VALJAR
IN KOČEVSKE THERE ARE WOODEN ROLLING ROLLERS FOR Dough, KOČEVARSKA "NÜDL BELGA", WOMEN USED FOR MAKING FINE EGG NOODLES, BUTTER ROLLS OF POBOLICA OR STRUDLE. TOGETHER WITH THE DOUGH ROLLING BOARD, THE KOČEVARSKI "NÜDL PRATT", THE ROLLER WAS AN INDISPENSABLE TOOL FOR KOČEVARSKI
COOK.
A wooden rolling pin is a household utensil used to roll out dough. It consists of a cylinder and two handles, which can be fixed or rotating. It is usually made of beech wood and comes in different lengths. It is easy to clean by wiping it with a damp cloth. Wooden rollers are products of wooden haberdashery, these "dry goods", which have been widespread in the Kočevo-Ribníška area since at least the Middle Ages. The local residents were looking for income and (additional) source of livelihood in the production of various wooden objects for everyday use. Due to the poor natural conditions: the karst terrain, the land unfavorable for agriculture and the impoverishment of the population due to the Turkish invasions, the Emperor Frederick III. In 1492, Kočevar and Ribničan were granted the right to free trade with their own products without paying taxes. This meant a boom in the dry goods trade, which traveling merchants, these peddlers ("Hausirer" in German) sold throughout the Austro-Hungarian lands until the beginning of the Second World War. Before World War II, crafts that were passed down from generation to generation were separated by house.
In the villages, different families were engaged in one activity each. Wooden handicrafts were usually made from autumn to spring when they were left
the farm chores were done, and before that - over a year - they prepared the necessary material. Today, the term "dry edge" covers more than twenty different handicraft and craft industries: crockery, spoon-making, braiding, lattice-making, rim-making, turning, cooper-making, toothpick-making, under-crafting , tool making, making toys and tourist souvenirs, etc. Since 2002, "Ribniška suha roba" has been protected by a geographical indication of origin. The Rybníka dry goods area includes many municipalities of the LAS area: Ribnica, Sodražica, Loški Potok, Kočevje, Dobrepolje, Velike Lašče, as well as Bloke. Wooden rollers are (still) made by turners. In the early fifties of the 20th century, turning was limited to the villages: Grdi Dol, Podklanc, Sodražica, Sušje, Zamostec, Zapotok, Brinovščica, Hrustovo and Male Lašče. In the Ribniška valley, turning was a household craft, especially in mills or homes by the water, as they mostly turned with water power. There weren't many foot lathes. The (Kočev) charcoal makers were also engaged in turning while they were watching over the heap so that it did not burn, and partly also the wheelwrights. In Kočevsko, women used wooden rolling pins for dough, Kočeva's "Nüdl Belga", to make fine egg noodles, butter potica pobolika or strudel. Together with the dough rolling board, the cottage "Nüdl Pratt", the rolling pin was an indispensable tool for cottage cooks.