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
Date: 2014-03-19
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Poland, bread, consumer information, designation of origin, foodstuff, product designation








C_2014080EN.01000801.xml










19.3.2014   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 80/8





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 80/05
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)


‘CEBULARZ LUBELSKI’


EC No: PL-PGI-0005-01092-07.02.2013


PGI ( X ) PDO ( )

1.   Name

‘Cebularz lubelski’
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




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

‘Cebularz lubelski’ is a round flatbread, 5-25 cm in diameter and about 1,5 cm thick, made of high-grade wheat-flour dough which typically contains twice as much sugar and margarine or butter as ordinary wheat-flour dough. On its surface is a layer of topping composed of coarsely diced onion mixed with poppy seed, salt and vegetable oil. The topping has a golden colour and a taste and smell characteristic of fried onion. Around its edge is a 0,5-1,5 cm thick dough rim. The rim has a crisp crust that is pale golden to lightly browned. The crumb is pale, soft and slightly moist. The topping imparts an aroma that is typical of freshly fried onion. Wheat bran is visible on the underside of ‘cebularz lubelski’ if it has been baked on a bran base.
‘Cebularz lubelski’ can be consumed within 48 hours of being baked.
3.3.   Raw materials (for processed products only)


Dough







—


food-grade wheat flour (free of organic and inorganic contaminants and having a falling number of at least 220 and a gluten content of at least 25 %) — 100 kg,










—


sugar — 2 kg,










—


margarine or butter — 3 kg,










—


yeast — 4 kg,










—


water — 50 l,










—


salt — 1 kg.





Topping







—


onion — 30 kg,










—


vegetable oil — 1 l (rapeseed oil, sunflower oil or a mixture of the two),










—


blue poppy seed — 3 kg,










—


salt — 1,5 kg.




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

All steps in production must take place in the identified geographical area:






—


preparation of the topping,










—


preparation of the dough,










—


division of the dough,










—


shaping of the pieces,










—


baking.




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

‘Cebularz lubelski’ may be sold unpackaged.
Only when it has cooled may a ‘cebularz lubelski’ be placed in individual packaging. Packaging the product before it has cooled causes an increase in moisture and a rapid loss of crispness.
3.6.   Specific rules concerning labelling

If packaging is used, the ‘cebularz lubelski’ label must include the protected geographical indication symbol.
4.   Concise definition of the geographical area

Lubelskie Province, as defined by its administrative boundaries.
5.   Link with the geographical area

5.1.   Specificity of the geographical area

Lublin’s baking traditions date back to the Middle Ages, and the first references to ‘cebularz lubelski’ — and the recipe for this unique flatbread which has been handed down from generation to generation — date from the 19th century. ‘Cebularz lubelski’ was first baked by Jews who lived in the Lublin’s Old Town. In time, as the recipe was simple and the ingredients cheap, it spread throughout the Lublin region. A characteristic feature of the region for many centuries was the merging of different baking traditions and a mutual borrowing of recipes or ways of using certain ingredients by craftspeople representing different cultures. As a result, the tradition of baking ‘cebularz lubelski’, which had become popular amongst consumers and began to be inextricably linked with the Lublin region, was established.
However, we know from Lublin’s residents’ recollections of the inter-war years (1919-1939) that it was a very widespread product that was baked in all the many Jewish bakeries. It could also be bought straight from the baskets which street vendors carried over their shoulders. The oldest residents of Lublin recall that these pre-war baked goods were widely available and that their pleasant smell, delicate taste and low price were so enticing that they did not need to be advertised.
People connected with the baking trade, including the owner of the first bakery to open for business after the Second World War, are now the best source of information about ‘cebularz lubelski’. That bakery is now run by the third generation of bakers. Its owner recalls that the range of goods on offer at the bakery when it reopened after the war-time destruction was limited, but that ‘cebularz lubelski’ was one of the products available for the first post-war Christmas.
A characteristic feature of the Lublin region is its well-developed bakery sector. Many working bakeries are family businesses run by one generation of craftspeople after the next. In this way knowledge and experience are handed down naturally. In addition, one of the basic elements of vocational training for bakers in Lubelskie (Lublin) Province currently is to master the art of making ‘cebularz lubelski’. This is a characteristic feature of this region alone.
It was also because the region’s inhabitants’ diet was dominated by simple dishes prepared from the most readily available agricultural crops, such as cereals, onion, oil-seed plants (rape and flax) and blue poppy seed, that ‘cebularz lubelski’ became an important and established part of that diet.
5.2.   Specificity of the product

The following features in particular distinguish ‘cebularz lubelski’ from other baker’s wares that have been developed in the area where it is produced:






—


the use of high-grade wheat-flour dough,










—


the hand-shaping of the product,










—


its circular shape,










—


a browned dough rim with a crisp crust,










—


a topping of onion that has not been thermally treated and which contains poppy seed, and










—


a pale, soft, slightly moist and aromatic crumb.




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 link between ‘cebularz lubelski’ and the region is based on its specificity, as described in point 5.2, and on its reputation.
The name ‘cebularz lubelski’ reflects the use of an onion topping. Before the Second World War, onion flatbreads were baked by Jews living in Lublin, Kazimierz Dolny and Zamość. After the war, the recipe quickly spread throughout the Lublin region. A product with unique properties, ‘cebularz lubelski’ arose through the specificity of the geographical area. The mutual borrowing of baking traditions led, among other things, to the development of this characteristic baked good.
The specific features of ‘cebularz lubelski’ come from its very strong connection with the area of production. This link is manifest primarily in the skills of the local bakers. These skills find expression in, for instance, the right way of producing ‘cebularz lubelski’, including the selection of onions with a mild sweet taste, the mastery of the unique way of preparing the topping without heating it, and ensuring the right length of time and conditions for maturation. The skill of preparing the high-grade wheat-flour dough, in which it is very important to keep the right proportion of ingredients, the manual shaping of the ‘cebularz lubelski’, and the spreading of the topping evenly across the entire surface of the dough so that a browned dough rim forms at the edge of the product, are all crucial. It should also be stressed that the method of producing ‘cebularz lubelski’ has never spread outside the Lublin region.
‘Cebularz lubelski’, which is present at all baking-sector gatherings, contests and festivals and at fairs in Poland and abroad, for instance the harvest festivals in Lublin and Radawiec Duży, the Święto Chleba bread festival at the Lublin Open Air Village Museum, the European Regional Products Fair in Zakopane, the International Bread Fair in Jawor, Polagra Food in Poznań, the ‘Natura Food’ Natural Food Days, and the Food & Taste international food fair in Frankfurt an der Oder, is very highly rated by consumers. ‘Cebularz lubelski’ has been sold and available for tasting at all of these and other, similar events. Thanks to this it has become one of the main promotional symbols for Lubelskie Province. ‘Cebularz lubelski’ is also present whenever a contest is held to find the best culinary product of the Lublin region. One of the most important nationwide contests is Nasze Kulinarne Dziedzictwo – Smaki Regionów, organised by the Polish Chamber of Regional and Local Products. In addition, the purpose of one of the main contests for craftsmen bakers during the Święto Chleba bread festival organised annually at the Lublin Village Open Air Museum by the Lublin Regional Branch of the Polish Association of Craftsmen Bakers and the Lublin Food Artisans Guild is to find the best ‘cebularz lubelski’.
‘Cebularz lubelski’ is also served at many gatherings and events organised in Lubelskie Province, such as family picnics (e.g. the Piknik Rodzinny at Czerniejów), the ‘First Lublin name-day gathering for men called Zbigniew’, and the ‘Women of the baking sector’ meeting organised by the Lublin Chamber of Crafts and Enterprise.
‘Cebularz lubelski’ has been included on the ‘Culinary map of the Lublin region’, a joint initiative by the local newspaper Dziennik Wschodni and the authorities in Lubelskie Province, aimed at presenting the region’s multicultural cuisine.
Its reputation and its great significance for the local community is borne out by the fact that the media often devote television and radio programmes, press articles and publications, etc. to ‘cebularz lubelski’:






—


‘Cebularz jest lubelski’, Przegląd Piekarski i Cukierniczy, September 2007,










—


‘Lubelski cebularz – historia regionalna’, Biuletyn Izby Rzemiosła i Przedsiębiorczości w Lublinie, May/June 2010,










—


‘Jak cebularz, to tylko lubelski’, Kurier Lubelski, 20 August 2010 and 10 September 2010,










—


‘Cebularz super star’, Dziennik Wschodni, 26 March 2011.




Numerous articles on this subject have also been published on the Internet.

Reference to publication of the specification

(Article 5(7) of Regulation (EC) No 510/2006 (3))
http://www.minrol.gov.pl/pol/Jakosc-zywnosci/Produkty-regionalne-i-tradycyjne/Zlozone-wnioski-o-rejestracje-Produkty-regionalne-i-tradycyjne/OGLOSZENIE-MINISTRA-ROLNICTWA-I-ROZWOJU-WSI-z-dnia-7-wrzesnia-2012-roku


(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.