Warm Winter Affecting Croatia’s Famous Pršut

Croatia is currently having one of its warmer winters on record, with 18 degree temperatures recorded in continental parts of the country in January. Those praying for more seasonal weather are local pršut producers in Dalmatia…

Between 15,000 and 20,000 prušts, the famous dry-cured ham from Croatia, which were pre-salted and hang up to dry more than two moths ago, have been tossed in the rubbish. Local pršut producers in the towns of Sinj and Cetina have had to toss their pršuts away because of the high air temperatures and lack of the bura winds, essential for drying the ham. The biggest problem has been with hams that have not been salted very well, as locals say that putting them to smoke instead of drying leads to the meat going bad.

“With these current temperatures the owners of small family smokehouses do not have appropriate conditions for efficient drying of ham. Controlled ventilation provides the optimum conditions closest to those natural ones, which are missing in such weather conditions as these,” Mirko Gugić told daily Slododna Dalmacija.