Bryndzove Halusky. The dish that most defines Slovak cuisine is probably Brindzove Halusky, which defies direct translation. It consists of tender potato dumplings (the size of broad beans) cooked in brindza (wonderful fresh soft sheep cheese). Normally this is topped with small cubes of freshly fried bacon similar to pork scratchings (skvarky), and bacon fat (mast). If you are a vegetarian ask them to omit the topping: "Bez skvarok a masti, prosim!".

Tvarohove Knedliky. Home made cottage cheese dough formed into dumplings the size of an egg and simmered gently, each with a plum or a cherry inside. Served with breadcrumbs fried in butter with sugar, gently caramelised. My favourite.

Buchty na Pare. Freshly risen dough dumplings, the size of a small fist, filled with plum, puréed apple or sweetened with poppy seeds and steamed. Served in gently melted butter and sprinkled with caster sugar and cinnamon. Difficult to stop asking for another one.

Kapustne Pagace. Half risen dough with shredded cabbage inside baked on top of the oven (in the past it was baked in the bread oven) until slightly charred. My father’s favourite.

Rezance s Tvarohom. Home made noodles with fresh cottage cheese, caraway seeds and possibly a pickled gherkin. This is often served with the same “pork scratchings” topping as Bryndzove Halusky.

Rezance s Makom. Similar to the noodles with cottage cheese, but poppy seeds mixed with melted butter give the dish a gentle sweet taste.

Kysle Mlieko so Zemiakmi. The simplest, but most delicious dish. Well-set home made yoghurt and boiled new potatoes in their skins.

Nalesniky. Raw potatoes are grated together with onions, garlic, caraway seeds, salt and pepper and fried as pancakes. Resist having too many, they can be very heavy on the stomach.

Pecene Zemiaky. Oven-baked jacket potatoes served with sauerkraut (Kysla Kapusta). When done gently in a traditional wood-burning clay stove over several hours they are quite special.

Zemiaky. Restaurants normally provide a great variety of potatoes: mashed (dusene), baked (zapekane), cubed and fried (opekane), boiled (varene) or sliced and made into a salad (zemiakovy salat).

Ryza. All restaurants provide rice as an alternative to potatoes. It is normally boiled, fried rice is not common. Often you can also get Rice Pudding (Ryzovy Nakyp).

Zelenina. Root vegetables are available all year round. In summer there is also a good choice of locally grown fresh salads: Tomatoes (that taste like tomatoes should) (Paradajky), Cucumbers (Uhorky), Peppers (Papriky), Lettuce (Hlavkovy Salat), Onions (Cibule), etc. Most restaurants will make you a salad to order, to your liking.