Welcome to the Club: Adelaide’s Slovenian Club Serves Schnapps and a Very Special Sausage

It’s Friday evening in Adelaide’s north-west suburbs and everyone is talking about sausage.

We’re visiting the Slovenian Club in Dudley Park on Kranjski Night. A freestanding chalkboard emblazoned with the word “Dobrodosli” welcomes visitors to the monthly snag fest.

Volunteers chat as they pop Carniolan sausage – a parboiled mix of pork, bacon, garlic, salt and black pepper – into a soft bread roll.

“Did you know it has protected status?” asks committee member Nina Jerebica.

The kranjska sausage, produced in Slovenia since the beginning of the 19th century, has been protected by the European Union’s geographical indications system since 2014.

“We all grew up with kranjski, sauerkraut and bread,” says fellow committee member Carmen Jenko. “We never really question why we eat it – it’s just traditional and as our parents would say, ‘Zelo zdravo’ – very healthy for you.”

Former club president Dinka Jerebica (Nina’s mum) launched Kranjski Friday, and current club president Branko Pahor has kept the tradition running. At $12 for a large serve, it’s one of the cheapest feeds in town.

On Kranjski Night there are also roast chestnuts and apple strudel on offer. On Sundays – when the venue is also open to guests – the menu includes sarma (cabbage rolls), juha (soup) and more.

Nina, Carmen and Carmen’s sister Michelle Sinclair are part of the second generation of Slovenians working hard to keep the club’s heartbeat strong.

Carmen and Michelle’s mother, Anna Kalc, was just 17 in 1955 when she left her homeland, after a childhood spent under the shadow of World War II and Slovenia’s communist regime within the Yugoslavian state.

“I love my country, but I was forced to leave because there was no future there then,” says Anna, now aged 88. “People used to pay big money to get people to take them over the border to Italy, but I walked to the border which was patrolled with dogs and machine guns – all by myself.”

It was a harrowing ordeal. Anna was intercepted in Italy but managed to escape and eventually boarded a plane for Darwin in 1957. She arrived knowing no English, and kissed the ground in gratitude. Stories like Anna’s are common at the club, swapped over games of pool or while standing at the bar.

Paintings, photographs and trinkets like dolls and flags decorate the space. Large photographs and posters show Slovenian dishes, including potica , a nut roll cake typically eaten during celebrations.

“It’s the queen of cakes,” says Carmen. “Different parts of Slovenia have unique ingredients. If you haven’t got walnuts growing in your region but you’ve got carob trees, you’ll use carob pods in your potica instead. Each village has its own dishes, made with whatever is grown on that pocket of land. You only ever eat what is seasonal, which is another form of sustainability that Slovenians are good at.”

Volunteer bar staff enthusiastically offer Slovenia’s national drink zganje (schnapps) and the Lasko Zlatorog beer. Slivovka (plum brandy) is popular too, but is not always in stock.

The atmosphere grows increasingly joyous as the night rolls on.

“I’ve been thinking about what this club means to me,” Nina says. “There’s so much disconnect and loneliness out there in these times we live in. I see this as an opportunity to connect with people of my culture – and with people who aren’t of my culture. I find a real sense of home here. I think about the gen-ones who came out here and did the hard yards. I want to be part of keeping that legacy alive.”

The Slovenian Club Adelaide is open to the public on Sunday afternoons and for Kranjski Night on the first Friday of every month.

Slovenian Club Adelaide
1 La Salle Street, Dudley Park
(08) 8269 6199

slovenianclubadelaide.com.au
@slovenianssa