Trieste's gastronomic culture is closely tied to its history and is, therefore, the product of combinations of traditions preserved by nationalities, such as the Austrio-Hungarian, that have contributed to the formation of the social fabric of the town since the 18th century. Pastry shops offer delicious Austrian cakes, such as the Easter Putizza, a soft leavened spongecake, or the Presnitz Cake, a mixture of puff pastry filled with currants, raisins and chocolate. Other typical dishes include the smoked Praga Ham, a product of Moldavian origin but now belonging to a tradition of the Friuli Venetia Julia region. It is usually served hot. When ham is still hot it is sent from producers to butchers every day. Ham is sometimes roasted inside the bread crust. Grating radish or adding mustard and Sauerkräuter (German spices) is highly recommended to try a wonderful, regional dish.

Internationally, the Collio area, located in the north of the province of Gorizia, close to the Slovenian border, has always palyed a key role in terms of wine production. The area near Gorizia and the Istrian peninsula have been known to be fertile and rich agricultural land to be used for wine production and fruit farming since the Middle Ages. Specialized viticulture methods date back the 16th century, when Collio wines began to be popular, namely from the reign of the Venice Republic until the Austria-Hungarian Empire. The Doc zone boasts 1,600 vineyards stretching along the hillside of the area surrounding Gorizia, very close to Slovenia. Obviously, local products include both white and red wines to be tasted in wine-cellars, though the Collio area is particularly famous for its white wines considered among the best in Italy.

San Daniele Ham is another delicious food product from San Daniele, a small village near the Pre-Alps. The walnut-scented ham has a pinkish-red colour and a sweet, delicate fragrance. Its reputation is due to long dry-curing processes lasting at least one year, after which the open surface is coated with marbling pure white fat. San Daniele Ham ranks in the top food products from the Friuli Venetia Julia region. The Montasio Cheese is a cow's milk product based on a long aging process and its taste is fresh. It has been recently awarded the status of Doc (it is produced following traditional procedures to preserve its authenticity).

 

Slovenia

Slovenia is a hospitable country bordering Italy delighting visitors fond of tasting local dishes.  Austrio-Hungarian traditions are still alive and well preserved, as local cakes show. Typical dishes include štruklij, widely known in more than seventy varieties, the potica, a cake roll filled with walnuts, poppy seeds, raisins, various herbs, cottage cheese and honey or a dish known as “prekmurska gibanica”, the most renowned luxuriously filled product. Popular everyday dishes are made of cabbage, beans and potatoes and the Karst Ham is another delicacy worth tasting. Wines, especially from the Brda area just as famous as the Italian Collio area and from the Jeruzalem hills, in East Slovenia close to Maribor will, however, end up delighting guests's tastes. The country is characterized by a large presence of both wine-cellars offering wine tasting and restaurants or inns where wine experts can be consulted to make a good choice of wine.

 

Croatia

Croatia is a country that has always been exposed to different cultural influences from Central and Eastern Europe, which is why the cuisine of the Alps Adria region boasts typical wines from the Istrian peninsula, above all the Malvasia offering sheer delight to guests. Croatian truffles, ranking first among others beyond the Adriatic coast owing to their flavour,  taste and smell, are a basic traditional dish. They grow in the woodland and may be either black or white. Another delicacy from the Istrian cuisine is oil, which has come to symbolize land used for the cultivation of olivetrees plantations according to traditional procedures. Specialized factories striving to bring guests closer to oil cellars and oil-presses also provide a wide range of oil varieties for visitors to enjoy oil tasting.

 

Carinthia

Cuisine in the Austrian region Carinthia is not characterized by particular food products, as local Carinthian dishes are just the typically Austrian products, such as Speck ham, sausages and beer. The variety of Gailtaler Speck is famous as typical meat from the Gailtal valley. The first stage in the production process is the seasoning of the boned leg with various herbs, such as laurel, pepper and nutmeg, followed by salting and preserving ham with smoke for some 20 days. The most renowned Speck ham comes from the leg. The Gailtaler Cheese is another delicacy of the region deriving its name from the mountain in the valley, where dairy cattle are bred, above all in the North and South. The cheese is produced with skimmed cow's milk and has a round shape. Its rind is yellow and becomes hard with aging and its texture is fresh, soft and smooth. Its aging time goes up to seven weeks at least. The Gailtaler Cheese is produced at a height of 1,500 meters according to native dairy traditions. Visitors can visit a dairy factory housing a museum that explains the mysteries of cheese production.