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    Barbara Ivančič Kutin & Matilda Colja - Barbara Ivančič Kutin
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    Ingredients - Miha Peče
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    Making Bovški krafi - Miha Peče
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    Uncooked Bovški krafi - Miha Peče
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    Bovški krafi served on dish - Miha Peče
  • Bovški krafi - Miha Peče
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Technical Knowledge

TAG

WHERE

Bovec -

WHEN

Nowdays: whenever. In the past: dish was consumed at celebrations (weddings, Christmas, Easter).

WHO

Bremec Zorica Bremec Zorica
(informant)
Domevšček Peter Domevšček Peter
(agronomist)

Bovški krafi (Bovec dumplings)

(Buškǝ krafǝ)

Bovški krafi are dumplings filled with kloce – baked dry pears of the Tepka variety (Pyrus communis). This is a typical Bovec festive dessert, historically due to shortage of ingredients prepared mostly on major holidays such as Christmas, Easter and weddings.
Ingredients:
Dough: flour, salt, boiling water.
Filling: ground baked pears, roast mashed apples, raisins, sugar, rum, lemon peel, biscuits or toasted bread crumbs.
Topping: toasted buttered bread crumbs, sugar / honey or melted butter and sugar.
Utensils:
For the filling: oven, grinding machine.
For the dumplings: mixing bowl, dough roller, rolling board, model for cutting dough into round shapes, cooking pot, wooden mixing spoon, slotted spoon, additional pan for toasting crumbs.
Preparation:
Filling: Grind the dry pears into a pulp, then add a small portion of roasted mashed apples, sugar, rum-soaked raisins, grated lemon peel, and crushed biscuits or butter-toasted bread crumbs.
Dough: add a drop of oil to the flour, then douse it with salted boiling water. Knead using a wooden spoon (since it's very hot at first), and then manually until smooth dough has been made. Roll out the dough, cut out circles and cover with filling then shape the kraf (dumpling). Traditional Bovški krafi must have an oblong, boat-like shape and a wavy protruding ridge where the dough is joined. The krafi are cooked in salted boiling water for a few minutes (until they rise to the top).
Topping: serve with melted butter and sugar (cinnamon according to taste) or with butter-toasted bread crumbs and sugar or honey.
Bovški krafi are an important part of the culinary heritage of the Bovec area. The preservation of their traditional recipes is of significant importance for the local population and its vital economic activities, such as tourism and catering, as well as the preservation and dissemination of local culinary knowledge. The preparation of Bovški krafi, whose recipes are transmitted from generation to generation, helps strengthen the local identity and contributes to the specificity and diversity of the area on which the practice is present.

HISTORICAL-ANALYTICAL NOTES

In contemporary times, the baked pear pulp is stored in the freezer until usage. In the past, the pears were dried completely and kept in cloth bags in a pantry. When ready for preparation, they were softened by cooking then ground after removing the stalks and core. The leftover water was traditionally used for preparing corn polenta, which was added to the filling to increase its volume. If they didn't have sugar, the housewives would add onions fried in pork fat as a sweetener, having then no raisins, cinnamon, rum, or lemon peels at their disposal either. These additions came into use only after the Second World War. Using crushed biscuits instead of butter-toasted breadcrumbs is a recent novelty.
Since the Bovški krafi were a festive dish, they were also associated with a number of folk customs and beliefs. For Christmas, people ate krafi when they returned from their midnight mass. On that occasion they would put in the fireplace or on the stove one additional kraf for the faithful souls (the souls of the ancestors). Children were not allowed to eat more than one kraf at a time, a custom enforced by the story of the dreadful Perhta (Perchta – mythological female creature) said to visit gluttonous kids at night, slice open their bellies and reclaim the krafi eaten in excess.

LEARNING AND TRANSMISSION

Housewives learned how to prepare Bovški krafi from their elders (mothers, grandmothers, aunts). Since 2010, the preparation of Bovški krafi has been taught at workshops organized by the Od ovce do izdelka (From Sheep to Product) society. Members of the society produce Bovški krafi for sale in their Bovec shop offering local products, and for the restaurants serving the dish. In its kitchen above the shop, located in the centre of town, the society produces traditional krafi in addition to organizing workshops at various tourist events, including one for the local school with the purpose of familiarizing youth with legacy dishes and their preparation. Knowledge is thus transferred between generations; the heritage preserved, updated and linked with modernity. Members of the society present the preparation of krafi at various local festivities as well.
The recipe for the preparation of Bovški krafi differs slightly from village to village, and from housewife to housewife, especially with regard to the filling. Bovški krafi are featured in the regional collections of culinary recipes, and the preparation of the dish is included in the Register of Intangible Heritage of Slovenia.

COMMUNITY

The society Od ovce do izdelka [From Sheep to Product] was founded in 2010 and is headed by Peter Domevšček. It preserves the local tradition and develops traditional products from the Bovec area, promoting them at public events and other showcases. Members of the society prepare culinary events and cooking workshops, where they display the preparation of the Bovški krafi and other typical local dishes. The workshops pass the knowledge of preparing Bovški krafi onto younger generations, and thus ensure that the heritage is preserved, updated and linked with modernity. The society also operates a kitchen, handicraft studio and store, where members sell their foodstuffs and crafts.

PROMOTIONAL ACTIONS

The procedure of preparing Bovški krafi is included in the Register of Intangible Heritage of Slovenia.

Related Intangible Heritage

Growing and processing buckwheat
Growing and processing buckwheat
Mountain fruit growing
Mountain fruit growing
Rateče dumplings
Rateče dumplings

To learn more

Web Sites

Bibliography

  • Domevšček Peter, Marzel Robert
    Jedi iz Zgornjega Posočja
    Občina Kobarid 2013
  • Komac Vlasta
    Zakladnica bovške preteklosti
    Založba Bogataj 2003
  • Cuder Evridika
    Bovško. Naše kulturno bogastvo - Bovški krafi
    Lokalna turistična organizacija Bovec 2012

Material resources

The knowledge of preparing Bovški krafi is connected with some other intangible elements, e. g. Alpine fruit-growing.

Produced by

Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts - Institute of Slovenian Ethnology - Miha Peče

Scientific Advisor

Ivančič Kutin, Barbara

Release Date

07-SEP-2018 (Miha Peče )

Last update

24-SEP-2019 (Agostina Lavagnino)

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