Soparnik (plural: ''soparnici'') is a traditional Croatian dish. It is usually a savoury pie with a filling of Swiss

chard Chard or Swiss chard (; ''Beta vulgaris'' subsp. ''vulgaris'', Cicla Group and Flavescens Group) is a green leafy vegetable. In the cultivars of the Flavescens Group, the leaf stalks are large and often prepared separately from the leaf blade; ...

. Other names are soparnjak, zeljanik or uljenjak. It is the most famous speciality of the

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...

n region of Poljica, between Split and

Omiš Omiš (, Latin and it, Almissa) is a town and port in the Dalmatia region of Croatia, and is a municipality in the Split-Dalmatia County. The town is situated approximately south-east of Croatia's second largest city, Split. Its location is wh ...

. The original season for the dish was the colder time of the year when older, sweeter chard was available. Basically, it is a very simple dish made from common ingredients from the region: Chard with onions and

parsley Parsley, or garden parsley (''Petroselinum crispum'') is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae that is native to the central and eastern Mediterranean region (Sardinia, Lebanon, Israel, Cyprus, Turkey, southern Italy, Greece, Por ...

between two layers of simplest dough. Among the numerous local variations there are also sweet ones, for example with nuts, dried fruits or

caramel Caramel ( or ) is an orange-brown confectionery product made by heating a range of sugars. It can be used as a flavoring in puddings and desserts, as a filling in bonbons, or as a topping for ice cream and custard. The process of caramelizatio ...

. In 2016, the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...

listed soparnik as a non-material national heritage of Croatia certified with the specific geographical origin.

History

In the region it is said to be the prototype of the Italian

pizza Pizza (, ) is a dish of Italian origin consisting of a usually round, flat base of leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomatoes, cheese, and often various other ingredients (such as various types of sausage, anchovies, mushrooms, onions ...

, which the Romans brought to Italy. Intermittently it was widespread as poor man's food and

lent Lent ( la, Quadragesima, 'Fortieth') is a solemn religious observance in the liturgical calendar commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke ...

en food. Today it is used as a cultural trademark and sold increasingly on markets and in restaurants and found on events and festivals. Since 2005 (2003?) there's a dedicated soparnik festival in the municipality of

Dugi Rat Dugi Rat is a municipality in Croatia in the Split-Dalmatia County. It has a population of 7,092 (2011 census), 98% of whom are Croats The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, cultu ...

. There is also a “" society (""). Soparnik has been declared to be

intangible cultural heritage An intangible cultural heritage (ICH) is a practice, representation, expression, knowledge, or skill considered by UNESCO to be part of a place's cultural heritage. Buildings, historic places, monuments, and artifacts are cultural property. Int ...

of Croatia by the Croatian ministry of culture in cooperation with the society.

Preparation

The chard leaves are cleaned with water and dried very well to prevent the thin dough from drenching. For that purpose they can be left spread out over night and some flour may be added. The chard may be stripped of stems and is cut into strips. Then chopped onions, parsley,

olive oil Olive oil is a liquid fat obtained from olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea''; family Oleaceae), a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin, produced by pressing whole olives and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking: f ...

and salt are mixed in. The dough is made from flour, some salt, some olive oil and water as needed. It is divided into two equal parts and put to rest for a while. The first part is spread to a very thin, circle-shaped layer (2 to 3 millimetres) on a flour-powdered board. This is evenly covered with filling, except for a small margin. The other half of the dough is spread in the same manner to form the top of the pie. It is wrapped around the rolling pin and unrolled onto the rest of the pie. The overlapping layers of dough are joined by rolling them in to a rim. To ease the tricky transfer onto the baking hearth the pie may be sprinkled with polenta as a release agent before it is flipped over. Traditionally, soparnik is baked on a well-heated heath, the so-called , covered directly with embers. At the latest when the upper layer gets bulged from the steam of the boiling filling, it is to be pierced a few times. The pie needs to be baking for about 15 to 20 minutes (in an oven at 200 °C) until the filling has boiled and the fireplace poker gives a rustling sound when scuffing the top (or the dough is brown, respectively). Thereafter, it is taken out, swept clean and flipped over again. After cooling it is spread with olive oil and sprinkled with finely chopped garlic. It is usually cut to rhombical pieces for serving.

References

SWR/NDR, 11/12 August 2013:
Es sind Zimmer frei
– Kroatien, ein Land auf Selbstsuche. A feature by Patrick Batarilo Sandra Scott, Dezember 6, 2012
/ref> Where to eat Croatian online restaurant guide
Traditional Dalmatian dish: Soparnik

History

Preparation

See also

References

Further reading