EN Official Journal of the European Union C 323/7

Publication of an application pursuant to Article 50(2)(a) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs

(2015/C 323/08)

This publication confers the right to oppose the application pursuant to Article 51 of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (1).

SINGLE DOCUMENT

‘DALMATINSKI PRŠUT’

EU No: HR-PGI-0005-01205-3.3.2014

PDO ( ) PGI ( X )

1. Name

‘Dalmatinski pršut’

2. Member State or Third Country

Croatia

3. Description of the agricultural product or foodstuff

3.1. Product type

Class 1.2. Meat products (cooked, salted, smoked, etc.)

3.2. Description of the product to which the name in (1) applies

‘Dalmatinski pršut’ is a preserved dry-cured meat product made of a pig’s leg, with the bone, skin and subcutaneous fat.

‘Dalmatinski pršut’ does not contain any additives (nitrites, nitrates, potassium sorbate, ascorbic or propanoic acids), except sea salt.

‘Dalmatinski pršut’ has the following organoleptic properties:

(a) external appearance: free of any cracks, cuts or loosely hanging muscle tissue or rind, and without prominent wrinkling of the skin;

(b) cross-section: the subcutaneous fat is white to pinkish-white, while the muscle meat is evenly red to light red;

(c) aroma: aroma of fermented, salted, dried and smoked pigmeat, without any extraneous smells (of tar, oil, raw meat, wet or dry grass); the aroma of the smoke is mild;

(d) taste: slightly salty to salty;

(e) texture: soft.

‘Dalmatinski pršut’ has the following chemical properties:

(a) moisture content between 40 % and 55 %;

(b) water activity (aw) below 0,93;

(c) salt (NaCl) content between 4,5 % and 7,5 %.

At the time of placing on the market, ‘Dalmatinski pršut’ has a minimum weight of 6,5 kg and has matured for at least 12 months counted from the start of processing.

3.3. Feed (for products of animal origin only) and raw materials (for processed products only)

‘Dalmatinski pršut’ is produced from fresh pork legs, on the bone, obtained from pigs from commercial meat breeds, cross-breeds or breeding lines, or cross-breeds of any combination thereof.

The minimum weight of a trimmed leg is 11 kg.

Meat quality: a fresh leg must display no discernible signs of trauma. The meat is reddish-pink, firm in texture and free of surface wateriness (RFN).

Pale, soft and exudative meat (PSE), dark, firm and dry meat (DFD), meat that has desirable colour but is soft and exudative (RSE) and meat that is firm and non-exudative but pale (PFN) may not be used.

At the time of its delivery to the production site, the pH of a pork leg, as measured in the area of the semimembranosus muscle, is between 5,5 and 6,1.

Fat cover: the minimum thickness of the subcutaneous fat, with the skin, on the outer part of a trimmed leg, measured vertically below the femur head, is 15 mm;

The fat covering along the whole of the rounded edge of the leg is sufficient to prevent the skin from separating from the underlying muscle.

Temperature of the meat: when a leg is delivered to the production site, its internal temperature is between 1 °C and 4 °C.

During storage and transport, fresh legs are kept at a temperature of between 1 °C and 4 °C. The legs may not be frozen.

The leg must be salted between 24 and 96 hours after the pig is slaughtered.

3.4. Specific steps in production that must take place in the identified geographical area

All stages in the production of ‘Dalmatinski pršut’, from the salting of fresh legs to their pressing, smoking, drying and maturing, must take place within the geographical area specified in Section 4.

3.5. Specific rules concerning slicing, grating, packaging, etc. of the product the registered name refers to

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3.6. Specific rules concerning labelling of the product the registered name refers to

After the end of the maturing stage, the hams are hot-branded with a brand mark comprising the common symbol of ‘Dalmatinski pršut’ and the producer code, which is identical to the veterinary control number of the facility.

When placed on the market, the product must bear the name ‘Dalmatinski pršut’ and the common symbol. The name ‘Dalmatinski pršut’ must be clearly legible and indelible, and must be sufficiently large and highlighted through type and colour to stand out more clearly than any other wording.

All users of the designation of origin who place the product on the market in accordance with its specification have the right to use the common symbol, under the same conditions.

4. Concise definition of the geographical area

The production of ‘Dalmatinski pršut’ takes place in Dalmatia. The northern boundary of the production area runs through the town of Novalja, the municipality of Kolan, the town of Pag, the municipalities of Starigrad and Jasenice, the town of Obrovac, the municipality of Ervenik and the town of Knin. To the east, the boundary traces the state borders with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. To the south and west, the area is demarcated by the maritime state border with the Italian Republic.

5. Link with the geographical area

The link between ‘Dalmatinski pršut’ and the geographical area where it is produced is based on the product’s characteristics that stem from the traditional production method, and also on the reputation which this regional product has attained nationwide.

Specificity of the area

Natural factors

‘Dalmatinski pršut’ is produced throughout the geographical area of Dalmatia, which is the longest and largest stretch of Croatian coast along the Adriatic. Dalmatia comprises islands, the coast and the sub-Mediterranean hinterland. The coast, the islands and the mountainous hinterland generally run parallel to each other north-west to south-east. The hinterland is mountainous, with typical karstic features.

The climate in Dalmatia is Mediterranean, with warm, dry summers and mild, humid winters. In winter, the mean temperature is 3,6-9,0 °C, while the mean temperature for summer is 24,7-25,3 °C. Relative humidity over the year ranges from 56 % to 76 %. A typical climatic phenomenon of the area is the Bora, a dry and cold wind that prevails in the winter period and blows on average 130 days in a year. The combined effects of these climatic factors create conditions that help ‘Dalmatinski pršut’ to dry and mature.

Human factors

Thanks to the readily available sea salt and the favourable climate, the people of Dalmatia were very quick to adopt the skill of preserving pigmeat through salting and drying from the ancient Romans. Since then pršut-making know-how has been passed on down the generations, developing over time into a production process that is considered as traditional in Dalmatia.

Traditional know-how runs through all stages in the production of ‘Dalmatinski pršut’. Pršut-makers in Dalmatia select quality hams that weigh at least 11 kg and have a fat and rind cover of at least 15 mm. Before salting they massage the leftover blood out of the ham, particularly from the femoral artery, to prevent spoiling during the drying and maturation stage. The skill of the pršut-makers also comes to the fore when determining the duration of salting and pressing the ham, which depends primarily on its weight.

Special attention is paid to the method and duration of smoking, and the selection of the wood. In fact, originally ‘Dalmatinski pršut’ used to be preserved mainly by salting and drying rather than smoking. The smoking of ‘Dalmatinski pršut’ during the drying stage — which took place next to the hearths in old kitchens or in drying huts with porous roofs — was introduced to dispel the humidity during rainy and wet weather. As soon as the weather changed and the Bora blew again, the hams would be taken out to dry in the air.

The makers of ‘Dalmatinski pršut’ learned that smoked meat cured better and kept even longer thanks to the antioxidant and bactericidal properties of the smoke, which is why they smoked the hams even in dry weather when it was not really necessary to hang them next to the hearths. Although in today’s production method smoke is no longer needed as a meat preservative, it is still used in the making of ‘Dalmatinski pršut’ to confer that unique and distinctive aroma of smoked and dried pigmeat. Today smoking is a separate production procedure using cold smoke obtained by burning hornbeam (Carpinus sp.), oak (Quercus sp.) or beech (Fagus sp.) hardwood or shavings, which have traditionally been used as fuel wood by the local households.

Specificity of the product

The uniqueness of ‘Dalmatinski pršut’ is primarily reflected in its organoleptic properties, which are the result of the production process.

Its characteristic organoleptic property is its aroma, a combination of fermented, dry pigmeat and a mild smokiness. Research has shown differences in the composition of volatile substances between ‘Dalmatinski pršut’ and six other dry-cured hams from southern European countries, most notably in the presence of phenols (guaiacol, phenol, o-cresol, m-cresol, 2,5-xylenol, 2,6-xylenol, and 2,6-dimethoxyphenol), in all samples of ‘Dalmatinski pršut’. Given that the production procedure of the other hams does not involve smoking, it is highly probable that the smoke aroma is imparted by the abovementioned phenols (Igor Jerković, Josip Mastelić, Snježana Tartaglia: A study of volatile flavour substances in Dalmatian traditional smoked ham: Impact of dry curing and frying, Food Chemistry 104 (2007), p. 1038).

‘Dalmatinski pršut’ is also distinguished by the slightly salty to salty taste, its soft texture and evenly red to light red colour.

Causal link between the area and the product’s characteristics

The link between the characteristics of ‘Dalmatinski pršut’ and its area of production is reflected primarily in the use of the traditional production method, which has been passed on down the generations. Owing to the traditional production skills, ‘Dalmatinski pršut’ has the special characteristics that have helped it attain its reputation.

The main distinctive feature of ‘Dalmatinski pršut’ is its characteristic mild smoky aroma. Smoking, therefore, is a particularly sensitive stage in production, during which pršut-makers must pay special attention to selecting suitable types of firewood, and to the quantity of smoke and the duration of the smoking process, which mainly depend on the weight of the hams and the weather at the time of smoking. If these parameters are not chosen correctly, the result can be an overwhelming aroma of smoke, discolouration of the rind and tougher consistency of the meat that does not melt as easily in the mouth.

The skill of pršut-makers during the maturation period is reflected in the correct control of air flow, temperature and relative humidity, allowing the metabolic processes to run at the appropriate rate and thus preventing rapid, or excessive, drying-out that results in tougher meat and loss of the evenly red to light red colour across the width of the muscle tissue on account of the darkening of the edges.

Thanks mainly to its mild smoky aroma, ‘Dalmatinski pršut’ has for a long time now gained recognition beyond the production area.

In the late 1930s, Rudolf Bergštajn, an inn owner from the town of Varaždin, advertised in a local weekly that his guests were welcome to sample ‘[…] the real “Dalmatinski pršut” […]’ (Hrvatsko jedinstvo No 60, 1938, Varaždin, p. 8).

The popularity of ‘Dalmatinski pršut’ expanded rapidly in the 1960s, when the increase in demand fuelled production, which was organised on a cooperative basis.

In their contribution to the trade newsletter Meso (2006), M. Krvavica and J. Đugum state that ‘Traditional Croatian pršut varieties, including “Dalmatinski pršut”, […] boast characteristics that certainly rank them among the highest quality pršuts […]’. This goes to show that ‘Dalmatinski pršut’ is still to this day recognised for its quality and the traditional production method.

Producers of ‘Dalmatinski pršut’ regularly exhibit at the National Pršut Fair, which has been organised in Sinj since 2006 and also hosts international participants, and at the International Prosciutto Fair, organised in Tinjan since 2007, where they often win championship titles. ‘Dalmatinski pršut’ won championship titles and gold medals in 2009, 2010 and 2013 at the International Agriculture Fair in Novi Sad, Serbia.

With the expansion of tourism in the mid-1990s and the growing demand for typical local produce, ‘Dalmatinski pršut’ has become a distinctive Dalmatian delicacy and, in economic terms, a major traditional food product in Croatia.

Reference to publication of the product specification

(Article 6(1) second subparagraph of this Regulation)

http://www.mps.hr/UserDocsImages/HRANA/DALM%20PRSUT/izmijenjena%20Specifikacija%20Dalmatinski%20pršut.pdf

(1) OJ L 343, 14.12.2012, p. 1.