| Potica | |
| Alternate Name: | Potica |
| Region: | all regions of Slovenia, Carinthia, Province of Trieste |
| Creator: | traditional folk food |
| Type: | Pastry |
| Main Ingredient: | Sweet yeast dough, ground walnut, butter |
| Variations: | tarragon, quark, hazelnut, pumpkin seed, poppy seed, cracklings, bacon |
Potica (in Slovenian pronounced as /pɔˈtít͡sa/, also slovenska potica) is a traditional festive pastry from Slovenia.
This type of dessert is common in many Eastern European countries as well as in regions bordering Slovenia, for example, in Friuli in neighboring Italy, they prepare a sweet bread called gubana, in Austria, a roll called Kärntner Reinling.[1]
Potica consists of a rolled pastry made of leavened paper-thin dough filled with any of a great variety of fillings, but most often with walnut filling.
The most characteristic poticas are made with ground walnut, tarragon, quark, hazelnut or poppy seed, salted ones even with cracklings or bacon, and other fillings. Potica is a festive pastry and could be baked in two ways: in the oven or directly on the hearth, but original Slovenska potica is a ring-shaped pastry, baked always in the special shaped potica baking mould (ceramic, glass or tin one), called potičnik, which has a conical protrusion in the middle.
Potica is served also every Easter and Christmas in Slovenia and is still very popular even in some parts of the United States.[2] [3] For example, potica is a popular offering at many local bakeries in Hibbing, Minnesota based on recipes handed down for generations in the immigrant community.[4]
Slovenska potica has been registered as a Traditional speciality guaranteed (TSG) in the European Union since April 2021.[5]