Dalmatinska panceta

Appearance & taste

The panceta is more or less rectangular, with or without clear imprints of the ribs. The edges and surface are clean and without cuts, and the skin is firm and without marked folds. On the outside it is light to dark brown. It is firm, elastic and holds together when sliced; on the cut surface, clearly red strands of muscle run through the white to pink fat, which may also be light yellow at the edges from smoking.

It tastes slightly salty, is tender and juicy and melts in the mouth. Its aroma and taste are reminiscent of cured, fermented pork, with a mild smoky note. The salt content is at most 7.5 %, the water content at most 55 %. A finished piece weighs at least 1.3 kg. It is sold whole, in pieces or sliced and is not normally heated before eating. Terms such as “genuine”, “traditional” or “home-made” may not appear directly next to the name.

Production

The raw material is chilled fresh or frozen streaky bacon from the breast and belly of the pig, with the skin, with or without rib cartilage but without rib bones. The producers choose pieces that are as rectangular and compact as possible, without major irregularities and without discolouration.

The bacon is cured in salt or brine, cold-smoked, dried and matured; all these steps take place in the area of origin and together last at least 65 days. The cold smoke comes from hardwood or sawdust smouldering without a flame, using the woods traditionally burned as firewood in Dalmatia. Smoking too heavily would spoil the aroma, colour, consistency and tenderness. Producers can tell from the appearance, colour and firmness when maturing has to begin. Maturing traditionally takes place in cellars with a stable microclimate, the “konobe”, where the panceta is also stored until it is eaten or sold.

Origin & history

The area covers the whole of Dalmatia, around 12,260 km² of coast and islands separated from the interior by the Velebit, Kamešnica and the Dinaric Alps. The climate is Mediterranean with warm, dry summers and mild, wet winters. The dry, cold bora from the north-east alternates with the mostly humid, warm jugo from the south-east. Because of the warmth and the constant winds, Dalmatia has the lowest humidity in Croatia.

According to the specification, preserving meat by curing and drying was already common in Dalmatia in Roman times. In the past the panceta was usually dried next to the hearth, in the kitchen or in drying rooms. Producers noticed that smoke reduced the moisture in wet weather and made the meat keep longer: when the jugo blew they smoked, when the bora blew they dried in the open air or made sure there was a draught. According to the specification, cold-smoking distinguishes Dalmatian panceta from similar products, for example from Istria and Lika, where panceta is not smoked. According to a magazine article from 1987, organised production in Dalmatia’s agricultural cooperatives began as early as the 1950s; the name already appears in the 1939 cookbook “Dalmatinska kuhinja”.