometimes it really hurts my heart when people throw a mountain of spices into food and help to cancel out the flavors. We are advocates of local and simple ingredients that can be bought in the "store under the house" or grown in our own garden.

The qualities of a good cook are…

Valentina: Dedication and the desire to serve someone something really good and to see the one to whom the dish will be served and not just himself and his art.

Luka: While preparing the book The Art of Simplicity, which explores the Japanese way of eating and their culture, I came across an interesting sentence. When you eat alone, you eat for health, when you eat with others, you eat for company. Cooking always has a purpose. 

Do you ever have a kitchen disaster in your kitchen?

Valentina: I was making an Esterhazy slice. It's the best dessert under the sun, really. She's wicked good. It requires quite a bit of work, but it's worth it. It was Sunday morning and I started preparing the slice. Butter goes into the cream, which I didn't have enough of at home. Since my mother was coming to visit, I asked her to bring it to me. On the way she stopped at a French wholesaler and brought me butter. I baked the biscuit base and prepared the cream, into which I mixed the purchased butter, which was French, i.e. salty. Despite everything, I assembled the slice and we tried to convince ourselves as a family that it was still good, because we were really looking forward to it. Unfortunately, the slice was not edible, the saltiness of the butter ruined everything, the dish was more like clams than a great dessert.

The chef's first aid kit contains…

A liter of olive oil, a good knife, a can of pelate, garlic, black olives, spaghetti and dark chocolate.

What must (and must not have) a chef who puts something on himself?

Good knives, pans and pots. It must not have a microwave oven, but we can sometimes look through our fingers. However, it must not have beef broth concentrate in the cube.

Is there an aperitif that is particularly close to your heart?

For an aperitif, we prefer a good white wine. We are not defending Prosecco Aperola. We also love to make Bloody Mary, especially if it is well seasoned with coriander. We also appreciate a good spritzer, which we call sparkling wine for every day.

For whom and what would you cook if you could invite anyone in the world to dinner?

Michelle and Barack Obama. I would prepare a hot dog from Kranj sausage or really good hamburgers. I would like to make a Slovenian-American combination of fast food. Hamburger is not only what fast food chains offer us. It can be very sophisticated food. The real challenge is what else you can add between the two layers of the sliced bread, except for the lettuce leaf and the meat patty. We would like to add some Slovenian charm to the classic recipe for this occasion.

Where do you like to eat when you are not cooking yourself?

We love to travel the world and explore food. In Vienna, we like to reach for the sausages at the stands. In London, we often go to the modern Chinese restaurant Yauatcha. In Paris, we love going to the Chez Georges bistro, where they have excellent steaks and checkered tablecloths on the tables. In Barcelona, we go to the tapas bar Inopia, whose owner is the brother of the world-famous chef Ferran Adri. We really like to go to restaurants with soul, which are lively and where you can watch people and indulge in good food. In Ljubljana, we appreciate what Cubo does, at As they have been maintaining the quality of the pasta served for many years, when we want Thai food, we go to Thai Inn on Rimska...