Bela Krajina Flatbread

Bela Krajina Flatbread

Nothing welcomes you to Bela Krajina as warmly as the fragrant white bread shared with you by the locals. Bela Krajina Flatbread is a round bread delicacy sprinkled with coarse salt and caraway seeds, with which the locals welcome you. The bread is not cut, but shared with you in a ceremony of breaking off pieces. Bela Krajina Flatbread is protected by the Traditional Speciality Label and is certified by the EU as a dish with a Protected Designation of Origin. It was baked mainly in wine-growing regions, as it goes well with wine. Old people say that the flatbread drinks the wine and one is not drunk afterwards.

RECIPE FOR BELA KRAJINA FLATBREAD

Basic ingredients:

  • 500 g white wheat flour

  • approx. 3 dcl lukewarm water

  • 2 teaspoons or 15 g salt

  • 20 g fresh yeast or 7 g dry yeast

  • half a teaspoon or 6 g of sugar

  • 1 egg (whisked egg for coating the cake)

  • a pinch or 2 g whole caraway seeds

  • pinch or 7 g coarse-grained sea salt

PROCEDURE FOR PREPARING

Yeast starter
The yeast, 3 tablespoons of white wheat flour, ½ dl of lukewarm water, and the sugar are mixed into a thick liquid substance, which is left to rise for so long that its volume increases by more than one.
Mixing the dough
The dough is made from the white wheat flour, the lukewarm water, and the yeast starter, and kneaded for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and not too stiff, and must not stick to the hands. The dough is left to rise until the volume of the dough has increased once. The dough may also be kneaded by machine.
Shaping the dough
The risen dough is shaken out on a floured or properly floured surface. The dough is then stretched with the hands to a diameter of 30 cm and pressed to a thickness of 1 to 2 cm, decreasing in thickness towards the edge. The dough must not touch the sides of the baking tray, and the edge of the cake must be lower than the centre.

Coating, sprinkling, and cutting the surface
On the prepared dough, cut straight slits, about 4 cm apart, from one side to the other, in the bottom of the baking tray. There should be seven notches, one in the middle and three on each side. The dough is then brushed with beaten egg, sprinkled with caraway seeds, and brushed again with egg. Sprinkle a pinch of coarse sea salt on top of the prepared dough.
Baking
The prepared Bela Krajina Flatbread is baked in the oven until fully cooked. The recommended oven temperature is 200 °C - 220 °C for 20 to 25 minutes. Regardless of this recommendation, the temperature and baking time can be adapted to the type of oven. The flatbread must be light brown, the crust must be evenly coloured and crisp, without blisters, the centre must be evenly porous, without water rings, lumps of salt or flour, and must not stick. The cake must be 3 to 4 cm high in the centre and 1 to 2 cm high at the edges. It must be evenly sprinkled with caraway seeds and salt. The smell and taste should be typical of Bela Krajina Flatbread, i.e., caraway and salt.
The best thing is to break into a flat-baked pogača with friends!
Have a good run!

Would you like to try your hand at baking a Bela Krajina Flatbread? Sign up for an authentic workshop, which is available on request at the Bela Krajina House of Local Delights.
You can see how the Belokranjsko brand ambassador, Anja Fir, made her first Bela Krajina Flatbread on her YouTube channel in the episodes of Belokranjsko!

Have you baked yours yet? Tag us on Instagram @bela.krajina to see if you did a good job and if you cut it well!

List of Belokranjska cake producers

Who bakes certified Bela Krajina Flatbreads and where can you order them?

  1. HOTEL BELA KRAJINA; Cesta bratstva in enotnosti 28, Metlika; tel.: 07 36 35 280

  2. KMETIJSKA ZADRUGA METLIKA z.o.o.; Cesta XV. brigade 2, Metlika, tel.: 040 550 248

  3. CHILDREN'S NURSERY METLIKA; Župančičeva cesta 1, Metlika; tel. No: 07 36 91 612

  4. MOJCA'S HOME WELFARE; Rosalnice 38, Metlika; tel.: 041 381 111

  5. JAKLJEVIČ TOURIST FARM; Grabrovec 1, Metlika; tel. No: 041 543 999

  6. HOSTEL BADOVINAC; Jugorje 5, Suhor; tel. 07 30 50 133

  7. HOSTEL VESELIČ; Podzemelj 14, Gradac; tel.: 031 391 517

  8. TRDIČ ACCOMMODATION FARM; Krasinec 9, Gradac; tel. 040 748 688

  9. KOLPA'S d.o.o.; Adlešiči 24A, Adlešiči; tel. 041 622 877

  10. MAJERLE TOURIST FARM; Dol 7, Stari trg ob Kolpi; tel. 01 89 43 677

  11. BIBI HONEY BUTIK; Krpanova ulica 2, Črnomelj; tel. 040 175 711

  12. BAHOR TOURIST TRIP FARM; Dragovanja vas 15, Dragatuš; tel. 040 362 157, 040 857 9

  13. TOURIST ETHNOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION ŠKOF - ŠRAJF; Črešnjevec pri Semiču 1, Semič; tel. 040 691 612

  14. FARM WITH A STAY AT PAPEŽEVI'S; Banja Loka 19, Kostel; tel.: 041 695 430

  15. VIVO d.o.o.; Dunajska cesta 125, Ljubljana; tel. 01 54 61 657, 040 815 081

  16. PANEM BAKERY; Grajzerjeva ulica 31, Ljubljana-Polje; tel. 051 723 115

  17. BAR BIG BERRY; Primostek 50, Gradac; tel. 031 550 478

  18. SREČČE Smithy; Griblje 65A, Gradac; tel. 031 864 353

  19. LANDSCAPE PARK KOLPA; Adlešiči 3A, Adlešiči; tel. 031 299 073

  20. HOUSE OF THE GOODS OF THE WHITE COUNTRY; Mestni trg 24, Metlika; tel. 040 454 019

  21. COOKING HALL; Kašeljska cesta 13, Ljubljana, tel. 051 611 510

  22. GAČE d.o.o.; Komarna vas 123A, Semič; tel. 040 799 990, 040 262 180

  23. HOUSE OF ELDERLY CITIZENS METLIKA; Mestni trg 16, Metlika; tel. 07 30 63 154

  24. LOVŠIN POSESTVO LOVŠIN; Križevska vas 64, Metlika; tel.: 040 607 374

The recipe is taken from the approved specification for 'BELA KRAJINA FLATBREAD' with a recognised traditional designation of origin from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food of the Republic of Slovenia of 9.12.2015 (324-25/01/12).

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