And so after X years from my Slavonia via Zagreb, where I have been living for many years, I set out to explore the nearest Italian region, Friuli Venezia Giulia. That’s how I got to know the small town of San Daniele del Friuli. A picturesque little place twenty kilometers from Udine and about fifty kilometers from Trieste. It belongs to the province of Udine. It is famous as the center of the production of prosciutto of the same name, although it is actually produced by 31 OPGs in a slightly wider area as well as in the town itself. All producers are described on the official website as well as the locations, and it is up to us to choose who we will visit. Although prosciutto should have the same taste from every producer, this is actually not possible, so the flavors differ somewhat, but the production method is the same. It is the basic microclimate of the area, and the specialty is the wind that blows from the Carnic Alps. The pigs were raised in the northern part of Italy according to special regulations, and the drought lasts 13 months. The weight of the prosciutto must be 7-10-12 kilos, there are no additives, preservatives, the amount of fat must be careful not to be large. Only sea salt is used. About 3 million pieces of prosciutto are produced annually and the number is gradually increasing. This is a large figure for such a small area the size of Motovun, and the earnings are somewhere around 500 million euros per year. This is an important indicator of how serious this business is.
I’m trying to imagine Croatian prosciutto production that could be consolidated into one large cluster and produce such a quantity!
Drniški prosciutto, Dalmatian prosciutto, Krčki prosciutto and Istrian prosciutto are 4 Croatian products protected by origin with a total annual production of about 250,000 pieces and they are trying to reach one million pieces per year in order to be able to compete on the world market. Along with quality, there is always a quantity that is desirable to produce, because what is quality worth to you when important customers can’t get to the product because… it doesn’t exist. They turn to those who are there, because it is not that there is no choice.
It is unfortunate that the total annual Croatian production of prosciutto is “eaten” by only one Italian producer.
The ten most famous Italian prosciutto are: 1. Prosciutto di Parma, 2. Prosciutto di San Daniele, 3. Culatello di Zibello, 4. Prosciutto Toscano, 5. Prosciutto di Modena, 6. Vallée d’Aoste Jambon de Bosses, 7. Prosciutto di Norcia, 8. Prosciutto di Carpegna, 9. Prosciutto di Sauris, 10. Prosciutto Veneto Berico-Euganeo. Each of them produces 3-5 million pieces per year, and these are only the most famous ones. And where are the rest of the hundred or so smaller Italian manufacturers that did not make it into the top ten. What a production, admirable!
How is it possible that thirty small producers of San Daniele prosciutto within a radius of ten kilometers cut across one Croatia, and our area has nothing to do with it?
It is no longer about the man, nor the collective, but about the politics that resulted in a bad entrepreneurial climate. Italians breed their own pigs and there are more and more farms that are closely related to each prosciutto, while in Croatia it’s every man for himself and for the past 15 or so years, as many as 3 million pigs have been bred less. Farms are failing because they are largely unprofitable due to the uncompetitive import of low-quality meat, and then our farmers are offered a sickly low price of HRK 8 per kilogram of live weight, which is unprofitable. And then the one who wants to produce prosciutto has to look for a pig from his area, and there is none. Some raise pigs themselves, some buy imported meat and dry it because they have no choice. Quality often drops and a certificate cannot be obtained. There’s more, I’ve only scratched the surface. Only a strong will, looking to the Lord and love for that work can get a result, and luck has it. They achieve results in much more difficult conditions than the Italians. All of this radiates optimism that an individual can rise above bad politics.
It’s a shame, a big shame, because even though I don’t have a refined taste for wines and food because I’m a glutton, I can recognize that our prosciutto is somewhere in terms of quality. And of course tastes differ.
The price of San Daniele prosciutto varies depending on whether we buy a whole ten-kilogram piece or smaller pieces. Until a few years ago, you could not order San Daniela prosciutto packed by weight, sliced, but only a whole piece of 7-10-12 kg was sent. to your home address or to a specialized store. There, it was cut by hand or with special quality cutters and sold to customers by weight. Since it is a well-known product and a kind of brand of the region, even 30% of it is eaten in the area of the province of Udine, and tourists are an important item who come to taste it from all over the world. For this reason, the manufacturers have set a gold standard that it is not cut into feta and sent further, but is cut from a whole piece on the spot and served on a plate. They preferred to have it done at their place. They held to standards, quality and exclusiveness. Prosciutto could not be bought online, for example, and today we can find it even on Amazon without any problems – Amazon San Daniele prosciutto
As the competition grew from year to year, many customers did not want a 10-kilogram piece in their home, but just a little tasting, the producers of San Daniela had to give in and start packing by weight. Today, in stores, prosciutto is packaged by the gram, and the price varies because it is determined by the seller. It starts somewhere around 30 euros per kilogram, while 10 kilograms of whole prosciutto costs 250-500 euros depending on the type (there are several types of San Daniele prosciutto). That’s why even today the best and cheapest experience is to go to San Daniele del Friuli and its surroundings and taste at the producer.
For the sake of comparison – a kilogram of Croatian prosciutto costs HRK 250, while a kilogram of San Daniele prosciutto costs…the same amount. The difference in price is almost non-existent, except for the fact that some of our prosciuttos do not have their own subspecies, while San Daniele prosciutto does, so the price difference from prosciutto to prosciutto is that much.
SAN DANIELE PROSCIUTTO TASTE
When chewed, the consistency of the slice is soft and melts in the mouth. it is easy to recognize by its shape that resembles a guitar. A freshly cut slice of prosciutto grain is pinkish-red in the lean part, while the fat is pure white. The taste is delicate, the typical aromas of matured meat blend together, creating a pleasant and satisfying mouthfeel. Prosciutto is best tasted alone, it can also be served with some bread, and it is recommended with a glass of Friulano white wine, Pinot Grigio and Ribollo Giallo. Red wines are not recommended because they overwhelm the taste of prosciutto, which is a shame, except for two light pink wines – Tazzelenghe and Refosko. A little melon with prosciutto won’t hurt.
