Trdlofest in Skalica with the longest "trdelník" cake. (source: TASR)
LOCALS from the western-Slovak town of Skalica set a new record on May 17 when they made the longest ever trdelník, a traditional, coil-shaped pastry originating from the town. At 208 centimetres long, the trdelník was 1.5 centimetres longer than last year’s. Trdelníks are usually about 30 centimetres in length.
“For now, this is the maximum [length] that we can achieve,” Ľudovít Bárnecký of the town administration told the TASR newswire. “The tdrlo we have does not allow for a bigger cake to be made. Ten years ago, we started the idea with 104.5 centimetres, and now we have about a year to go to come up with a new idea for how to continue,” he added.
The record-length trdelník required 3.5 kilograms of dough, the preparation lasted for 2.5 hours and after the cake was baked, it was cut and sold to the visitors at the town’s annual festival. The money collected goes to the local children’s home.
More than just a celebration of the trdelník, the festival offered a rich cultural programme, including a Záhorie (the western-Slovak region where Skalica lies) Mini-market, an exhibition on the local Záhorie Museum and an exhibition of Jozef Chren in the Gallery at the Franciscans.
Skalica’s traditional trdelník pastry is made from sweet leavened dough, which is spooled around an iron tube and grilled over charcoal. It is coated in a mixture typically involving sugar and ground walnuts, which lends the pastry its sweet flavour. The pastry has been given an EU-protected designation and genuine trdelníks can only be produced in a specific area near Skalica. The trdelník became a local custom in Skalica in the late 18th century, after being imported by Hungarian general and poet József Gvadányi and his Transylvanian cook.
