Justin K Arthur cooking bryndzové halušky. (source: Reprophotography of Instagram)
Every week The Slovak Spectator brings you a selection of three short stories from across Slovakia from which pessimism and negativity are absent.
British influencer cooks Slovak halušky, goes viral
Helped by an AI suggestion, Slovak cuisine has been making an unexpected splash online. A British influencer with Ghanian roots, Justin K Arthur, decided to cook what is perhaps Slovakia's most iconic dish: bryndzové halušky, or potato dumplings sprinkled with salty sheep’s cheese and pieces of grilled bacon.
Arthur's video, published on Instagram, has gone viral with more than 600,000 people watching it so far.
He decided to prepare a series featuring himself cooking national recipes. He turned to his phone to help choose the countries; the first it came up with was Slovakia.
“I was a bit surprised when Siri chose Slovakia,” Arthur admits in his video. “If I showed you a map of Europe, would you be able to pinpoint where Slovakia is?”
Even though he liked the dish and bryndza (which in his opinion tastes better than cow’s cheese), he admits he is lactose intolerant, so it hurt his stomach a bit.
Prince Albert was among the visitors to the Slovak Olympic House in Paris
Prince Albert II visited the Slovak Olympic House in Paris. (source: Olympic.sk)
Halušky also played a part in drawing more than 44,000 visitors to the Slovak Olympic House during the Summer Olympic Games in Paris.
“The project was very successful – unexpectedly so,” said Petra Gantnerová, head of the project, as quoted by the TASR newswire. Originally, the organisers had counted on some 25,000 visitors.
Officially called La Maison Slovaque, the Slovak Olympic House was situated in the Porte de la Villette quarter. It was visited by both Slovak and foreign guests and athletes, said Zuzana Eliášová, spokesperson of the Slovakia Travel tourism agency, which cooperated on the project. She highlighted the good atmosphere, rich cultural programme, sports attractions and tasty gastronomy on offer in the house.
“Halušky and beer were the most successful,” said Gantnerová, as quoted by TASR.
Slovakia's national dish was also praised by Prince Albert of Monaco who, according to Gantnerová, did not visit the Slovak Olympic House for the first time. She even called him “a regular”, when it comes to halušky.
Most visitors were French, but there were also many Slovaks who are living in the country, as well as people from the Czech Republic, the USA, Brazil, the UK, Columbia, Italy, Germany, Belgium and China, the Olympic.sk website wrote.
Two unique surgeries in one day
Trauma surgeons in Prešov performed two unique surgeries in early August. (source: FNsP J. A. Reimana)
Trauma surgeons from a Prešov hospital performed a unique surgery in early August, using new supportive self-absorbable material to fix a teenager’s broken second cervical vertebra.
“According to the available information, this surgery could even be the first in the world,” the Faculty Hospital of J. A. Reiman in Prešov wrote in a press release.
The hospital reports that the young patient is in a stable condition and is expected to make a trouble-free recovery.
On the same day, the trauma surgeons used self-absorbable intramedullary rods to fix fractures in both forearm bones that had been suffered by a five-year-old girl. The surgery took about 30 minutes.
“Surgeries in which these new materials are used mean a turning point in the treatment of fractures, and are a huge benefit in the care of patients,” the hospital added.
Five feel-good stories published by The Slovak Spectator to read:
The City of Bratislava is restoring to the public the long-lost beauty of the Koch Garden, sprawling above the Koch Sanatorium on a steep slope in Bratislava’s Old Town.
Join Oscar Brophy on his trip from the quaint coastal Irish village of Ballyheigue to Bratislava.
Even though Bratislava has no Michelin-starred restaurants, a look through the website for Irin. leaves you thinking that they must be trying to break into the club.
For many foreigners tracing their Slovak heritage, finding the burial sites of their ancestors is a deeply personal journey. To aid in this quest, we have provided maps of selected districts, with every cemetery carefully marked.
Dana Miňová did not want to become teacher like her mother. But she found herself dealing with an education-related agenda.
Political meme of the week
The Recovery Plan (source: SME/Hej, ty! – Györe)
Caption: [Prime Minister Robert Fico:] What’s still bothering you? We’re just fulfilling the plan of renewing... totalitarianism in Slovakia.
This political meme authored by the duo of caricaturists known as Hej, ty! alludes to both the post-pandemic EU Recovery (or Renewal) Plan, which is a common point of disussion in Slovakia owing to its financial significance, and several recent steps taken by the ruling coalition of Smer, Hlas and the Slovak National Party (SNS). The latter are unconnected to the actual Recovery Plan but have included not only the recent dismissals of directors of the top cultural institutions, and the decision by the Smer-nominated justice minister to release from prison former special prosecutor Dušan Kováčik, who is convicted of corruption and was serving an eight-year sentence. Recently, two big protests against members of the government have been held in the streets of Bratislava, attended by thousands of people.
You can send me your tips on good news stories about Slovakia or funny memes at: radka.minarechova@spectator.sk. Thank you!
