stomaklija | TasteBrandy Blog

Legacy Lives On With “Stomaklija”

Each nation on this planet has that one thing that ties them with their past and bridges to the future, its legacy. Tradition, culture, land, are all a part of the legacy. When it comes to culture, food and drinks are as important as language, music or dance. They are written on a pallet of every person coming from one region. That’s why everyone likes their national cuisine the most.

Alcohol beverages are another common thing to almost every culture in the world. Social events or interactions of any kind are always marked with a glass of alcohol. French have wine, Italians have grappa, Irish have whiskey, and on the Balkans, there’s slivovitz.

One of the most loved brands in Serbia is definitely Prokupac. Even though distillery was out of business for some time, they managed to pull through and proceed with making two types of slivovitz which left legacy for generations to come, “Stomaklija” (*Stomach Cure) and “Manastirka”(*Monastery Brandy). There was no home in the ex-Yu that didn’t have at least one of these two.

The reason – respect for the rich taste and quality of the product.

Manastirka is made by the old monastery recipe. Only the best fruit are being used, and the preparation process remained the same for centuries. Every liter of Manastirka must rest for some time in the barrels until its color is golden, and smell enchanting.

Stomaklija is totally different story, and it really helps with stomach aches. It’s recommended to consume one chilled shoot of it before lunch to maintain good digestion. The secret is in herbs that are added to the bottle of sweet slivovitz.

Thanks to the internet which has connected the entire globe we can now buy both of these brandies in the UK as well. It’s always good to have a bottle of high-quality liquor at home, you never know when you’ll need a stirrup cup of pure heaven.

One of the most well-known products of Prokupac distillery is Manastirka Slivovitz.

My mother still keeps the old package of Manastirka Slivovitz, made by Prokupac distillery. I remember, when I was a kid, I would always grab it, and pretend to be an adult, but a pretty drunken one. I would start talking nonsense and my sister would laugh at it. Some may say that it’s not how kids should play, but on the other hand, it seems as a way better option than sitting in front of the computer.

The story of Prokupac begins over half of the century ago, in 1955. For all this time, the factory managed to produce almost 270 million liters of beverage, and as such, became the biggest factory of alcoholic beverages on Balkan. It really makes me sad to see that after all the success this factory had, and after all the medals and prizes it won, it ended up fighting to survive, in the new, grim days.

Not so long ago, Prokupac was supposed to be joined with another company, but instead of better work with a joined forces, all that happened was the other company acting like a parasite. Business, contracts and politics almost destroyed the well-known producer of excellent drinks.

Did you know?

One of the most well-known products of Prokupac distillery is Manastirka Slivovitz. Besides being a tasty drink, Manastirka was often used and a healing potion. I don’t know what would doctors say, perhaps they wouldn’t agree on this, but my grandmother would use it whenever I catch a cold. In order to bring down the temperature, she would perform a massage over my hands and feet with the Manastirka. Some say that any alcoholic beverage would do the trick, but this one has been often in our home, so it had the main role in everything: healing, drinking, cheering…

Some say that the recipe for this drink was invented centuries ago, perhaps even by St. Sava himself, but those are just stories without actual proof. However, it is most likely that its production started in monasteries, as the name suggests (manastir=monastery).

Even today, during the whole struggle Prokupac has to deal with, Manastirka is welcomed in every home. I’ve seen lately on the online auctions, that people are ready to give over 2000e for a 30-year old bottle of Manastirka. Considering the fact that the crisis is still present in this part of the world, we can assume that it remained popular and that people haven’t forgotten its old glory.