The village of Pince Marof was founded 100 years ago. After World War I and the signing of the Rapallo Treaty, many Istrians and Primorska inhabitants left their homes fleeing the oncoming fascism and settled permanently along the Mura River, in the far north-east of Slovenia, in what is now the municipality of Lendava.
They brought with them a rich cultural heritage: songs and chants of the Adriatic, customs, cuisine, memories and a way of life that they wove into the new landscape. The Association Istrians and Primorska inhabitants in Prekmurje cherishes memories of its roots, and one of the events they organized in memory of their ancestors is Mineštrijada, where the traditional dish of Istria and Primorje is cooked - mineštra.
This year, on June 6, the fifth consecutive Mineštrijada was organized, to which our Association was invited. We were happy to attend, both because of the cooking and because of meeting our dear friends from Pince Marof, with whom we have been friends for four years in Lendava-Slovenia and Slatina-Republika Srpska.
President of the Association of Slovenians "Triglav" Ivan Memon and members of the Culinary Section of the Association Ljiljana, Milena, Olga and I set out to show our culinary skills. At nine o'clock we arrived at Pince Marof, and everything was already ready there: a big tent (for registration of participants and holding the cultural part), tables with a fire pit for a kettle and, of course, smiling hosts with instructions and morning refreshment. By eleven o'clock, 17 teams had arrived. The ceremony was opened and the participants were greeted by Nataša Tomšić, president of the Association Istrians and Primorska inhabitants in Prekmurje. Then came the performance of folklore groups from Lendava and its surroundings. I was most impressed by the performance of the group from the Lendava Music School and the Gabrski Manštrafi from Gaberje.
And then we got down to business. Ivan went to get a kettle with ingredients: onions, celery, carrots, peppers, potatoes, tomatoes, macaroni, fat, spices..., lit the fire, and the female part of the team arranged the table: a tablecloth, an inscription of the Association, newsletters of the Association, cakes that we brought, brandy, sour cream and a Slovenian jug with roses and field poppies that we picked in a nearby field. In the busy cleaning and chopping of vegetables, at first, we didn't even hear the sounds of the accordion and the song that gave rhythm and a happy note to the work crews. When the vegetables were in the cauldron, one member of the team stirred the minestrone so that it wouldn't burn, and the others joined in the songs and jokes, because this year there was also a prize for the funnest team. The friendly hosts supported the guests, the committees supervised the cooking, the mood, and the arrangement of the tables. Getting to know and socializing with other teams, we tried their delicacies and also looked into their cauldrons, assessing the quality of the minestrone. The minestrone simmered on the fire, the ingredients were the same, but only one would be the best. The team from Sombor came for the first time, the team from Trieste participated in folk costumes, the teams from Lendava and Marof had delicious cakes, the team from Ljubljana was the happiest and so on, all different in some way, but all with a smile, warm, radiant like that sunny day in the Prekmurje plain.
The minestrones were ready, the commission took the samples, and we sat down to eat the best minestrone for us, and we tried the others as well.
We didn't receive an award at the ceremony, but being part of the event organized by those wonderful people from Pince Marof is the biggest award. Happy, satisfied with the sounds of polka and waltz in our souls, we returned to Banja Luka.
Olga Suvajac
