Publication of an application for registration of a name 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

(2021/C 38/03)

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) within three months from the date of this publication.

SINGLE DOCUMENT

‘Plăcintă dobrogeană’

EU No: PGI-RO-02510 – 16.5.2019

PDO ( ) PGI (X)

1. Name(S)

‘Plăcintă dobrogeană’

2. Member State or Third Country

Romania

3. Description of the agricultural product or foodstuff

3.1. Type of product

Class 2.3. Bread, pastry, cakes, confectionery, biscuits and other baker’s wares

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

‘Plăcintă dobrogeană’ is a baked, frozen par-baked or frozen unbaked pastry product made out of pastry sheets filled with salted soft cheese (telemea) mixed with curd and eggs. The sheets are obtained by stretching and pulling the dough. The filled sheets are rolled, creased and arranged into a spiral in round trays. The weight of the product is between 500 g and 2 000 g. It has a salty taste due to the mixture of telemea cheese, curd, eggs and yoghurt, baked together with the unrisen dough sheets.

When cut the alternating layers of yellowish-white cheese filling and the sheets of dough can be seen.

‘Plăcintă dobrogeană’ is sold in three ways:

— baked, whole or cut into portions and weighed at the time of sale,

— frozen pre-baked,

— frozen unbaked.

‘Plăcintă dobrogeană’ has a soft, tender consistency due to the yoghurt and egg mixture poured onto it, unlike other products of the same type which have a crunchy texture with an often brittle surface. The other difference to similar products is the use of non-frozen dough sheets made of freshly prepared dough for each batch of finished products.

The dominant aromas are of baked cheese, dough and egg.

3.2.1. Organoleptic characteristics

The appearance of the baked ‘Plăcintă dobrogeană’ is: in one piece, the same shape as the tray, with a homogeneous semi-glazed surface, toasted but unburnt. There is a fine golden-yellow crust, coppery in places. When cut the alternating layers of light cheese filling, sheets of unrisen dough and (sometimes) air bubbles can be seen.

The frozen pre-baked pie differs slightly in appearance, the yellow colour being lighter than that of the baked pie.

The appearance of the frozen unbaked ‘Plăcintă dobrogeană’ is: in one piece, with a homogeneous surface, creamy white in colour due to the raw dough sheets covered by the yoghurt and egg mixture.

3.2.2. Physical and chemical characteristics

Total fat: min. 8 % - max. 25 % Moisture: min. 30 % - max. 50 % Salt: min. 1,5 % - max. 2 % Proteins: min. 8 % - max. 13 % Filling: min. 55 % - max. 70 %

3.3. Feed (for products of animal origin only) and raw materials (for processed products only)

The following raw materials and ingredients are required to make ‘Plăcintă dobrogeană’: salted cheese (telemea), curd, wheat flour, eggs, yoghurt, water, sunflower oil, wine vinegar, salt.

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

All steps in the manufacture of ‘Plăcintă dobrogeană’ take place in the defined geographical area. The production process for ‘Plăcintă dobrogeană’ comprises the following specific steps: reception of raw materials and ingredients, dough preparation, sheet stretching, filling preparation, filling, washing with the yoghurt and egg mix, baking and par-baking, quick freezing.

3.5. Specific rules concerning slicing, grating, packaging, etc. of the product the registered name refers to

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3.6. Specific rules concerning labelling of the product the registered name refers to

The label includes the following:

— the name of the product, ‘Plăcintă dobrogeană’, followed by the words ‘Indicație Geografică Protejată’ (Protected Geographical Indication) or the abbreviation ‘IGP’ (PGI) (translated into the language(s) of the country in which the product is marketed),

— the type of product (baked, frozen pre-baked or frozen unbaked),

— the manufacturer’s name,

— the logo of the inspection and certification body.

4. Concise definition of the geographical area

The geographical area comprises two administrative areas: Tulcea County and Constanța County, as delineated according to the administrative structure of Romania.

Both administrative areas form a contiguous area in south-eastern Romania, also known as Dobrogea.

5. Link with the geographical area

The causal link between the geographical origin and the characteristics of the product consists of the reputation, the human factor and the product’s characteristics.

The product’s reputation is due to historical proof of its antiquity and repute, transmitted through oral sources collected and transcribed in magazines and books to be handed down to future generations.

The link between the product and the geographical area is recorded on page 44 of the book ‘Valori identitare în Dobrogea’ [Values of Dobrogean identity] by Evliya Celebi. While travelling through Dobrogea, Celebi enthuses about the ‘great floating mills on the Danube, true workshops of milling and baking, in which the ground flour was transformed into bread and plăcinte’.

In 2009, during the 7th Harvest Day in the municipality of Cumpăna, the attraction was the biggest-ever ‘Plăcintă dobrogeană’, which was highlighted in the local newspaper Ziua de Constanța of 5 October 2009.

In the magazine Ferma, year XX 16 (221) of 15-30 September 2018, pp. 128-129, there is an article on ‘Plăcintă dobrogeană, produced for over 150 years ...’. During the XXVI International ExpoAgroUtil Exhibition the president of the International Sunflower Association expressed his particular appreciation of ‘Plăcintă dobrogeană’. In the same article, a member of the Romanian Union of Journalists states that ‘Plăcintă dobrogeană’ maintains the local tradition from generation to generation.

In another edition of Ferma, No 7 of 15-30 April 2019, it was noted that ‘Plăcintă dobrogeană’ was promoted during the autumn event organised by the National Centre for Tourist Information and Promotion (CNIPT) in Măcin.

This combination of tradition and the experience of patissiers was what helped develop the image and reputation of ‘Plăcintă dobrogeană’ both inside and outside the country (for example an article published in the ‘Agroklub’ magazine in Serbia), the article in the newspaper Ziua de Constanța and the Ferma magazine articles.

As a result the reputation of the product is attributable to the designation and is due to the geographical area, Dobrogea, and thus it is marketed under the name of ‘Plăcintă dobrogeană’.

The human factor plays a major role in the preparation of ‘Plăcintă dobrogeană’.

The sheets are stretched and dried until they are very thin, translucent, elastic and slightly shiny, qualities which are known only to local people.

The preparation of the sheets in this way ensures that the product, when baked, has a flaky texture and flavour without specific folding of the sheets.

When preparing the filling, the pie-maker mixes the cheese and the egg and places it, with a shaking and dropping motion of the hand, on half the sheet (in the case of creased sheets) or on the entire sheet (in the case of rolled sheets); this technique has been passed down from generation to generation.

Rolling or creasing is only done along the length of the sheet. The pie-makers know how tightly the filled sheets have to be rolled or creased in order for the ‘Plăcintă dobrogeană’ to have a light consistency when baked.

The specific nature of ‘Plăcintă dobrogeană’ is due to the methods and skill handed down from one generation to the next in Dobrogea. The sheets are stretched tightly by hand, without tearing them, a testament to the pie-maker’s skills, as are the rolling and creasing of the sheets, due to the fact that ‘Plăcintă dobrogeană’ must not have an untidy (torn) appearance when placed in the tray, but rather that of a continuous spiral, in order to preserve its lightness resulting from the incorporation of air when rolling/creasing the sheets.

Unlike similar products, ‘Plăcintă dobrogeană’ has the following specific characteristics:

— round, with a weight of between 500g and 2 000g, and in the shape of the tray in which it was baked due to being washed with a yoghurt and egg mixture, and the surface is homogeneous, semi-shiny, browned but not burnt, golden-yellow, the colour being slightly darker for the baked product and lighter for the pre-baked product due to the yoghurt and egg mix,

— when sliced the ‘Plăcintă dobrogeană’ looks different to other products of the same type because of the aerated filling structure resulting from local methods,

— a salty taste of baked telemea cheese, curd, eggs and yoghurt together with unrisen dough sheets, which distinguishes it from other products of the same type,

— fluffy, due the air trapped during the rolling/creasing and filling, using the specific technique, unlike similar products which have a dense, doughy filling.

Other characteristics of the product

‘Plăcintă dobrogeană’ is linked to important religious festivals and therefore subject to special rules in terms of preparation and consumption. The New Year’s ‘Plăcintă dobrogeană’ has a long cycle of preparation throughout the year. ‘Plăcintă dobrogeană’ is made during the entire ‘white week’ [Shrovetide], at Christmas, on the ‘hram’ [patron saint’s day] and during the cycle of family celebrations such as the wedding ceremony and the ‘Tuesday after the wedding’, when the bride’s ‘Plăcintă dobrogeană’ was traditionally made.

Together all these specific elements make ‘Plăcintă dobrogeană’ different from other similar products.

Reference to publication of the specification

(the second subparagraph of Article 6(1) of this Regulation)

https://www.madr.ro/docs/ind-alimentara/2018/documentatie-placinta-dobrogeana/Caiet-de-sarcini-PLACINTA-DOBROGEANA-IGP.pdf

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