The Municipality of Istrian prosciutto

Once upon a time, a river, most probably today's Pazinčica, burbled through the magnificent Lim valley to reach the Adriatic Sea shore. The breath-taking landscape of this largest Croatian karst valley emerges north of Beram, where, from the northeast it extends towards the south-west, and changes its direction from Tinjan continuing to stretch further towards the south.

You will be able to observe its winding grace from the palm of your hand, from the lookout post at Tinjan, where once the locals, seated around the County table (Županski stol) under the shade of the old trees decided on all important issues of their community.

This hilltop town on the site of a prehistoric Istrian hillfort was once the faithful guardian of its owners - as a Roman Attinianum or as a fortress for the Counts of Gorizia, and then from 1374 until the arrival of Napoleon as a defence post on the turbulent border with the Venetian Republic for the Hapsburg imperial family.

Once surrounded by walls and towers, today it proudly preserves the title of the Municipality of Istrian prosciutto, and since 2006, when it was crowned with this unique title, it continues to educate and promote the secrets of this indigenous delicacy.

Istrian prosciutto

This top gastronomic delicacy conceals the secret of its origin through the generations that carefully nurture it. It is not smoked, but dried in the air for a period of ten months to a year, and the method of its production does not allow the use of any additives, except traditional and natural ones such as sea salt, with a combination of aromatic and natural spices: pepper, rosemary, laurel, garlic... Everybody knows that prosciutto is best served hand-cut into thin slices and the importance of this Istrian prosciutto was also confirmed by the European label, Protected Designation of Origin: in which both Croatia and Slovenia jointly protect it under the name "Istarski pršut / Istrski pršut". It was also enrolled in the register of foods of Protected Geographical Indication at EU level.

Dry stone walls and kažuni

Building with natural stone without the use of any binding material is a well-known art in the Istrian tradition: the walls were built to preserve the fertile land and the kažuni (round field shelters, built in the drywall technique) in the fields as storage for tools and shelter from storms. Tinjan kažuni are not always round, but are often square in shape, and some are even buried underground.

Demetra***

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