The recipe as well as the process of preparation are to be put under protection.

More than a year ago the Slovenian Chamber of Agriculture and Forestry (KGZS), the Chamber of Craft and Small Business (OZS) and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS) started preparations for filing a joint application for the protection of the name “Slovenian potica”. The Ministry of Agriculture, which is authorised to run the procedures of protecting farm produce and foodstuff, has not received an official application until this day. Meanwhile, the industry is still testing how to bake the potica according to consistent specifications.

Gabriela Salobir from KGZS, the coordinator between partners, explains that many details matter: it is also important that the baking can, called potičnica, has ribbed walls with solely vertical ribs. “Then there are typical traditional elements of the ratios between the dough and the filling as well as the shape itself, since a traditional Slovenian potica needs to have three or four curves for diameters up to 29 centimetres,” added Salobir.

Only certified producers will be allowed to use the label “Slovenian potica”. The recipe for leavened wheat dough has already been determined, and the same goes for four of the most popular sweet fillings (without combinations being taken into account). “These fillings are: walnuts, walnuts with raisins, raisins, tarragon and tarragon with cottage cheese,” listed the coordinator.

Jernejka Drolec, Radio Slovenija; translated by K. Z.