Drniški pršut

Appearance & taste

The ham has no pelvic bones or heel bone, and no skin and fat on the inner side of the leg; its edge is evenly rounded. On the outside it may show no visible damage, but traces of a thin layer of mould are permitted. When cut, the meat is a uniform ruby red next to white fat and smells distinctly of mature, lightly smoked, dried pork.

The ham is easy to slice and chew and is juicy. It tastes distinctly sweetish and slightly salty, with a mild smoky aroma; after each bite a pleasantly salty, slightly sweetish smell and the aroma of the ham linger, without sourness, bitterness or rancidity. When sold it weighs at least 6.5 kg and contains at most 40 % moisture and 7 % salt.

It can be recognised by the brand on the rind and by the collective mark, which also appears on every pack of pieces or slices. It is sold whole, in pieces or in slices; pieces and slices are vacuum-packed.

Production

Only very fresh hind legs of pork are used, chilled only at –1 to +4 °C and not deep-frozen. Pale, soft and watery meat, or particularly dark, tough and dry meat, is not permitted. The heel bone, sacrum, hip bones and tail vertebrae are removed; the thigh bone, shin bone, fibula and kneecap remain in the ham. The skin and fat on the inner side are cut away in a semicircle down to the knee joint. Before salting, a leg weighs at least 11 kg.

Two to four days after slaughter, the legs are rubbed with coarse sea salt, with no other additives. They are then pressed and the salt is rinsed off, which according to the specification makes the ham less salty and slightly sweet. Smoking uses beech and hornbeam wood, almond wood and shells, and dried immortelle. The fire is still lit by hand today; it burns slowly, and the hams are gently smoked with good air circulation. They then dry and ripen in the air, for at least twelve months in total. During this time the ruby-red colour and the long-lasting aroma develop. All steps take place in the area of origin.

Origin & history

The area around Drniš in Šibenik-Knin County lies 20 to 30 km from the coast as the crow flies. The climate is mainly sub-Mediterranean, with hot, dry summers and mild winters with little snow. Winds blow for almost 65 % of the year, above all the dry, cold bora from the Dinara mountains to the north-east and the warm, humid scirocco (jugo) from the sea. From December to February the mean temperature is 3.7 to 5 °C and the humidity 76 to 78 %. These cool, dry conditions protect the meat from spoiling during salting and drying, which is why production begins in winter and needs only a little salt.

Drniš and its surroundings have long been known for ham, which the locals have made over many generations with their knowledge of the local weather. A newspaper article from 1978 calls it “Unikati drniške pršutoteke” (unique ham specialities from Drniš). According to the specification, until the war in the 1990s ham from the production plant in Drniš was the most economically important and best-known ham brand on the domestic market.