Split to Host 8th Croatian Prosciutto Days

Dalmatia, Drniš, Istria, Krk? Which prosciutto region will be named this year’s champion will be found out at the Park Hotel in Split on Friday, April 22, the first day of the largest event dedicated to this top Croatian delicacy. The eighth edition of Croatian Prosciutto Days returns to the city of Split, where it all started in 2015. Every year, the event moves to another city and promotes only certified prosciutto, or only those that are protected by the European Union. Everyone who comes to Prokurative on Saturday, April 23, will encounter a dozen award-winning prosciutto producers selling products at promotional prices from 9 am to 2 pm.

“This year, too, we are following the already proven and successful concept. On the first day of our event, workshops and round tables are held exclusively for producers and their guests, and the champion of the event, which is of a competitive nature, is announced. Namely, every year the producers of certified, or protected prosciutto send their best samples for evaluation before the event and look forward to the result,” points out Ante Madir, executive director of the Croatian Prosciutto Cluster.

The cluster is the organizer of this two-day event and brings together about twenty of the most famous producers of protected Croatian prosciutto from Istria to Dalmatia, from large companies to small family prosciutto producers 

Croatia has four prosciutto regions with EU protection – Krk, Drniš, and Dalmatian with a designation of protected geographical origin, and Istrian with a designation of protected original origin. These are premium products with exceptional texture and superior taste, and most importantly they do not have any additives and their only preservative is sea salt.

“The numbers speak best of the delicacy in question. In Croatia, we eat twice as much prosciutto as we produce. Last year we produced about 480 thousand pieces of prosciutto, and about 900 thousand pieces were eaten. In other words, we eat equally domestic and imported prosciutto. For comparison, fifteen years ago, domestic prosciutto was represented on the market with only ten percent. However, I must emphasize that in most cases, imported products are not prosciutto, but dried pork leg, which enters the production process without bones and is sold below the age of six months,” concludes Madir.

Mark your calendar for April 23rd and head to Prokurative in Split to try Croatia’s best prosciutto!