Spirited
Memories of Istrian Rakija - Trapa
The following are November and December 2004 extracts of messages from
subscribers of our
discussion forum "istria-talks".
See
our
Rakija pages in
Osteria
Istriana. Miro Gagliardi (of Pula / Pola, Istria) says:
In istrijanski: Dragi pretelji, trapa, oli rakija je jeno
te isto. Za delat rakiju ni tako lako kako se pensa'. Svaka regija
ima svoje tradicijoni. Poli nas, dobra rakija more se ucinit samo od
dropa ko je dalo dobro vino. Rakija je kruna na glavi svakog
vinogradara i za to se posvecuje posebna paznja. Dobra rakija mora
imat tri karakteristike: glavu, tilo i rep. Glava je za medeziju,
tilo za uzitak a rep (kega u mom kraju zuvu hlema) sluzi za prat
noge trudnih tezaka eli za rezentat lase. Hlema more imat do 12-15
gradi. Tilo od 50-55 gradi, a glava i priko 70 gradi. Za znati ko je
rakija stabela, dosti ju je potresti u providnoj boci i vidit koliko
drzi pisture, peno za tin se ponjusi za vidit ko lipo zadaje. Kad se
operu lasi ontar se rezentajo z Hlemon i dojdu lustri i ozivnu. S
glavon se delaju samo inpaki kad ki ima veliku febru.
Rakija poli nas se more kupi anche na markatu i slobodno ju dela
ki god ce. Bilo je zabranjeno delat ju samo pod Talijon.
In polesan: Cari amici, la trapa, o acquavita xe la stessa roba. Per farla no xe cussi'
facile come che se pensa.
Ogni
region ga le sue tradizioni. De noi, la trapa bona se pol far solo
dele vinasse che ga da'
vin bon.
La trapa xe la corona de ogni vinocoltor e per questo se dedica
un'atenzion speciale nel
produrla.
Una bona trapa devi gaver tre carateristiche: la testa, el
corpo e
la coda. La testa xe
per
medicina, el corpo se godi e la coda (che noi ciamemo hlema) se
dopera per lavar le gambe
dei
contadini stanchi e per resentar i cavei. La hlema pol gaver 12-15
gradi, el corpo ga
50-55
gradi, e la testa oltre i 70 gradi.
Per saver se la trapa xe bona,
basta darghe una xbatudina in-t-una fiasca trasparente e veder quanto che se tratien le bolicine,
pena dopo se le nasa per
sentir
l'odor. Quando che se lava i cavei se li resenta con la hlema per
ravivarli e farli
diventar lucidi.
Con la testa ghe se fa i masagi ala gente con la febre alta.
La trapa de noi se pol comprarla anche in marcato e liberamente
la pol produr chi che vol.jera vietado produrla solo soto l'Italija.
In English (translated by Bruno Clapci): Trapa or Rakija are
the same thing. To make rakija is not as easy as one would think.
Every region has its own way of traditionally making rakija. Here at
home, one can make good rakija only if the grape husks produced good
wine. Rakija is the crown on the head of every vineyard and for that
reason one pays great attention. Good rakija must have three
characteristics: head, body and tail. The head is for medicine, The
body is for enjoyment, and the tail (in my part of Istria
it is called hlema) is used to wash the legs of the tired peasants
and for rinsing the hair. Hlema contains 12-15%, the body contains 50-55%
alcohol, and the head contains more than 70% alcohol.
To see if rakija is of a good quality one has to shake a bottle
vigorously and little bubbles are formed around the rim of the
bottle on top of the rakija. The bubbles must remain there for a
while, then one smells the bottle and notices the quality. After
hair is
washed, rinsing it with hlema will make it
lustrous and alive. When someone has a fever, the person can be
massaged with the head rakija, and that will help to reduce the
fever.
Rakija can be purchased at any supermarket and anyone can produce
it. It was illegal to make rakija only when Istria was governed by
Italy. Klaudijo Lazarić (of Kršan,
Istria) says:
In Hrvatski: Dragi pretelji, skoda da niste blize pa da puli boce
nacinjene rakije ka ima 63 % alc. pocakulomo o temu fenomenu.
Mislin da Grappa i rakija ni bas sejno- rakija recemo za ovu
domacu, a Grappa je pojam za onu industrijsku. Ova nasa ima u
pravilu 55 % alcohola i vise, a industrijska maksimalno 40%. Uz to
ova domaca "ima" dusu", puli nje se sedi i gleda kako curi po
konci i triba za saku litru od 40 minuti do jene ure.
Mislin da cu do kraja setimane poc do
Mireta, pa ce i on kakovu besedu moc rec o mojoj Rakiji.
In English (translated by Bruno Clapci): Dear friends, it is unfortunate that
you are not close to this new bottle of rakija which has 63% as we are
talking about this phenomenon. I think grappa and rakija are not the
same thing. Rakija is home made grappa is produced by the
industry.Our rakija has 55% alcohol and the maximum alcohol that
grappa has is 40%.Our home made rakija has a soul.We sit beside it
and it drips and it takes anywhere from 40 minutes to one hour to
get one litre. I'm considering paying a visit to our Miro this
weekend and we will see what he has to say about my rakija.
Miro Gagliardi replies to
Klaudijo:
In Polesan: Cari amici, jeri go trascorso do' orete
meravigliose ciacolando con Klaudijo. Un bafon (bon come tuti i
bafoni che conosso!) simpaticissimo, mai conossudo prima d'alora.
Gavemo trovà subito un tema de discorso a noi caro, l'Istria.
Gavemo verto le spine dele ciacole, che solo i oblighi de'lavoro ne
ga costreto a interomper fin el prossimo incontro. El me ga regalà
una fiasca de vin nero, bon, però el devi maturar, e dopo una
fiasca de medenica=medenjača=mielita fata a forma de sacsofono.
Sicome che de noi xe 'l proibizionismo, la go assagià de sera.
BBBBOOOONNNNAAAA!!!! sui 55 gradi. Son convinto che la risvejassi
anche Tutankamon.
In Istrijanski: Dragi pretelji, ucera san pasa' dvi prelipe
ure cakulajuci z Klaudijon. Jedan mustacion (dobar ka i svi
mustacioni ke poznana!) simpatiko, nikad ga nis pozna prvo od tega
dana, tako da smo nasli zajno temu razgovora nama jako dragu, Istra.
Doprli smo spine ciakula, ke smo morali zaprit zarad dela ko nas je
cekalo, ali samo do nerednega inkontra. Darova mi je bocu crnog
vina, dobro, samo mora'jos uzrijat, i pokle jenu bocu
medenice=medenjače=mielite ucinjene ka i saksofon. Kako poli nas je
proibicijonizam, pokusija san je na vecer. DDDOOOBBBRRRAAA!! okoli
55 gradi. Uviren san da bi zbudila anke Tutankamona.
Francine Gumina (of
Melbourne, Australia):
My nonno used to make his own wine in his backyard shed and once
brought over a bottle of grappa. Of course I was a teenager and
was much too strong for me to drink but apparently, it's illegal
(so they say) to make your own grappa as the percentage of alcohol
is much higher than the legal limit - I don't know how strong my
nonno's grappa was, but all I know is that it was a lot stronger than
any other alcohol we had!!!! (That's what I was told.)
I remember seeing a few 'drops' added to espresso!!! (So called
delicious???)
But questioning Klaudio's post, how can grappa only have 40%
alcohol compared to rakija (what is the translation for this
word?)? Wouldn't homemade grappa be a lot stronger compared to
the grappa industry Klaudio mentioned?
Klaudijo Lazarić answered:
In Hrvatski: Francine, grapa delana doma, kako reces ilegalno, mi zovemo
rakija. Ona ne podljieze nikakvoj sluzbenoj kontroli, pa more imat
alkohola i iznad sluzbeno dozvoljenega postotka. Tu se krije i
opasnost zbog onih proizvodjaca ki ne paze i ki ne znaju kada se
pored etilnog alcohola pocne izdvajat i metilni, pa od nekih domacih
rakija boli glava i osjeti se cudan okus u grlu. Metilni alcohol
razara mozdane stanice i otrovan je i zato triba bit pazljiv i
poznat nike stvari u proizvodnji.
In English (translated
by Pino Golja):Fracine, grapa that we make at home, as you say illegally, we call rakija.
Rakija production is not controlled, so it could have a percentage
of
alcohol above any officially allowable level.
Here is where there is also a danger for those producers who are not careful and
who do not know when besides the ethyl alcohol can start separation
of the methyl alcohol, that is why you can get headache and strange
taste in the throat drinking some of the domestic rakijas. Methyl
alcohol destroys brain cells and it is poisonous and because of
that,
one has to be very careful and understand some of these things
during
distillation.
Francine Gumina replies to
Klaudijo:
Thank you for your response and now I understand why my nonno
only made a very little amount and that it was not drunk regularily.
I think we still have the same bottle of grapa that nonno gave us
all that time ago - unless it's finished and I'm not aware of it. So
from what you say about the grapa industry, Klaudio, does that mean
that grapa is
legal in Istria and surrounding areas? (meaning bottled and sold to
the public?) [Pino, thank you for taking the time to translate the post -
most appreciated!]
Bruno Clapci (of Coquitlam, BC, Canada) says:
We used to make rakija every year and all the men who lived close
by would come to taste it, and they always offered some jokes or
wisdom about rakija. Usually, they would drink two nips of rakija
(bicierino). They always said that if they drank only one nip the
other eye would go blind so they could not see. I think it was an
excuse to drink two nips instead of one, but that is Istrian culture
and who is going to dispute it.
[...]
I used to work on naval ships at Cockatoo Dockyard in Sydney,
Australia. We were
refitting Australian navy submarines and we worked the afternoon
shift. A friend of mine, Berto Zupicic, who was in charge, brought one
litre bottle of rakija and gave it to me. Anyway another friend, Dave
Lakem, who was working with me that night helped me polish off the
bottlle. We worked in the aft torpedo room and there were some bunks
empty.We both passed out and when I woke up I felt I had a beautiful
sleep. Never in my life have I had a had such a beautiful sleep.
Never before and never again. There were no headaches, we both felt
rejuvenated, and that is the truth. There is definitely something in
Istrian rakija, I do not know what, but there it is.
[...]
Here is a little story that I hope Bepi Vidas does not mind me
telling. I hope he tells us more in detail. Teta Maria Ruzic asked
two young 18-year-old brothers, Meto and Vitorio Stepcic, to make
rakija for her. The two boys and Bepi Vidas went to work on the
rakija. When one makes rakija one had to constantly taste it and
throw a little of rakija into the fire to see if it burns and
contains enough alcohol. Well, the three young man were very happy
souls for they were tasting it a little too much. We were laughing
about it. How could these three drunk men produce good rakija? But
they did it anyway. It just shows you how our Istrian parents teach
their children responsability. Under any circumstances they will
accomplish their task. Now that I left the cat out of the bag, I
hope Bepi Vidas will tell us the whole story.
Pino Golja (of Petaluma, California, USA)
says:
My recollection of rakija distillation and drinking in Istria
is that I have never been so drunk before or after. I must have been
ten to twelve years old during one of these rakija making days in
Sveti Martin. This particular afternoon, there were four households
that were making rakija. I, and a couple of my friends of the same
age, decided to visit all these sites one after the other. Normally,
if you saw a kid tipsy, you would refuse to give him more drinks,
but not our rakija distillers. We got to taste rakija at all for
places and by the time we were done, we could not walk, we were
stumbling around to the amusement of the adults. I remember that day
each time somebody brings up drinking and drunkenness.
Here is an observation that I still remember about good
rakija: It has to be very clear and when you shake the rakija bottle
slightly, a string of pearls forms on the surface along the edge of
the bottle and the longer it persists before it breaks up, the
better the rakija. Zunta is normally not clear, but faintly yellow
or brown, and it will not form a string of pearls.
Ed Brumgnach (of Whitestone, New
York, USA) says:La meio grappa in Istria la xe fata in Boljunski
Katun dalla famiglia Komar in Opatija (not the one near Rijeka).
Lori i fa tutti i tipi con erbe dalla campagna e Ucka. Ed od Katuna.
Anton Selar
(of ?, Canada) says:
I always have a bottle of rakija with 'ruda' in it in my
'medicine'
cabinet. The stuff is strictly for medicinal purposes, for the
occasion (ssssh...) when I suffer from the infestation of worms in
the intestinal tract (za gliste). This seems to be a disease quite
common among Istrians, it could be that it is genetic or maybe
contagious, I don't know; from the conversations I had lately with
my folks back home it seems there is an epidemic in Istria. But at
least there is no lack of medicine. Today, after all the Christmas
celebrations, those bl...d worms seem to be quite active, so I must
go
and take my medicine, doctor's orders.
Anonymous (of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) says:
On the
recipe section: for the man
who has hair on his chest, and
for his wife that walks ahead of him, I hope you have included
semi-dry figs sotto Trappa. [Ed. note: of course we have!] The fig swells beautifully, and I
recommend only one fig per serving - in winter, served with Crema
Pasticcera calda, adequately spiked with...?? You guessed it!!
For Christmas, I remember small gift jars with a medley of "fruits"
inside, and the inside wall of the jar was lined with orange or sweet
pompelmo round slices, plus cinnamon (canela) sticks and even
cloves
(ciodi de garofano) to make patterns with the round slices... You can
have the fruits, I'll take the fragrant trapa. Food for thought?
[...]
We all forgot to mention: "Monte Grappa"
The best grappa in Italy is from Bassano.
I prodi Alpini lo sapevano, prima di attraversare il famoso
ponte,
portavano la borraccia piena per "dopo" di dar la mano.
Anche i San Bernardi lo sapevano... trovavano i perduti, solo per
farsi aprire il barilotto. (Che vita de can.)
Nessun gha menzionado la "Stock" con tuti i depositi de maturasion,
in tuta l'Istria. Durante la guerra, la gente del villaggio gha
salvado tutti i barili de cognac e de trapa, de 20 anni vecia, dai
bombardamenti. Nesun gha domandado niente indrio, e i novi
arrivadi
beveva solo slivovitz che spusava de susini andadi mal. Cussì...
Fatalità gha voludo, che ste povere anime samaritane, gha dovudo
meti tuti i fruti soto quei liquori straveci... in caso che non i
andassi de mal, e riscio de perdi tutto. Che vicissitudini!!
Però, la meior "trapa" in Istria, iera quela de Bepi Padovan de Malio,
anche lui cadeto alimentare... "mulise", con "brovada" de rape,
su "budino di Maize" (Polenta in po nase).
Ahh...! Che memorie, che memorie... !
I tempi passati!
Adesso sti giovani no i sa' gnanca cossa che xe bon.
Invece de trapa, i bevi grappa che la xe solo acqua-ranta-otto gradi.
El se imagini?
[...]
Xe un
grupo de gente nei Indo Kush (Kafirstan), che i xe i discendenti de
Alex il Grego (I se ciama Kalash). Ancora i da sacrifici agli "dei",
ma dopo i se rosti i capretti, li magna, e i bevi vin, e dopo
Arak. Gho provà sto Arak, e Ostia!... iera trapa!
Non
bona come la nostra, ma bevibile, anche “tre-bevibile” con quel
fredo. Per confonder i antropologhi del futuro, in una bela vale
tra l’Hymalaia, Kara Korum e Pamir ghe go imparà a dela sai brava
gente, come far trapa, ma ghe go dito che se ciamava grappa, xa
che no iero sicuro se i capiva l'Istrian, a quele altitudini.
(Sebben che noi vegnimo da quele parti.)
Una
roba xe sicura: ghe piasi più grappa-trapa, che Johnny Walker. In
quela vale i faseva xa il vin (amabile), ma i butava i raspi sul ludame. Zà
che i gaveva tubetti de rame in paese, e l'irrigasion iera a
gravità canaleti che i zig-zagava dai
ghiacciai perenni attraverso i campi. Iera facile de far un + un =
grappa - trapa.
Le vidi
le iera piantade in fossi fondi, e coverte de inverno. Il posto se
ciama Hunza Valley, e i disi che xe l'attuale Shangrilla. La gente
la, vivi in "media" fino a 120 anni.
[...]
Se
travasemo un goto de trapa, e se trebevemo un sluk a la salute de
Bacco. Piero, nostro fradel in Spirito, ga finalmente risolto il
rebus dela Fenice. Adesso se poderà
dir che nei nostri tempi se "Treberava" da Venesia a Trento,
da
Udine, a Trieste, da Pola a Fiume, e tuta la Dalmasia.
Dove
che iera fredo, tropo in monte, o tropo in vale, i rakijava fino al
Danubio. Forse xe stado anche per sta benedeta trapa che i xe
vegnudi a scaldarse in Istria. Sveta Kapija.... Te bevemo co’
rispeto...
Anca Klaudijo ga’ ragion. Xe vero che se pol far Trapa piu’ de 48
gradi, ma alora no ocori beverla, basta nasarla. No la xe bona se la
xe “acqua-ranta-oto” invese de 48. Ma piu’ de
quel... bisogna meterse le mutande de Terliz... no nylon, per
carità.
Klaudio Lazarić replies:
Marino, ma daj - mi Istriani smo kripki i se
ovo ca je manje od 55% ne nan dela nanke frisku. Samo i grisimo,
das rakija mora odlezat barem jeno leto i oni put dobije onu
mekocu i dobije pitkost. Ako se domislis bicerini s kih su nasi
stari pili rakiju su bili mici kako naprsnjak, alora rakija je
bila forta- ma nismo imali 0,000 i se je dalo dihat. Moja rakija
ima od 63-65 %, ali kad se uleze nakon leto dan ona zgubi par
gradi i dobioje na ukusu, uni put je prava medizija. Storin anke z
medon i s travami ili se doda raznega voca i onda je festa od
gusti- samo pit z dobru meru, das bi "sunula" kako mi recemo va
suplje! Mario Lorenzutti
(of London,Canada) said:
Mi me ricordo che gnanca voi de Strugnan no schersavi riguardo la
trapa, iera quasi un rito, duti la faseva, e duti diseva de aver la
meio. Mi me ricordo co iera la stagion e te pasavi in giro le case
te sentivi un forte odor de trapa, te ciapavi la bala solo nasando.
Me ricordo sti omi indafarai intorno el l'ambico, col bicer in man
per provar ogni tanto come che la vigniva - se la coreva tropo,
bisognava butar sora l'ambico un poco de aqua freda per regolar la
corsa - insoma iera un saco de acorgimenti che bisognava far.
Qualchedun, co se tendeva l'ambico, meteva soto la senera anche
qualche patata che la se rosti... Ala sera quasi sempre sti omi i
iera sempre bei rosi in viso, mesi inciucai, sia dal odor, sia per
gaverla provada tante volte.
Gnente andava perso, i resti dela vinasa i andava finir in
campagna per far ludame - insoma iera riciclagio completo, da noi a
quei tempi no se butava via gnente. Mia nona la tegniva la più forte
e me par che iera la prima per farse i masagi, me par de vede ancora
la botilia,dentro la meteva un giglio de S. Antonio, te sa, quei
fiori bei bianchi che vigniva la de noi, sicome che la iera sai
devota al Santo, quel doveva far la diferenza, insoma un masagio, e
per forsa te dovevi star ben. Nesun osava contradir S.Antonio. Quela
iera la botiglia dei miracoli...con grande sodisfasion de me
nona...pasava duto. Poi no mancava mai la botiglia con la "ruda"
quella iera per el mal de pansa, e per el stomego pien, un
digestivo. Insoma, la trapa curava un poco duto....el dotor del
paese iera quasi disocupà. Quela volta in Istria duti iera esperti
in medicina: se ingrumava el Santonego in saline a Strugnan, la
trapa con la ruda, la trapa col Giglio del Santo, el Brulè de vin
bianco per i rafredori, per no parlar de l'"Abisinsio" o la colana
de aio torno el colo contro i vermi. Camomila in casa no mancava
mai. In poche parole, duti iera esperti de medicina pratica, costava
poco, ma le cure le funsionava...
Da noi a Isola, iera un che metteva pan vecio in moie con un poco
de trapa, a lo lasava la duta la note, dopo a lo meteva in un cadin
dadrio de casa, la i penegarioi (passeri) i andava a magnar,
naturalmente sti poveri usei i se imbriagava, i no podeva più
svolar, lu a se gli ingrumava, a li spelava, e la moglie ghe faseva
una bella seneta "Polenta e Usei". Vedè a quante robe che serviva la
trapa.....ostrega d`istriani......che ingegnosi che se iera a quei
tempi.
Denis Sankovic (of Cleveland, Ohio, USA):
I was in the "Old
Country" back in 1980 and was about to return to the
US. My grandfather was getting ready a couple of
bottles for my father. He transferred from the large
"cask", for lack of a better word, to a smaller
bottle. From that bottle we transferred to the final bottles. Only problem was that he had overfilled the
first bottle and there was some left over. You
couldn't put the rakija back and you couldn't waste
it, of course... so my nono sat there and drank four
shots straight until it was gone. Needless to say, he slept most of
the rest of the afternoon.
Franko Pavicevac (of Bayside,
New York USA):
In istrijanski:
Justo kad ste mislili da smo finili s tu rakiju, ja iman jedan
komentar i 2 pitanja:
Kako je vec reka Bruno i Ive, nasa rakija ima "dusu". Kad ni bilo
medigi ni medezije s nju se je licilo sve, od prozeba (prehlade) do
bolnih kosti. S nju se je ponudilo suseda i pretala. i davalo za
regol juden z groda. I danas va restoranih ponudiju "rakijicu" na
kucu - i mislin da je to lipi nacin da se va novo i progresivno
ugradi i malo tradicije. Samo i tu je prisla drzava i zmislila oni
famozni 0,0 pa vise put moras odbit tu ponudu od restoranteri.
Pitanja su prvenstveno za Klaudija i Mireta:
Prvo je: ki ima boju rakiju - tako da znon kamo poc drugo leto
Drugo pitanje je lagje: zoc se pazi da ugonj previse ne gori kad se
dela rakiju?
Kad san bi otrok vajka me je mucilo pitanje zoc kad delaju rakiju
gosiju ugonj da rakija ne tece prebrzo. Najprvo naloziju ugonj z
najbijen drivon a unda ga polivaju z vodu da ne gori previse. Pokle,
kad su nas va skoli vadili lediste i vreliste, san zakljuci da se
ugonj mora drzat pod kuntrolu da previse alkohola ne ispari i ujde
va atmosferu na mesto va bocu. Sada si ti reka nisto za etil i
metil - pa san pomisli da se forsi tako jenega pusti neka gre a
drugi da ustane va rakiji.
Odgovorite mi ku je to justo ali je niki drugi razlog da se ugonj ne
pusti gorit prejoko. Ku vas dvo ne znote cemo morat pitat Nevija ali
Sandreta.
In English:
Just as you were hoping we were done with the rakija discussion, I
came up with a comment and two questions.
I concur with Ive and Bruno that our
rakija has a soul. Before we had doctors and medications rakija was
used to cure everything - from simple colds to aching bones. It was
also offered to friends and neighbors when they stopped by and given
as present to city people. Even today, in some restaurants, they
offer a shot of rakija on the house. I though this was a nice way of
incorporating something from our traditions into modern living.
The two questions are primarily for
Miro and Klaudijo. The first one is 'which one of you has the better
rakija?' This way I know where to go first next summer.
The second question is easier: 'Why
do they keep fire from getting too strong when making rakija?' When
I was a child I was puzzled by the fact that rakija-makers first
provided the best wood to make a big hot fire under a
kotol (dish for
distillation), then poured water on it to reduce the heat when
rakija started to pour out and to the bottle a bit faster. Later
they taught us in school about boiling and freezing temperatures and
I concluded that the fire needs to be low so that the alcohol
doesn't evaporate and escape into the atmosphere instead of going
into the bottle. Now Klaudijo mentioned two types of alcohol and I'm
wondering if they were trying to let one go and the other stay!
Please let me know. If you two don't have the answer we'll have to
ask Nevio or Sandro.
Bruno Clapci replies to Franko:
Hi Franko,
alcohol evaporates at lower temperature, its boiling point is lower
than water. For that reason if one keeps the temperature low one
gets more alcohol to evaporate. We also know that specific heat of
alcohol is lower than water which means that it takes less heat to
heat one gram of alcohol to one degree centigrade than it does to
heat up one gram of water to one degree centigrade. Ed can probably
explain the phenomenon in a much simpler way. This my theory.
Franko Pavicevac retorts:
Bruno, yes, that was my theory, too, but I wanted our rakija-makers
(or scientists) to
confirm, deny, or correct it.
Sources:
- Ed Brumgnach, Bruno Clapci, Miro Gagliardi, Pino
Golja, Francine Gumina, Klaudijo Lazarić, Mario Lorenzutti, Franko
Pavicevac, Denis Sankovic, Anton Selar and Anonymous.
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