The Limburgse vlaai is en route to join the list of protected status foods under European rules, NOS writes.

The fruit filled pies are now being sold in many guises but according to a group of local Limburg bakers there is only one true Limburgse vlaai.

Protected status would guarantee that the Limburgse vlaai is made with the proper ingredients, and has a certain size and weight. ‘What we see now is a piece of dough with a bit of fruit on top. It also needs at least 35% of fat otherwise it will be tough and inedible,’ baker Marcel Roubrouk said.

‘You can find vlaaien for as little as €2.90 but it is impossible to make a real Limburgse vlaai for that amount. If it were up to me those products would no longer be sold as Limburgse vlaai or vlaai from Limburg. They do damage to the good name of the original,’ he told NOS.

Roubrouk and his colleagues are now in the process of petitioning the EU for protected status for the pie.

Forms

‘Two ladies at the economic affairs department have been helping us fill out the forms. It’s very complex. Every dot and comma has to be in the right place,’ NOS quotes Roubrouk as saying.

The pie will have to made in the province of Limburg to qualify as a bona fide Limburgse vlaai.

It will be two years before the process is completed, if the product is accepted by the EU, NOS reported.