Description
The Skalický Trdelník PGI is a confectionary product made with wheat flour, eggs, yeast, milk, refined sugar, salt, nutmeg, aroma, lemon, lard, vegetable oil, butter, vanilla sugar, icing sugar with walnuts, almonds, and crushed apricot kernels.
Production Area
The production area of the Skalický Trdelník PGI covers almost all the Slovak territory.
Production Method
A mixture is prepared with wheat flour, yeast, milk and refined sugar. Then, yolks, egg whites, salt and the other ingredients are added. Everything is mixed carefully to obtain soft dough, which is left at room temperature to enable the rising process. The dough obtained is cut into portions of 250 gr or 500 gr, which are processed until they have the shape of a long braid, and are then left to rise once more. At the end of the second rising, they are wrapped on a wooden roll called trdlo, until long braided rolls are formed. These are then brushed with beaten egg whites and garnished with a mixture of chopped up dried fruit. Finally, the roll is baked through radiant heat source, assuring that it is continuously wound and brushed with butter until a golden colour is achieved. After baking, the product is dredged with icing sugar and mixed with vanilla sugar.
Appearance and Flavour
The Skalický Trdelník PGI has the shape of an hollow cylinder, with the internal diameter ranging from 3 cm to 5 cm and the external diameter from 6 cm to 10 cm. It is yellow inside and golden brown on the outside. It is soft and friable, and has an aroma and a flavour, of dried fruit and vanilla predominating.
History
The particular processing of the Skalický Trdelník PGI - and the baking on a wooden roll - dates back to the 19th century and is still used today. Between the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries, the selling in markets started. Yet, the large-scale production began only in the middle of the 20th century, the period to which most written documents are traced back. According to the oral tradition, the recipe of the Skalicky? Trdelník PGI was invented by a cook that worked for count József Gvadányi, who lived in that area from 1783 to 1801. The first written preserved document containing information on the product was a manuscript of the Hungarian poet Gyula Juhász, professor at the Skalica secondary school.
Gastronomy
The Skalický Trdelník PGI should be kept in a cool and dry place. It can be consumed as snack or as a dessert. Like all sweets, it goes well with sparkling and fruity wines, or with sparkling white wines that enhance its dried fruit flavour.
Marketing
The product is sold as Skalický Trdelník PGI. It is marketed in individual packs, the base weight is 500 gr, but there are also packages of 250 gr; the product is wrapped in cling film and can successively be placed in a paper packaging, which can have writings in black and white or in colour.
Distinctive Features
The Skalický Trdelník PGI is characterized by a hollow cylindrical shape, quite unusual for confectionary and bakery products. Furthermore, the risen dough is wrapped around a wooden roll (trdlo) on which it is baked, which is a fundamental characteristic of the product processing. Finally, the baking method takes place through radiation in a coal or electric oven, constantly turning the roll and brushing it with butter now and then, thus conferring the product its characteristic flavour and scent.
