Istarski pršut

Appearance & taste

Because the pelvic bones stay in the ham, it has an elongated shape; the head of the femur sits in the hip socket and cannot be seen. The foot is cut off at the hock joint. The rind and subcutaneous fat are removed everywhere except for 10 to 15 cm below the hock joint. The edges are evenly rounded, the flat sides clean or covered with a thin layer of mould; larger or smaller patches of mould are common.

When cut, the meat is uniformly pinkish-red to reddish, the fat white. The ham smells of dried, mature pork and herbs and tastes mild and slightly to moderately salty. It contains less than 8 % salt and, according to the specification, no additives at all. When sold it weighs at least 7 kg. It is available whole or boned, in pieces or slices packed under vacuum or in a protective atmosphere.

Production

The pigs are domestic pigs of pure breeds and their crosses, with the exception of Piétrain. At slaughter they are at least nine months old and weigh over 160 kg on average. They are fattened with compound feed whose ingredients, apart from minerals, vitamins and additives, come from the area for the raw materials; in addition there is wheat or wheat bran, clover, lucerne, pumpkins, cabbage, fodder beet, sugar beet pulp, whey and boiled potatoes from the same area. Brewers’ grains, brewing waste and slaughterhouse waste are prohibited.

The ham is cut so that the ilium, ischium and pubis remain; the sacrum and tail vertebrae are removed. The trimmed ham weighs at least 13 kg. First the rind and subcutaneous fat are cut off down to the meat. Then it is dry-salted with sea salt and one or more spices – black pepper, garlic, bay leaf, rosemary – and only between 15 October and 20 March. It dries in the air and ripens for at least twelve months. Without the rind it dries out somewhat more, and mould grows on the surface. All steps up to boning, slicing and packing take place in the production area. After ripening, each ham receives the common brand mark and the producer’s code number.

Origin & history

The production area covers part of the Istrian peninsula, excluding the islands, in Croatia and Slovenia, from Stupova bay to the Slovenian-Italian border. The pigs may also come from several counties in the north and east of Croatia, from Primorje-Gorski Kotar (mainland) to Vukovar-Srijem.

The climate is mainly Mediterranean and becomes more continental inland. In winter winds often blow from the north and east, above all the bora, a strong north-east wind blowing from the Učka mountains to the sea. The winters are not extremely cold, and the air is cool and dry – conditions in which, according to the specification, the ham can dry in the air alone.

Removing the rind and fat dates from the time when as much fat as possible was rendered in the countryside to obtain lard that would keep. The oldest Istrian source known so far that explicitly mentions raw ham dates from 1580: in the records of the town of Roč, kept in Glagolitic script, raw ham was ordered for the prefect’s wedding. In 1612 a source reports that Uskoks, after crossing the Učka, stole cheese, raw ham and wine among other things. According to a document from 1810, ham and bacon were the most expensive meat of all. Traditionally the pigs were fed for more than a year on whatever the farm provided in each season.