Lumblija

Appearance & taste

Lumblija is a round, sweet bread of 350 to 600 g. On the outside it is dark brown, brushed with varenik – a syrup made from grape must – or brandy and sprinkled with sugar; the crust is firm. Inside it is dense but soft, and when cut, small pieces of raisins, almonds and walnuts can be seen.

It smells of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, coriander and aniseed. The flavour is full, balanced and nutty-fruity, shaped by almonds, walnuts, raisins, varenik and citrus fruit. Lumblija is sold whole and uncut, wrapped in paper or cellophane; the name must stand out from all other wording in font size and typeface.

Production

The dough consists of wheat flour, sugar, olive oil, lard or butter, varenik, almonds, walnuts, raisins, ground cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, coriander, aniseed, lemon and orange peel, vanilla sugar, brandy flavoured with roses or herbs (travarica), fresh or dry yeast, milk, water and salt; ground carob seed flour is permitted. Many ingredients are prepared with great effort, such as the raisins, which are soaked in varenik.

According to the specification, there are two traditional methods. In one, a dough of 1 kg of flour is made with the whole amount of yeast, the aniseed is added directly and no carob seed flour is used. In the other, a dough of 3 kg of flour is first made with part of the yeast, and the rest is added after the first rise; the aniseed is dissolved in lukewarm water, and carob seed flour is among the ingredients. Because the many heavy ingredients slow the rising, the dough has to rise several times and for a long time, as the specification recommends from evening to morning. It is baked until the bread is well baked through but still moist. Making the dough, baking and packing take place on Korčula.

Origin & history

The area is the whole island of Korčula with the cadastral municipalities of Vela Luka, Blato, Smokvica, Čara, Račišće, Pupnat, Žrnovo, Korčula and Lumbarda. According to the specification, the fertile land, unusually large for Dalmatia, made agriculture the most important source of income in the Middle Ages: wine and olives, figs, almonds, walnuts, citrus fruit and grain. Before industrial sugar, varenik was an important sweetener, and raisins used to come from seedless vines in the islanders’ own vineyards.

Lumblija is baked on the eve of All Saints’ Day, especially around Vela Luka, Blato and Smokvica. For the custom of “kol(e)inde”, children brought their godparents and relatives a gift of lumblija, dried figs, almonds, citrus fruit and grapes; in Blato there has been an All Saints’ church since the 14th century. The recipe was passed on orally by the women of the island. The name is first recorded in writing in 1881 in the journal “Slovinac”. Emigrants took the bread as provisions on long sea voyages. The Kumpanija knightly order in Blato, founded in 1927, has the care of lumblija in its statutes, and for 25 years it has been blessed and tasted every year on the last Sunday in October on the Plokata square in Blato.