9.7.2015

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 224/8

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

(2015/C 224/08)

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

APPLICATION FOR APPROVAL OF AN AMENDMENT TO A PRODUCT SPECIFICATION OF TRADITIONAL SPECIALITIES GUARANTEED WHICH IS NOT MINOR

Application for approval of an amendment in accordance with the first subparagraph of Article 53(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012

‘BELOKRANJSKA POGAČA’

EU No: SI-TSG-0107-01317 – 26.2.2015

1.   Applicant group and legitimate interest

Name of the group:	Društvo kmečkih žena Metlika (Metlika farmers' wives association)
Address:	Mestni trg 24 SI-8330 Metlika SLOVENIJA
Tel.	+386 31853385
E-mail:	dkz.metlika@gmail.com

The group applying for the amendment is the same group that submitted the application for registration of ‘Belokranjska pogača’.

2.   Member State or Third Country

Slovenia

3.   Headings in the specification affected by the amendment(s)

—	☐	Name of product
—	☒	Description of product
—	☒	Method of production
—	☒	Other — Specific character of the agricultural product or foodstuff — Authorities or bodies verifying compliance with the product specification

4.   Type of amendment(s)

—

☒

Amendment to product specification of registered TSG not to be qualified as minor in accordance with the fourth subparagraph of Article 53(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012.

5.   Amendment(s)

1.   Description of the agricultural product or foodstuff

The wording regarding flour is to be corrected. Instead of ‘type-500 soft white flour’, it should read ‘white wheat flour’, as it has emerged that the dough always has the same characteristics regardless of the type of flour used (fine, coarse or a mixture of the two). The change of the wording regarding flour is also taken into account in the remainder of the specification text.

In the description of the incisions in ‘Belokranjska pogača’, the reference to ‘Belokranjska pogača’ being cut on the top ‘with angled lines’ is to be deleted. It should read that it is cut on the top ‘with straight lines’. This manner of cutting has, in practice, been used for years, but it was incorrectly described in the specification. By incisions with straight lines, a ‘Belokranjska pogača’ is divided into squares (and not into rhombuses as is the case with angled lines) into which it can easily be broken.

This correction also applies to the rest of the text of the specification that refers to cutting with ‘angled lines’.

2.   Description of the method of obtaining the product

The weight of individual ingredients is additionally stated. Fresh or dried yeast may be used. With regard to the required quantities of lukewarm water, the word ‘approximately’ is added; in the case of eggs, the word ‘whole’ is deleted and it is stated that the egg must be whisked as it is intended to cover the ‘pogača’.

The wording under the heading ‘rising agent’ is simplified, as the quantities of individual ingredients are listed amongst the ingredients.

Under the point ‘mixing the dough’, the wording ‘covered in the mixing bowl’ is deleted, as what matters is that the volume of dough should double, not the container in which the dough rises. The possibility of mechanical mixing is also added to that point, as ‘Belokranjska pogača’ can also be produced in bakeries.

The words ‘or a suitably coated surface’ are added to the point ‘Shaping the dough’, as the dough may rise or be baked on other surfaces.

Additional explanations concerning the notches in the surface are added to the point ‘Coating, sprinkling and cutting the surface’, as it is only thanks to these that ‘Belokranjska pogača’ properly breaks into squares after baking.

The statement with regard to caraway is corrected: caraway may not be added to the beaten egg, as it does not then spread uniformly over the dough, but must instead be sprinkled on the dough that has already been coated with the egg. The dough is then coated again with egg and sprinkled with coarse salt crystals.

Under the point ‘Baking’, the baking temperature and time need to be adapted to the various types of oven used by producers. What matters is that the final product is properly baked as described further down in that point. The existing text regarding baking is corrected such that it reads: ‘“Belokranjska pogača” is baked until it is fully cooked. It is recommended that it be baked for 20 to 25 minutes at 200-220 °C. Notwithstanding that recommendation, the baking temperature and time may be adapted to the type of oven’.

3.   Specific character of the agricultural product or foodstuff

As explained in point 1 (Description of the agricultural product or foodstuff), in this point, too, the wording regarding ‘angled lines’ is corrected to ‘straight lines’.

4.   Authorities or bodies verifying compliance with the product specification

In Slovenia, there are currently three certifying authorities that assess the compliance of products. These are Bureau Veritas d.o.o., the Maribor Institute for Inspection and Certification in Agriculture and Forestry, and the Maribor University Institute for Inspection and Certification.

PRODUCT SPECIFICATION OF A TRADITIONAL SPECIALITY GUARANTEED

‘BELOKRANJSKA POGAČA’

EU No: SI-TSG-0107-01317 — 26.2.2015

‘Slovenia’

1.   Name to be registered

2.   Product type

2.24 Bread, pastry, cakes, confectionery, biscuits and other baker's wares

3.   Grounds for the registration

3.1.   Whether the product:

—	☒	results from a mode of production, processing or composition corresponding to traditional practice for that product or foodstuff
—	☐	is produced from raw materials or ingredients that are those traditionally used.

‘Belokranjska pogača’ has a long tradition and its recipe has been handed down from generation to generation. Aside from its recipe, it is characterised by the way in which it is prepared and presented. Straight lines are cut into the surface of ‘Belokranjska pogača’. Once baked, it can be broken up along these lines.

3.2.   Whether the name:

—	☒	has been traditionally used to refer to the specific product
—	☐	identifies the traditional character or specific character of the product.

The name ‘Belokranjska pogača’ does not express the specific character of the product, but is traditionally used to describe this product, as shown by various sources.

4.   Description

4.1.   Description of the product to which the name under point 1 applies, including its main physical, chemical, microbiological or organoleptic characteristics showing the product's specific character (Article 7(2) of this Regulation)

‘Belokranjska pogača’ is a form of flatbread, round in shape and with its own recipe. It is prepared using white wheat flour, lukewarm water and with the addition of salt and a rising agent. ‘Belokranjska pogača’ is round with a diameter of approximately 30 cm. In the centre it is 3-4 cm thick, thinning to 1-2 cm at the edges. The surface is incised with a grid of straight lines approximately 4 cm apart, coated with beaten egg and sprinkled with caraway and coarse salt crystals. The bread has a uniform crust without blisters and a characteristically strong smell and taste of caraway and salt.

At its best when warm, the bread is broken along the incised lines rather than being cut.

4.2.   Description of the production method of the product to which the name under point 1 applies that the producers must follow including, where appropriate, the nature and characteristics of the raw materials or ingredients used, and the method by which the product is prepared (Article 7(2) of this Regulation)

Ingredients:

500 g of white wheat flour

approximately 300 ml of lukewarm water

2 teaspoons (15 g) of salt

20 g of fresh yeast or 7 g of dried yeast

half a teaspoon (6 g) of sugar

beaten egg to coat the ‘pogača’

1 pinch (2 g) of caraway

1 pinch (7 g) of coarse sea salt

Preparation of the dough for ‘Belokranjska pogača’

Rising agent:

Mix the yeast, three spoonfuls of white wheat flour, 50 ml of lukewarm water and the sugar until a viscous substance is formed and leave until it has more than doubled in volume.

Mixing the dough:

The mix is prepared using white wheat flour, lukewarm water and the rising agent. Knead for 8-10 minutes or until it is smooth and not too hard. The dough should not stick to the hands. The dough is left to rise until it has doubled in volume. The dough may also be mixed mechanically.

Shaping the dough for ‘Belokranjska pogača’:

The risen dough is turned out onto a greased baking tray or other suitably coated surface and shaped by hand so that it is 30 cm in diameter and between 1 cm and 2 cm thick, becoming thinner towards the edges. The dough must not touch the edges of the baking tray and must be lower at the edges than in the middle.

Coating, sprinkling and cutting the surface:

The dough is sliced through to the base of the baking tray from one side of the loaf to the other, using straight incisions approximately 4 cm apart. There should be seven incisions: one in the middle and three on either side. The dough is then coated with beaten egg, sprinkled with caraway and once again coated with egg. The prepared dough is then sprinkled on top with a pinch of coarse sea salt crystals.

Baking:

‘Belokranjska pogača’ is baked until it is fully cooked. It is recommended that it be baked for 20 to 25 minutes at 200-220 °C. Notwithstanding that recommendation, the baking temperature and time may be adapted to the type of oven.

‘Belokranjska pogača’ must be baked to a light brown colour. The crust must be uniform in colour and crispness and be without blisters. The middle must be uniformly porous, without water rings, lumps of salt or flour and must not be tacky to the touch. The central part should be 3 to 4 centimetres in height, with the edges being 1 cm to 2 cm high. The caraway and salt must have been sprinkled evenly. There must be the typical caraway and salt smell and taste of ‘Belokranjska pogača’.

4.3.   Description of the key elements establishing the product's traditional character (Article 7(2) of this Regulation)

‘Belokranjska pogača’ has been handed down from generation to generation, thereby preserving it as a traditional Bela Krajina speciality. It was most probably brought to the region by the Uskoki who settled in the higher-lying areas on the slopes of the Gorjanci mountains on the Bela Krajina side.

There is written and oral evidence of the origin of this flat bread but the written sources are rather sketchy.

The Doljenska (Lower Carniola) collector of folk traditions, the noted Slovenian author and traveller Janez Trdina enjoyed travelling through the above area and knew and wrote about the people living on the sunny side of the Gorjanci Mountains. Accordingly, ‘Belokranjska pogača’ is mentioned in his 1882 book Bajke in povesti o Gorjancih (Legends and Tales of Gorjanci).

There is a folk song that runs ‘give him “pogača” for a spring in his step …’ when children go from house to house calling for Zeleni Jurij (Green Man), as reported by the Metlika collector of folk traditions and linguist, Ivan Navratil. The latter's 1849 book ‘Kresovanje v Metliki’ (The Bonfire Tradition of Metlika) tells of a flat white bread that the local people called ‘pogača’.

The author L. Simeonovič also mentions ‘pogača’ in ‘Enciklopedija jugoslovanske kuhinje’ (Encyclopaedia of Yugoslavian Cuisine, 1967).

There is reference to ‘Belokranjska pogača’ in ‘Etnološka topografija slovenskega etničnega ozemlja — 20. stoletje’ (Ethnological Topography of the Ethnic Slovenian Territory in the 20th Century, 1994) by the ethnologist M. Balkovec, who worked in the Bela Krajina Museum in Metlika.

Ksenja Vitkovič Khalil, in her book ‘Nerajska prehrana’ (The Cuisine of Nerajski Lugi, 1999) uses the term ‘prostača’ (a simple variant of the ‘pogača’) to refer to ‘Belokranjska pogača’. ‘Belokranjska pogača’ is also referred to in the ‘Leksikon Cankarjeve založbe’ (1973) and in the book ‘Dobra kuharica’ (A Good Cook) by Minka Vasičeva (1902).

‘Pogača’ has a long tradition in Bela Krajina, being handed down from generation to generation, since it is a real speciality of the region. Housewives baking bread in the baker's oven for domestic use would also always bake ‘pogača’ for the children so that they could eat it warm while the bread underwent the necessary cooling down before it could be eaten.

Even nowadays it is still extremely typical, with housewives preparing it and offering it to welcome guests they have invited to their home, but it is also offered to guests on farm stay holidays. You find it where wine is sold, old people believing that it soaks up the wine and prevents the alcohol from making people drunk.

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(1)  OJ L 343, 14.12.2012, p. 1.

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