Publication of an application pursuant to Article 6(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 510/2006 on the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs
Date: 2008-03-07
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Poland, designation of origin, location of production, pastry-making, product designation

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OTHER ACTS

COMMISSION

Publication of an application pursuant to Article 6(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 510/2006 on
the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin for agricultural products and
foodstuffs

(2008/C 62/06)

This publication confers the right to object to the application pursuant to Article 7 of Regulation (EC)
No 510/2006 (1). Statements of objection must reach the Commission within six months from the date of
this publication.

SINGLE DOCUMENT

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 510/2006

‘ROGAL ŚWIĘTOMARCIŃSKI’

EC No: PL/IGP/005/0584/28.12.2006

PGI ( X ) PDO ( )

1. Name:

‘Rogal świętomarciński’

The name ‘rogal
świętomarciński’ meets the requirements of Article 2(2) of Regulation (EC)
No 510/2006 and is the name customarily used to describe a croissant baked in Poznań, the regional
capital of Wielkopolska, and in a few surrounding towns. The name of this pastry derives from baking
tradition and from its consumption on Saint Martin's Day (11 November), with its characteristic filling
developed in the area in question.

2. Member State or Third Country:

Poland

3. Description of the agricultural product or foodstuff:

3.1. Type of product:

Class 2.4: Bread, pastry, cakes, confectionery, biscuits and other baker's wares

(1) OJ L 93, 31.3.2006, p. 12.

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

The ‘rogal świętomarciński’
is a croissant coated with icing and sprinkled with chopped nuts. Its
cross-section is oval. It weighs between 200 and 250 g and fits within a square of approximately
14 × 14 cm, with a height at its thickest point of approximately 7 cm and a width of approximately
10 cm. Its surface colour varies from dark golden to light brown. The dough has a cream colour and
the filling is beige — varying between light and dark beige. The baked dough is of elastic consistency,
flaky, and presents a porous cross-section, with visible layers. Close to the middle, rolls of dough are
interspersed with a poppy-seed filling. At its centre, the pastry is filled with a poppy-seed filling which
is moist to the touch. The characteristic taste and smell — sweet and with a slight almond taste —
derive from the ingredients it contains: the yeast dough and the poppy-seed filling.

3.3. Ingredients:

The following ingredients are used to make a ‘rogal świętomarciński’:

— For the dough: wheat flour, margarine, milk, eggs, sugar, yeast, salt, lemon flavouring.

— For the filling: white poppy seeds, sugar, crumbs, egg mass, margarine, raisins, nuts, fruit in syrup

or candied fruit (sweet cherries, pears, orange peel), almond flavouring.

— Other ingredients/decorative layer: icing, chopped nuts.

The flour should contain more than 27 % of elastic gluten. This makes it easier to roll out the dough
and to obtain the characteristic flaky consistency after layering and rolling with margarine.

3.4. Feed (for products of animal origin only):

—

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

— Preparation of the yeast dough

— Preparation of the croissant dough

— Preparation of the poppy-seed filling

— Filling and shaping into a crescent

— Baking

— Decoration.

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

—

3.7. Specific rules concerning labelling:

The ‘rogal świętomarciński’ may be sold without packaging.
the ‘rogal
świętomarciński’ label must also include the protected geographical indication symbol and the words
‘Protected geographical indication’.

If packaging is used,

4. Concise definition of the geographical area:

The city of Poznań, as defined by its administrative boundaries, the District of Poznań and the
following districts of Wielkopolskie Voivodship:

Chodzież

Czarnków

Gniezno

Gostyń

Grodzisk

Jarocin

Kalisz (district and town)

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Koło

Konin (district and town)

Kościan

Krotoszyn

Leszno (district and town)

Nowy Tomyśl

Oborniki

Ostrów

Piła

Pleszew

Rawicz

Słupca

Szamotuły

Śrem

Środa

Wągrowiec

Wolsztyn

Września.

5.

Link with the geographical area:

5.1. Specificity of the geographical area:

The name ‘rogal świętomarciński’ derives from baking tradition and from the consumption of this
pastry, with its characteristic filling, on Saint Martin's Day (11 November). This custom originates in
Poznań and the surrounding area.

Saint Martin's Day celebrations date from the 16th century and are linked to the end of the agricultural
season in a given year. The main street in Poznań is named after Saint Martin, and festivities in his
honour take place each year and form part of the heritage of the city's entire community.

The pastry's renown has been established by the confectioners and bakers of Poznań, the capital of
Wielkopolska, and the surrounding area. Bakers have been offering this product to the city's inhabitants
on Saint Martin's Day for 150 years. The tradition has spread to neighbouring districts in
Wielkopolskie Voivodship.

Over time the ‘rogal świętomarciński’ has become available every day but its production and consump-
tion continue to be concentrated around Saint Martin's Day.

5.2. Specificity of the product:

The typical characteristics of the ‘rogal świętomarciński’ are linked to the knowledge and skills of
producers, who bake them in accordance with a specification. This product possesses a specific quality
resulting from its external appearance, shape, taste and smell and the use of a special ingredient —
white poppy seeds — for the filling.

A yeast-based croissant dough is used. This is a yeast-based dough which, after rising and cooling, is
rolled together with margarine, giving rise to a croissant dough which, during baking, acquires a light,
flaky texture. According to the recipe (known as ‘three times three’), two-thirds of the dough is spread
with a margarine layer and the dough is then folded in three so that there are three layers of dough
interspersed with two layers of fat. It is then rolled and folded in three a further twice or folded in four
once. This produces the layering which is characteristic of croissant dough.

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The white-poppy-seed filling, to which almond flavouring is added, clearly distinguishes the ‘rogal
świętomarciński’ from other sweet pastries. White poppy seeds are a special and rare ingredient.

The following are essential to the product's exceptional nature:

— the ‘flaky’ croissant dough containing the following ingredients: wheat flour, margarine, milk, eggs,

sugar, yeast, salt, lemon flavouring,

— the filling made primarily from white poppy seeds, to which are added: sugar, sponge-cake crumbs,
egg mass, margarine, raisins, nuts, fruit in syrup or candied fruit (sweet cherries, pears, orange peel)
and almond flavouring,

— the method of folding the dough, filling it with a poppy-seed pulp, decorating it with icing and
sprinkling it with chopped nuts also influences the final unique shape and general appearance of
the pastry.

The combination of these ingredients and the specific flaky pastry make the ‘rogal świętomarciński’ an
exceptional and unique product.

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 history, baking tradition and reputation of the ‘rogal świętomarciński’

The ‘rogal świętomarciński’ has enjoyed unwaning popularity and success in Poznań for at least
150 years. In the minds of the citizens of Poznań and guests to this city on the river Warta, the
product is associated with Saint Martin's Day celebrations on 11 November. The many legends and
traditions relating to when the baking of this pastry began testify to the product's reputation.

According to one of these legends, the first person to bake the ‘rogal świętomarciński’ in Poznań was
the confectioner Józef Melzer, who encouraged his employer to bake croissants which were then
distributed to the city's poor. He came up with the idea in November 1891 after having listened to the
preachings of Fr Jan Lewicky, the priest of the parish of Saint Martin, who urged that the patron saint
of the parish, who personifies love for ones neighbour, and is also the patron saint of bakers, be cele-
brated by means of some act of compassion towards Poznań's poor.

The croissant's shape also has traditional roots. Its origin is attributed to the time of King Jan III
Sobieski's victory over the Turks at the gates of Vienna. In 1683, King Jan III Sobieski of Poland seized
many Turkish flags, on which a crescent appears; this shape has served as a model for the baking of
the ‘rogal świętomarciński’, marking this victory. According to another Poznań legend, the shape
alludes to the horseshoe lost by Saint Martin's horse.

The oldest indication of croissants being baked on Saint Martin's Day dates from a reference in the
Gazeta Wielkiego Księstwa Poznańskiego (‘Gazette of the Grand Duchy of Poznan’) of 10 November
1852 to the confectioner Anton Pfitzner, who had opened his shop three years earlier on Wrocławska
street in Poznań.

‘Tomorrow, Thursday, filled croissants available at various prices at Anton Pfitzner's confectioner's
shop on Wrocławska street’.

The first recorded use of the name ‘rogal świętomarciński’ can be found in a press announcement from
11 November 1860.

After the Second World War, the tradition was continued by private confectioners and bakers in
Poznań. The Nationalisation Law of 3 January 1946 did not cover small craft firms. The type of filling
used in the pastry changed at that time. Given the difficulties affecting supplies, the ingredients to make
an almond filling became virtually unavailable, and confectioners and bakers began to replace it with a
white-poppy-seed one.

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From the 1960s newspapers regularly reported the quantity of croissants eaten by the citizens of
Poznań on 11 November. Thanks to this source of information, it is known today that consumption
grew from just a few tonnes in the early 1960s to some 42,5 tonnes in 1969. Nowadays, 250 tonnes
of the product are sold on average on Saint Martin's Day by producers in Poznań, while annual sales
are in the region of 500 tonnes.

The ‘rogal świętomarciński’ has become a symbol of Poznań with which official guests are regaled. In
2004, it was awarded a prize by the Polish Tourism Organisation, being described as follows:

‘… a traditional pastry made using a unique recipe and baked only in Poznań on Saint Martin's
Day …’.

This information demonstrates the reputation of this specific product and its association with Poznań
and the entire region.

Reference to publication of the specification:

http://www.bip.minrol.gov.pl/strona/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabOrgId=1620&LangId=0