08/01/2013
Tepke so ljudje v starih časih uporabljali za pijačo in hrano.
Tako so iz tepk delali mošt oz. hrušev sok, hruševo vodo, sadno vino ter žganje – tepkovec. Za mošt oz. hrušev sok so uporabili še zelene tepke. Drevesa so otresli oz. 'opreklali' in plodove stisnili v mošt, ki je »usta skupaj vlekel» in so ga večinoma dodajali kot aromo moštu iz jabolk. Hruševa voda je bila odlična pijača za potešiti žejo, velikokrat pa so na kmetijah gospodinje kuhale tudi kompot iz hrušk, kateremu so lahko dodajale tudi drugo sadje. Sadno vino so večinoma pili ob pomembnejših kmečkih opravilih (žetev, košnja …) in ob praznikih, ko za druga vina niso imeli denarja.
Mehke ali omedene tepke so ljudje uporabljali na več načinov. Namizne so bile med kmečkim prebivalstvom izredno priljubljene. Pri tem omenimo, da se tepke medijo na rjavo in so bile zato od nekdaj 'kmečke' hruške, medtem ko viljamovka medi na belo in je zato veljala za 'gosposko'.
Pogosto pa so tepke sušili, in sicer na soncu ali v krušnih pečeh. Ko so kruh vzeli iz krušne peči, so v vročo peč naložili tepke, jih tam pustili, dokler se peč ni ohladila ali sadje posušilo. Vse sadje, vključno s tepkami, so sušili tudi v sušilnicah, imenovanih pajžbe, kjer se je kurilo na drva. Prave gospodinje so vedele, kako hkrati sušiti več vrst sadja. Tako posušene tepke so se ohranile več let in desetletij in znano je, da so jih imele večje kmetije cele skrinje. Te so imele posebne odprtine za zračenje, v njih pa je bilo shranjenih tudi do 10 mernikov suhih hrušk (mernik je stara kmečka mera za žita in druge pridelke ter označuje 24 litrov).
Tako so bile tepke pomemben del kmečke malice, ki je dajala energijo za težja fizična dela. Otrokom je nadomeščala kruh, pa tudi sicer je bila posušena tepka primerna za kruh, ko so jo zmleli v tepkino moko in dodajali moki za kruh ali pa so testu za kruh dodajali na drobno narezane suhe tepke. Drobno narezane so dajali tudi v ješprenj in kašo.
Suhe hruške/tepke so bile poleg medu, ki ga nikoli ni bilo v izobilju, edina sladkarija v prehrani kmečkega prebivalstva. Iz računskih knjig mestnega špitala v Ljubljani za 17. in 18. stoletje je razbrati, da je ustanova za oskrbovance kupovala večje količine tepk in suho sadje – jabolčne krhlje, suhe češplje in suhe hruške.
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In the past, tepka pears were used for beverages and as food.
They used to make perry or pear juice from tepka pears, pear water, fruit wine and spirit – tepkovec. Unripe tepka pears were used to make the perry or pear juice. The trees were shaken or the fruit beaten down with a pole, and the fruit was pressed into a perry that “made you pull your face”. This perry was usually added to apple cider for flavour. Pear water was excellent for quenching thirst and farm housewives often cooked pear compote that also included other types of fruit. Fruit wine was mostly drunk during important farm activities (harvest, mowing, etc.) and on holidays when there was no money to afford another type of wine.
Soft or very ripe tepka pears were used in various ways. Among the rural population, table tepka pears were especially popular. It needs to be said that when tepka pears mature, they turn brown and were thus always considered to be “rural” pears, while Williams pears turn white and were thus considered more “noble”.
Tepka pears were often dried either in the sun or in bread ovens. When they took the bread from the oven, tepka pears were placed in the hot oven and left until the oven was cold or the fruit dry. All fruit, including tepka pears, were also dried in special drying facilities called pajžbe that ran on log fires. True housewives knew how to dry various types of fruit at the same time. When dried, tepka pears were preserved for years and even decades, and bigger farms used to have chests full of this fruit. These chests had special ventilation holes and used to hold even up to ten bushels of dried pears (a bushel is an old unit of measurement for wheat and other produce equalling 24 litres).
Tepka pears were thus an important part of rural meals, giving energy for hard manual labour. They used to be given to children instead of bread. Dried tepka pears were also appropriate for bread, as they were ground into tepka flour and added to bread flour. Tepka pears were also cut into small pieces and added to bread dough or to pearl barley and porridge.
In addition to honey, which was never found in abundance, dried pears/tepka pears were the only sweets found in the diet of the rural population. Accounting books of the Ljubljana city hospital from the 17th and 18th century show that this facility used to buy larger quantities of tepka pears and dried fruit for its patients – apple wedges, prunes and dried pears.
