PHOTOS: 20,000 visit biggest pršut festival in the region
- by croatiaweek
- in Food & Wine
(Photo credit: Sebastijan Skoko)
More than 20,000 people visited the 14th International Pršut Fair (ISAP) which took place in the Istrian town of Tinjan from 14-16 October.
Visitors enjoyed tasting the best pršuts from all over Croatia, Italy, Austria, Hungary, Spain and Montenegro. Each pršut had their own specifics and unique characteristics as they are produced in their own unique way.
Istrian pršut is unique because they are the only ones produced without skin and subcutaneous fatty tissue, without legs and with the pelvic bone left in, which gives Istrian pršut its peculiar asymmetrical shape, and without smoking it.
On the island of Krk, pršut is produced with the skin and the pelvic bone is removed, which is why they are properly rounded in the lower part, but they are not smoked, while in Dalmatia and Herzegovina, pršut with the skin left on is intensively smoked, which gives them a characteristic spicy taste.
(Photo credit: Sebastijan Skoko)
In the pršut regions of Italy, pršuts are also produced with skin (the most famous Italian pršuts are those from Parma and San Daniele), but only salt is used as a spice, while here and east of Croatia, pepper is also added to the spice mix, in some places also laurel and rosemary or other herbs.
Even further west, for example in Spain and Portugal, the skin is removed from prosciutto but a thick layer of fatty tissue is left on the meat.Austrian pršuts from Styria are also produced with skin, but from there they come to us in both smoked and unsmoked versions.
(Photo credit: Sebastijan Skoko)
(Photo credit: Sebastijan Skoko)
About forty exhibitors presented themselves at the fair, thirty of them pršut producers with several tons of pršut were sliced. In addition to pršut, visitors had the opportunity to try the best wines and various other domestic products.
(Photo credit: Sebastijan Skoko)
(Photo credit: Sebastijan Skoko)
(Photo credit: Sebastijan Skoko)
The champion of the fair was the Istrian prosciutto Pisinium, which won the most points in the expert evaluation, and is also the champion in the category of Istrian pršut.
(Photo credit: Sebastijan Skoko)
(Photo credit: Sebastijan Skoko)
Gold medals were won by Jelenić (Sveti Petar u Šuma) and Dujmović (Kringa), silver medals were awarded to Selo Mekiši (Mekiši near Vižinada), Movimento (Vošteni) and Antolović (Tinjan), and bronze to Daniele (Višnjan) and Milohanić (Tinjan).
(Photo credit: Sebastijan Skoko)
(Photo credit: Sebastijan Skoko)
The expert jury evaluated 29 prosciutto from all over Croatia, as well as from Italy, Spain and Montenegro. Seven gold, 11 silver and 8 bronze medals were also awarded.
(Photo credit: Sebastijan Skoko)
(Photo credit: Sebastijan Skoko)
Guided tastings were also held during the fair, during which visitors could taste pršut and learn how to combine it with the top wines.
(Photo credit: Sebastijan Skoko)
(Photo credit: Sebastijan Skoko)
(Photo credit: Sebastijan Skoko)
There were also educational, sports-recreational, cultural and entertainment events over the weekend.
(Photo credit: Sebastijan Skoko)
(Photo credit: Sebastijan Skoko)
(Photo credit: Sebastijan Skoko)
The 14th edition of ISAP showed that this widely known event raises the level of quality and richness of the offer with each new year of its holding, and represents one of the most significant events in Istria outside the summer season.
