Corn was historically, and still is very important grain for Slovenian farms. It was used to feed farm animals and make a variety of dishes – spoon-bread with pork cracklings, corn flour was combined with wheat flour to make bread. Cornbread with milk was also one of the Slovenian traditional breakfasts. It was planted on almost every farm in May or June and needed about three to four month to mature. Farmers from neighbouring farms would usually help each other out with farm tasks – as they did with peeling corn.
The process was quite simple – they would first pick the corn cobs and bring the crop home and made a pile out of them. Underneath the pile they would hide “baba”, a bottle of liquor or some other drink to motivate farmers peeling the corn.
A housewife would usually spend the whole day preparing different dishes for everyone who helped them out. Peeling corn would traditionally start in the evening when everyone finished with their farm tasks and would be able to help a neighbour out. Women were in charge of removing most of the corn husks, leaving two or three of them. Men would then tie two of the corn cobs together, leaving them to be transported to stall (kozolec) where they would be left to dry. When all the work was done, they would spend some time together, eating great traditional meals that housewife prepared and have a drink or two to celebrate a job well done.
