The three hearts of Raden, the first 145 years
Water as a gourmet trend
They say that living near the Mura river is something special. Storks, who return to this hilly wine region every year, kind and hospitable people...
At the end of last year, it was exactly 145 years since Dr. Karl Henn filled the first clay bottles with Radenska mineral water. It is a very long period, and a lot has happened in the meantime and a lot of water has flowed down the Mur River.
That was one of the reasons for us to head to the Pomur region, the town of Radenci, where the famous and unique Radenska three hearts mineral water is filled. As far as history is concerned, the first records of the town of Radenci date from 1436, where the name of the town of Radein is mentioned. Today it has a population of just over 2.000 inhabitants, and is a popular spa resort.
Karl Hahn, still a medical student, discovered the spring of mineral water in 1833, quite by accident, passing one evening on the carriage road towards Leutomer. Legedna says that he heard some strange sound, so he asked the coachman to stop. After a short search, he discovered a source of mineral water. A local legend said that the sound of boiling water is constantly heard in that place, which gave rise to the popular belief that a witch is cooking something deep underground. Henn took water samples for analysis and returned to Radence only after 32 years, in 1869, then already a well-known doctor. He bought the land on which the spring was located and, in 1869, began bottling mineral water under the name Radeiner Sauerbrunn. In the same year, he starts bottling mineral water called Radenska three hearts, which he delivers to the Imperial Court in Vienna and the Papal Palace in Rome. The mineral water quickly became known for its healing effects, and the first guests arrived in 1882, when the development of the spa resort began.
Watch the film about the history of mineral water and the Radenska three hearts spring:
Thanking our kind hosts, Mr. Milan Verdev and Mr. Primož Jakelje, we visited the facilities of the Radenska three hearts bottling plant, and learned many useful details about the history, as well as the development and constant improvement of the quality of bottled mineral water. In addition to Radenska three hearts mineral water, many types of soft drinks are also filled in the facilities.
As far as the production process is concerned, water is pumped from great depths (the age of the water is estimated at approximately 10.000 years) into large tanks, where it stands for a certain time, and then, through a natural filtration system, it is sent to bottling plants. After quality control, filling is carried out, according to the production plan.
Today, according to many gourmets, mineral water has a special taste and a special place on every table. It is true that water, and with it mineral water, have long been treated only as a thirst-quenching drink. Mr. Masche, one of the most famous water sommeliers in the world, claims in his book "Fine Waters" that water is "the gourmet trend of this century." The trend of consuming bottled water has completely changed the menus of soft drinks in restaurants and bars. It is no longer rare to see special lists of mineral waters, along with wine lists, in restaurants. In some restaurants, they have developed the so-called "water bars" where only mineral water is offered. Depending on the mineral content and the amount of carbon dioxide, mineral waters enrich food consumption. Either as an aperitif, when carbon dioxide bubbles stimulate the appetite, or as a non-alcoholic drink with food and various snacks.
Natural mineral water stimulates the sense of taste, and thus improves enjoyment of the quality and variety of flavors and aromas.
Also, mineral water can be an ingredient in many well-known recipes and dishes, which is very interesting to us, but more on that soon...
More details at www.radenska.si
Radenci, May 2015.
Miodrag Ilić
