EN Official Journal of the European Union C 269/2

Publication of an application pursuant to Article 50(2)(a) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs

2014/C 269/02

This publication confers the right to oppose the application pursuant to Article 51 of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (1).

SINGLE DOCUMENT

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 510/2006

on the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs (2)

‘KLENOVECKÝ SYREC’

EC No: SK-PGI-0005-1008 — 22.06.2012

PGI ( X ) PDO ( )

1. Name:

‘Klenovecký syrec’

2. Member State or Third Country

Slovakia

3. Description of the agricultural product or foodstuff

3.1. Type of product

Group 1.3: Cheeses

3.2. Description of the product to which the name in (1) applies

‘Klenovecký syrec’ is a semi-hard, ripened cheese, smoked or unsmoked, in the form of a wheel 10–25 cm in diameter or in wedges of 10–14 × 12–16 × 8–12 cm. The basic raw material for ‘Klenovecký syrec’ is sheep's or cow's milk with added milk cultures isolated from raw sheep's milk. It is produced either directly in a salaš (a hut used by a shepherd when keeping sheep on summer pastures) or on a farm, using the salaš method of production, or at dairies, using the industrial method. The surface of the cheese is unbroken, with a particular mosaic pattern: a circle 4–6 cm in diameter containing a cross or four-leaf clover which is embossed into the cheese. ‘Klenovecký syrec’ may have a soft rind or may be coloured green, or be coloured using wood ash. It weighs between 1 and 4 kg.

Smoked and unsmoked cheeses differ from each other mainly in colour and odour. Smoked ‘Klenovecký syrec’ is slightly yellow to golden yellow and has a characteristic smoky aroma and a slightly (1 %) higher salt content. Unsmoked ‘Klenovecký syrec’ is white to creamy white, without a smoky aroma. The structure and consistency of the two varieties are identical.

The coloured cheeses (green or wood ash) are unsmoked.

‘Klenovecký syrec’ is placed on the market in food-quality film.

Properties:

Colour: golden yellow or green, or the colour of wood ash, on the surface, or golden brown/golden yellow in the case of smoked varieties; yellow/white inside.

Consistency: soft, pliable and elastic, the cut surface having smallish holes.

Aroma and flavour: pleasantly cheesy, slight lactic acid to matured cheese taste with a sheep's milk aroma, slightly salty and, in the case of smoked varieties, characteristically smoky.

Composition:

dry matter: not less than 50,0 % by weight;

fat in dry matter: not less than 43,0 % by weight;

salt: not more than 2,5 % by weight.

3.3. Raw materials (for processed products only)

‘Klenovecký syrec’ is produced on salaš farms using raw sheep's or cow's milk with added milk cultures isolated from raw sheep's milk, or using pasteurised sheep's or cow's milk in industrial processing with added milk cultures isolated from raw sheep's milk. It is made mainly from milk from the defined geographical area. The quality of the milk is regularly checked and recorded at the milk-processors' and producers' premises, with the following parameters being monitored: inhibitory substances, temperature, acidity, fat, specific weight and non-fat dry matter. The total number of micro-organisms and the number of somatic cells are established by accredited laboratories.

3.4. Feed (for products of animal origin only)

There are no particular quality requirements or restrictions as regards origin.

3.5. Specific steps in production that must take place in the identified geographical area

‘Klenovecký syrec’ is produced in shepherd's huts (salaš) using the traditional method, or on farms, or at dairies, using the industrial method.

Salaš production method:

addition of cultures;

curdling;

heating;

moulding and surface-scalding;

pressing and acidification;

salting;

smoking, where appropriate;

maturing.

Industrial production method:

pasteurisation;

addition of cultures;

curdling;

heating;

moulding and surface-scalding;

pressing and acidification;

salting and, if appropriate, smoking;

maturing.

All stages of production take place within the defined geographical area.

Milk undergoes pasteurisation in the case of industrial production, especially where cow's milk is collected daily from more than one supplier. Where fresh milk from a single supplier is used to make the cheese, there is no need for pasteurisation.

Neither the salaš nor the industrial production method, nor the use of sheep's or cow's milk with added milk cultures isolated from raw sheep's milk influence the taste and quality of the final product.

3.6. Specific rules concerning slicing, grating, packaging, etc.

The matured cheeses are placed in hygienic food-grade packaging. They are sold whole or in portions and are packaged where they are manufactured. This is done to maintain their quality, characteristic shape and specific decorative features, and in particular to prevent counterfeiting so that consumers are not misled.

3.7. Specific rules concerning labelling

Producers making ‘Klenovecký syrec’ in accordance with this specification are allowed to use the name ‘Klenovecký syrec’ for the purposes of labelling, advertising and marketing.

Labels affixed to the product must include:

— the name ‘Klenovecký syrec’, prominently positioned;

— the type of milk – sheep's milk (cow's milk does not have to be indicated);

— whether the cheese is smoked or unsmoked;

— the words ‘protected geographical indication’ and the associated European Union symbol.

4. Concise definition of the geographical area

The geographical area in which ‘Klenovecký syrec’ is produced comprises the Gemer–Malohont region and other regions of the Slovak Ore Mountains (Slovenské Rudohorí). This area is located in central and eastern Slovakia, where mountain pasture predominates. It is bordered to the north by the ridges of the Low Tatras, to the west by the Javorie and Ostrôžky mountains, to the south by the Cerová Uplands and the border with Hungary and to the east by the Slovak Ore Mountains.

Sheep and cattle farming are widespread in this mountainous region, providing the milk for the production of ‘Klenovecký syrec’. Specifically in the area around Klenovec there are many original unpolluted meadows and pastures suitable for sheep and cattle grazing. The milk from these foothill areas has excellent cheese-making and fermenting qualities, providing a good basis for exceptionally high-quality cheese.

5. Link with the geographical area

5.1. Specificity of the geographical area

The specified geographical area had, and still has, suitable conditions for rearing and grazing sheep and beef cattle. Its inhabitants made good use of the mountain environment and continue to do so. The main occupation of the people living in the villages in this geographical area in the Slovak Ore Mountains was farming and small-scale food production, and this is still the case today.

The production of ‘Klenovecký syrec’ is also historically linked to the specified area. The first preserved written material relating to this traditional cheese dates from 1850, when ‘Klenovecký syrec’ was already being produced on a small scale in this area and being exported to surrounding countries, where it became very popular.

‘Klenovecký syrec’ was and still is made in the specified geographical area, its production also being linked to the traditional, specific and unique skills of the producers themselves. The production process and the shape and quality of the product have been maintained thanks to the skill, experience and knowledge acquired from previous generations. Another aspect of the specificity of the production is the skill involved in scalding the surface of the cheese in hot water so that it acquires a nice, firm surface onto which a mould with the typical traditional decorative motif is applied and pressed while warm. Based on the experience and tradition that has been built up, it is reasonable to assume that traditional production will continue and increase in both small-scale establishments and, gradually, also in larger, industrial-scale establishments.

5.2. Specificity of the product

‘Klenovecký syrec’ is a semi-hard ripened cheese, smoked or unsmoked, produced by adding an original culture comprising lactic acid bacteria of the genera Lactococcus and Lactobacillus, which give ‘Klenovecký syrec’ its characteristic and specific properties, similar to those of ripened sheep's milk cheese. Produced in this way, the cheese then has year-round qualities as a cheese made from high-quality raw milk during the optimum part of the growing season. This lactic acid culture was isolated from raw sheep's milk and sheep's milk cheese in Slovak shepherds' huts (salaš).

‘Klenovecký syrec’ has specific decorative features. During moulding, the surface of the cheese is embossed by means of a mould with a specific decorative motif comprising a circle containing a cross or four-leaf clover. The circumference of the circle is serrated. The decorative features symbolise the earth, the universe, the sun and the wisdom of our ancestors, life and good fortune being dependent on the sun.

5.3. Causal link between the geographical area and the quality or characteristics of the product (for PDO) or a specific quality, the reputation or other characteristic of the product (for PGI)

The application to register the geographical indication ‘Klenovecký syrec’ is based on tradition, specific quality, reputation and the shape with its specific decorative features. The specific quality of the cheese is characterised by a pleasant matured cheese taste and the flavour of sheep's milk, as well as a fairly solid consistency. When eaten, however, the matured cheese melts in the mouth, leaving a very pleasant taste of ripened sheep's milk cheese. The decorative features of ‘Klenovecký syrec’, unlike those of other cheeses such as oštiepok, do not stand proud of the cheese's surface but are embossed into it.

The production of ‘Klenovecký syrec’ has a rich tradition, as shown by the use and retention of its historical name, ‘Klenovecký syrec’, which is still used today. The cheese was originally produced only from sheep's milk, and when that was scarce production began from cow's milk, too, particularly in small cheese dairies. The milk was and is still processed either directly on the farm or collected from neighbouring producers and processed into cheese centrally at the local cheese dairy using the ‘home-made’ (salaš) method.

In Klenovec and the surrounding mountain settlements of the Gemer-Malohont region there is a great tradition of sheep-farming, which was the main source of income (Z Malohontu Slovenské pohľady (Views from Malohont), 1852, No 5, p. 40).

‘Klenovecký syrec’ was being produced in herdsmen's dwellings as long ago as the mid-18th century. This is substantiated by an order from Archduke Štefan in 1780. It was also exported from Hungary to Vienna and Budapest (J. Keresteš – J. Selecký: Syrárstvo na Slovensku — história a technológie (Cheese-making in Slovakia – history and technology). Považská Bystrica, 2005, p. 107). In the same literary record there is a reference to dairies also beginning to produce ‘Klenovecký syrec’ from 1850; production was begun by the family of Michal Bútora.

Owing to its quality, ‘Klenovecký syrec’ became a very well-known and sought-after product; in 1852, Slovenské noviny (No 34, p. 134) stated: ‘Klenovecký syrec’ should be traded, as this well-known cheese could certainly become popular'.

As the technology for producing ‘Klenovecký syrec’ improved, variations developed, and gradually, when there was little sheep's milk, or in winter, the cheese was also produced using cow's milk. For instance, ‘English presses’ were being used as early as 1866 to improve production. The original cheese also began to be smoked or coated with wood ash or coloured green so that it appeared to be covered in verdigris. Of course, the coloured crusts were removed from the cheese when it was consumed.

Unequivocal evidence of the production of ‘Klenovecký syrec’ is provided by various forms of advertisement appearing in Národnie noviny between 1886 and 1897.

A Klenovec teacher, R. R. Kubányi, published information on the cheese; cit.: ‘the quality of “Klenovecký syrec” has been known for more than a century (i.e. since approx. 1765) both in our area of Slovakia and throughout the entire mountain region, and in the last 20-30 years even beyond the borders’ (R.R. Kubányi: Z Klenovca v Malohonte (From Klenovec in Malohont). Obzor (Horizon), 3, 15.8.1865, No 23, p. 179).

‘Years ago, a round cheese from sheep's milk was produced around the Slovak town of Klenovec and was highly praised for its quality, and in the 1860s it was even exported to Germany’ (O. Laxa: Sýrařství (Cheese making). Prague 1924, pp. 363-365).

‘Klenovecký syrec’ was not only well-known in the past, but is also popular today; it is featured as a delicacy at the Klenovecká rontouka, a well-known regional event held in Klenovec (information leaflet about the event).

In the making of ‘Klenovecký syrec’, the traditional basic production process and the wheel shape with its specific decorative features have been maintained.

Reference to publication of the specification

(Article 5(7) of Regulation (EC) No 510/2006 (3))

http://www.upv.sk/swift_data/source/pdf/specifikacie_op_oz/SPECIFIKACIA%20-%20KLENOVECKY%20SYREC.pdf

(1) OJ L 343, 14.12.2012, p. 1.

(2) OJ L 93, 31.3.2006, p. 12. Replaced by Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012.

(3) See footnote 2.