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

(2022/C 154/08)

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

’Hrušovský lepník’

EU No: PGI-SK-02474 – 8.6.2018

PDO ( ) PGI (x)

1. Name(s) [of PDO or PGI]

’Hrušovský lepník’

2. Member State or Third Country

Slovakia

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

Hrušovský lepník is a pie that is round or folded in half with a diameter of 25-35 cm, made of sour bread-and-potato dough with a filling or a topping, baked in a stone oven.

Types of Hrušovský lepník:

Savoury Hrušovský lepník smeared with melted butter, vegetable oil or animal fat with a garlic filling.

Sweet Hrušovský lepník smeared with melted butter, vegetable oil or animal fat with a jam filling (plum or cherry).

Hrušovský lepník with a sauerkraut filling and with melted butter, vegetable oil or animal fat smeared on top.

Hrušovský lepník with a topping, with melted butter, vegetable oil or animal fat smeared on top and with a curd and potato topping sprinkled with ground cinnamon and sugar, vanilla sugar, vanillin sugar or cinnamon sugar.

Characteristics:

Visual appearance: A round pie with a diameter of 25-35 cm, or folded in half

Colour: golden baked Aroma: with a delicate aroma of sourdough, wood and ash, slightly smoky Taste: an intense yet delicate blend of the individual ingredients, due to being oven-baked, and a flavour specific to the filling or topping Consistency: the dough is soft, dense and smooth, with a delicate texture, and is moist, not dry

The weight of the uncooked dough: 350–450 g

Thickness of dough after baking: at least 0,5 cm

The following ingredients are used to produce the sour bread-and-potato dough:

Wheat, rye or spelt flour, boiled potatoes, salt, raising agent. Around 100 g of boiled mashed potato is used per 1 kg of flour.

Raising agent: baker’s yeast, tepid water, milk, granulated sugar.

The following ingredients are used to produce the fillings and toppings:

butter, vegetable oil or animal fat (pork, duck, goose), garlic, jam (plum, cherry), sauerkraut, onion, ground black pepper, salt, pork greaves or roasted smoked pork back fat, boiled mashed potato, curd, eggs, ground cinnamon, granulated sugar, vanilla sugar or vanillin sugar, or cinnamon sugar.

Fillings and toppings:

Garlic filling/topping: crushed garlic, salt, water

Jam filling/topping: jam (plum, cherry)

Curd and potato filling/topping: curd, boiled mashed potatoes, eggs, granulated sugar, and ground cinnamon with granulated sugar, cinnamon sugar, vanilla sugar or vanillin sugar, for sprinkling. The ratio of curd to potatoes is 1:2. The raw weight of the filling/topping is 30 %-45 % of the weight of the dough, which means that the product weight is increased by the weight of the filling/topping.

Cabbage topping/filling: vegetable oil or animal fat, onion, granulated sugar, sauerkraut, salt, ground black pepper, pork greaves or roasted smoked pork back fat. The raw weight of the filling/topping is 15 %-25 % of the weight of the dough, which means that the product weight is increased by the weight of the filling/topping.

The following is used for smearing each lepník immediately after baking: melted butter or vegetable oil, or animal fat.

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

There are no restrictions on the origin of the raw materials.

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

The production process takes place in the following stages:

— preparation of the dough by hand,

— preparation of the fillings/toppings by hand,

— baking in a stone oven made from quarried stone,

— smearing with melted butter or vegetable oil, or with animal fat,

— subsequent smearing of the topping onto the top of the pie.

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

–

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

–

4. Concise definition of the geographical area

The geographical area comprises the municipality of Hrušov. The village of Hrušov is in the Banská Bystrica region on the southern raised edge of the Krupinská Planina plateau near the towns of Veľký Krtíš, Krupina and Šahy, in what used to be known as Hont County.

5. Link with the geographical area

The causal link is based on the know-how of the producers from the geographical area, and on the reputation and traditions of the Hrušovský lepník.

The defined geographical area is characterised by its sparsely scattered farmstead settlements. The isolated nature of the area and the remoteness of the villages and farmsteads compelled the local people to be self-sufficient. People made everything they needed themselves from natural materials. They built stone ovens from the quarried stone, in which they burnt wood that they found in their environment (locust, beech, oak, hornbeam). They fashioned tools for their basic needs from the available materials, for example wooden peels for placing the dough in the oven, goose or duck wings for sweeping the ash, a tool known as an ‘ohrablo’ (the traditional name for a type of shovel used to move embers around an oven) for checking the oven temperature (when the ohrablo produces sparks, the oven is at the correct temperature) and for moving the coals aside, and a brush (corn husk tied with wire to a longer stick) for wiping the oven.

The dough and fillings/toppings for making Hrušovský lepník are prepared exclusively by hand. Rolling out the dough into a round shape makes it thin, compact and smooth after baking, and gives it a delicate structure. The size of the pie depends on the size of the peel, its entire surface area being used.

Originally, the raw materials used to make lepník were locally sourced, because of the remoteness of the villages and farmsteads. Nowadays the emphasis is on the dough and fillings/toppings being produced exclusively by hand and on the product being baked in a stone oven.

Hrušovský lepník is baked in a stone oven at a temperature of above 300 °C. The oven is heated using hard wood (locust, beech, oak, hornbeam). The oven has reached the correct temperature when the stone produces sparks when raked. After the wood burns down, the coals are raked to the back of the oven and, using a wet brush, the ash is wiped away in the rest of the oven. Individual Hrušovský lepník pies are baked side by side while being moved around with a rake so that they cook properly on all sides. Hrušovský lepník without a topping or filling is baked in the oven for around 5 minutes, and with a topping or filling for around 7-10 minutes.

Given that the dough and fillings/toppings are produced by hand and that baking takes place in stone ovens at a high temperature, the dough does not dry out – it remains soft, smooth and moist, with a delicate aroma of sourdough, wood and ash, which blend together during the baking. The characteristic flavour of the product is complemented by the filling/topping, which is either sweet or savoury.

The skills of the people from the defined geographical area producing ‘Hrušovský lepník’ have developed on the basis of knowledge and experience passed from one generation to the next, which is reflected in the quality of the final product. The preparation of the rising agent, the dough, the fillings and toppings and the time taken to heat the stone oven to the correct temperature, as well as the use of traditional implements such as goose or duck wings, a rake and a broom, all lend Hrušovský lepník its characteristic aroma and flavour.

Because of its exceptional qualities as a result of being prepared by hand and the way in which it is baked, the product has become highly popular and sought-after. Organisers of food events and exhibitions invite the producers to their events to demonstrate the authentic preparation of the product’s dough, fillings and toppings and how it is baked. Hrušovský lepník is prepared and produced in the defined geographical area, to which it is historically linked.

Testament to Hrušovský lepník’s reputation and 300-year tradition is the fact that it was awarded a certificate in 2014 to use the label ‘HONT regional product’, as a unique regional product made using traditional methods, many of which are applied by hand.

Since 1996, Hrušov has regularly hosted the ‘Hontianska paráda’ folk festival. The festival is a celebration of long-forgotten farming methods and the baking of bread and Hrušovský lepník https://sk.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hontianska_par%C3%A1da.

References to the product’s reputation can also be found on television programmes, for example ‘Nebíčko v papuľke’ (Heaven in your mouth) and ‘Slovensko v obrazoch’ (Slovakia in pictures).

An edition of the Živnostenské noviny newspaper from 2015 featured traditional Slovak crafts, mentioning that visitors could also taste Hrušovský lepník during demonstrations of those crafts, such as at the ‘Dni majstrov ÚĽUV 2015’ event (2015 ÚĽUV [Centre for Folk Art Production] Craftsmen Days).

Hrušovský lepník is prepared on the basis of historical recipes from the defined geographical area. By living in this remote area, people have been able to preserve their distinctive way of life. In the publication HONT Tradície ľudovej kultúry [HONT folk culture traditions] Professor J. Botík states the following: ‘In its most original form it was kneaded from unfermented dough and baked in an oven at a low temperature for the meal on Christmas Eve.’ In the early twentieth century, especially before bread-baking was widespread, this type of bread was known and regularly baked throughout the entire Hont region.

The name ‘Hrušovský lepník’ is derived from the name of the village of Hrušov, which is historically linked with the baking of lepník pies. The second part of the name, ‘lepník’ (or ‘ľepňik’ before the standardisation of written Slovak) is the term used in the local dialect for a type of round pie baked in a stone oven. This name has been in constant use in the area since the first half of the eighteenth century. In the words of Professor J. Botík: ‘Housewives from artisanal families in the village often smeared boiled potatoes, jam, curd or bryndza cheese onto lepník pies kneaded from bread dough. they then continued to call this type of pie “ľepňik”. The Slovak colonists who relocated to the Great Plain took this old-fashioned form of bread with them [...]’.

Hrušovský lepník was a ceremonial food in the first decades of the twentieth century. It was the most widely eaten cake. It was baked in a stone oven for the meal on Christmas Eve and each member of the family, as well as all of the family’s pets, ate a piece of it. It was also served during Lent, during traditional activities such as ‘páračky’ (processing goose feathers) and ‘priadky’ (spinning yarn), and at Easter. Later, it was baked once a week before the bread-baking. Bread was always baked on a Saturday, so that it was fresh for Sunday, and it was kept in supply for the whole week. Each family would bake several loaves, from four to six, depending on the size of the family. Hrušovský lepník was baked in the remote farmstead settlements of Hrušov, where they are still made today.

Life in remote areas and on farmsteads goes hand in hand with the preservation of traditions. Hrušovský lepník was a delicacy many years ago and it still is today.

Reference to publication of the specification

https://www.indprop.gov.sk/swift_data/source/pdf/specifikacie_op_oz/Hrusovsky%20lepnik.pdf

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