The first day out began with truffle hunting in Belvedur. It is spring black truffle season here. Gina, the amazing truffle hunting dog, led us to an oak tree where I able to dig out the truffles.

Next we headed to Franc Morgan's olive groves. Franc (below) is a gold medal winner in an international olive oil competition held in Italy every year. His awards are too numerous to mention, but, sadly, his production so small that it is consumed exclusively here in Slovenia. It might be the best olive oil I have ever tasted, and it is ubiquitous in the finest restaurants across Slovenia.

We tasted several varieties including orange-infused oil that is pressed with whole oranges. It was poured over vanilla gelato and a lemon-infused variety made in the same way I later used at a dinner prepared the next evening. We also tasted an olive based digestif.

Then we headed to Klenart vineyard situated on a hill overlookin Trieste on one side and the Bay of Piran on the other side.

We tasted all of his wines including a pinot noir rose that I served at the same dinner.

The next day began with securing a fish from a fisher named Momo in the port side town of Piran. He brought a rare catch. The folks there were declaring it salmon, but it looked a steelhead trout to me. Once I cut into it, it turned out I was right. Nonetheless, catching a fish of the species in the Bay of Piran is extremely unusual. It must have traveled down a river on it's way to open water and made a wrong turn.

Photos by Christopher Wurst


The we headed to the famous Istrian salt flats where there is now a nature preserve and salt has been produced since medieval times when it was the primary source of revenue for the region and a major source of revenue for the Venetian city state. There I picked up some amazing fleur de sel that has an almost sweet finish to it.

After that, we headed into the uplands of Istria where I prepared a meal from that morning's trout cooked over an open fire along with potatoes mashed with the black truffles and a garnish of variegated radicchio with fresh fennel tossed in lemon juice and Franc's lemon-infused olive oil.

I finished the dish with the fleur de sel. It was served en brodo with a broth made from the trout bones and aromatic vegetables with some Klenart Ribula white wine. We started with some Klenart sparkling wine made from chardonnay and pinot noir (They call the pinot noir modri pinot ). I served Klenart rose with the meal and we finished with the olive-oil digestif from Morgan.
Today I have several interviews. Then I am preparing a meal of heirloom beans with klobasa and duck eggs in a "black kitchen." More later.-- Lenny Russo