Skalický trdelník

Trdelník is made by winding a strip of yeast dough round a wooden spindle, the trdlo, rolling it in chopped walnuts and sugar and turning it over embers until the outside caramelises and the inside stays soft, leaving a hollow tube. Skalica has made it since the eighteenth century, by local account brought by a Transylvanian cook, and the Skalický trdelník received EU protected geographical indication in 2007, the first Slovak food to get one.

What you actually see

• The wooden spindle - the trdlo the dough is wound round and turned over embers.
• The walnut coating - chopped nuts and sugar caramelising on the outside.
• The protected status - EU geographical indication held since 2007.
• The Skalica bakeries - the producers who hold the designation.

When to go

Year round; bakeries sell daily and stalls appear at markets and festivals. It is best eaten warm within an hour of baking. The Skalica town festival brings the most producers together.

Honest expectations

Trdelník sold across Prague, Budapest and Bratislava as a local speciality is nothing of the kind and is usually a modern tourist product; the protected version is specifically the Skalica one. It goes stale within hours. Nut-coated versions are the traditional form, not the chocolate-filled ones sold elsewhere.

Nearby

Skalica town is where the protected producers are, and Trnava is southeast.