designed by: LICITAR, a design studio
Licitar
is an equisitely decorated cake made of honey dough. Since days of old the
secret of licitar making has been kept within a family handicraft of licitar
sellers from the central and eastern Croatia. Although licitar is entirely
made of edible ingredients, it is primarily used as a souvenir giving great
joy to the eyes and soul. Traditionally, licitar has been made in a red-hot
colour and in various shapes and sizes. Small licitars are made in the shape
of a heart, cherry, doll, small bird, mushroom, horse-shoe, small wreath and
horse. They are favourite Christmas tree decorations in many Croatian homes.
Bigger licitars are used as gifits to loved ones for special occasions. A
young boy giving a heart-shaped licitar to his girlfriend in order to declare
his love and devotion to her is a custom deeply-rooted in the Croatian ethnic
heritage. St Valentine's Day is a particularly appropriate occasion for giving
a heart-shaped licitar to someone you admire. This custom has been portrayed
in a famous ballet ' Licitar heart' by Krešimir Baranović which has been
performed on stages around the globe.
The
tradition of licitar making dates back to the Middle Ages, particularly to the
sixteenth and seventeenth century when cakes in richly decorated wooden moulds
were made in many European convents. In
the Eastern Alps region, such tradition of cake making soon grew into a
handicraft which was gradually spreading to other Central European regions and
so it spread to the Pannonian parts of Croatia. Here, handicraftsmen were
making dough products such as licitars, gingerbread cakes, wax products such
as candles and wax votive gifts and drinks such as 'gvirc' and mead. Since
their early days,these products have been sold at fairs and church
feasts. Thanks to licitar producers, the stalls with gingerbread and mead
products provide a picturesque atmosphere. A particularly rich range of
licitars is provided by licitar handicraftsmen offering their products at
church feasts around the Zagreb region. Nicely wrapped licitars are
appropriate to be sent to far off countries, have recently been available in
all better supplied gifts, souvenirs and handicrafts shops in Zagreb.
Licitar is also the name of the firm founded in the spirit of a family craft of Croatian gingerbread handicraftsmen, with the aim of preserving the tradition. In an effort to preserve licitar from falling into oblivion and to keep it as a genuine Croatian gift for decorations and souvenirs adapted for modern times, licitar production such as the one maintained for a long time in the Bedenica region has been encouraged. By applying traditional methods and materials, a recognizable product has been created, which can bring licitars closer to young people and get visitors familiar with the Croatian national heritage.
