Skalica master baker lays his hand on a monster trdelník. (source: SITA)
INHABITANTS of Skalica managed to break their own record on May 15 when they baked a trdelník cake measuring 184.5 centimetres, thus breaking their record from last year by 9.5 centimetres. The first huge trdelník was prepared by local cake-masters in 2005 – but it was only 107 centimetres long. After mastering a cake almost twice as long this year, the bakers did the only appropriate thing – they cut it into pieces and ate it.
Skalica trdelník is a local sweet delicacy made of sweet leavened pastry, baked on a rod called a “trdlo” over charcoal. It gets its typical taste from being rolled in chopped walnuts and covered with a thick layer of sugar. Many gourmets consider trdelník the only sweet that is appropriate to serve with wine. It was adopted and made a local custom in Skalica before the end of the 18th century after being imported by Hungarian general and poet József Gvadányi and his Transylvanian cook. Skalica inhabitants have secured European Union recognition for their pastry. According to an EU directive, authentic trdelník is baked only on this precisely limited territory. The local Trdlofest festival is not only a celebration of trdelník and the good local wine but also traditionally opens the summer season in Skalica.
“Many people were lured to this feast again this year. There are surely more than 3,000 visitors here. The atmosphere was great, and luckily, the weather was good, too,” Peter Kazinota of the Tourism and Information office in Skalica told the TASR newswire.
Accompanying events included drama performances and bands with groups of different genres performing in the Franciscan garden until late at night. In addition, visitors were invited to make free tours of historical sites in the town, including the House of Culture designed by famous architect Dušan Jurkovič, the Rotunda of St. George, the mill of the Pilárik brothers, the Franciscan Church and Monastery, and others.
