Vanilla Ice Cream With Pumpkin Seed Oil

Prekmurje, in the far north-east of Slovenia, is a flat, fertile land where fields of pumpkins stretch across the plain in late summer, and pumpkin-seed oil is one of the region's proudest products. The oil is made from the seeds of a particular variety of oil pumpkin, whose seeds have no hard shell, so they are dark green and soft inside. The seeds are washed, dried, ground and roasted, then pressed to produce a thick, dark green oil, almost black in the bottle, with a deep nutty aroma and a flavour that is rich and slightly bitter. The oil from Styria and Prekmurje has protected geographical status in the European Union, and it is sometimes nicknamed green gold. It is sold in small dark bottles and used sparingly, since its flavour is strong.

Traditionally, pumpkin-seed oil is used on salads, especially potato and bean salads, and added at the table to soups, such as the creamy pumpkin soup that is a regional staple, and to savoury dishes like bograč, a goulash-type stew cooked in a cauldron. A drizzle on ice cream is a modern idea, but one that has become so popular that it is now a favourite of restaurants and inns across the region and is a dessert that many visitors remember. The principle is simple: a scoop of vanilla ice cream, cold and sweet and creamy, is topped with a spoonful of the dark green oil, which adds a warm, roasted, nutty note and a hint of bitterness that balances the sugar, and often a handful of crunchy pumpkin seeds, sometimes caramelised, on top. The contrast of temperature, colour and flavour is part of the appeal, and people who are sceptical at first are often converted by the first spoonful.

The dessert is easy to find. Restaurants and traditional inns, or gostilne, in Murska Sobota, Lendava, Moravske Toplice and the villages of the region serve it, along with the more traditional dessert, prekmurska gibanica, a layered cake of poppy seeds, walnuts, apples and cottage cheese. Markets and festivals celebrating Pannonian culture often have stalls where producers sell their oil and visitors can taste it with different foods. Many oil makers also open their presses to visitors, allowing them to see the process and to buy bottles directly, and it is worth looking for oil with the protected label.

Trying the ice cream is a pleasant introduction to the cuisine of the region, and it fits into a broader exploration of Prekmurje, which includes spa resorts and thermal springs, wineries such as Marof Winery, the Plečnik church in Bogojina, storks nesting on rooftops, ponds, winding rivers and the floating mills on the Mura. Bring a bottle of oil home as a souvenir, and store it in a cool, dark place.