Friday, 12 April 2019

Pag Salt Gains EU Protection - Croatia Now Has 22 Protected Products

As Morski writes on the 11th of April, 2019, Pag salt (Paška sol) has received protection at the EU level. This information has now been published officially and Pag salt has been entered into the register of Protected Geographical Indications (EU PGI), and Pag salt has earned its sought-after protection status throughout the European Union.

"Pag salt'' is sea salt obtained directly from the seawater of Pag bay, its shape that of small cubic crystal structures that are white in colour and contain minerals and trace elements. Most of the crystals are up to 1 mm in size, so 98 percent of all of the salt crystals manage to pass through a sieve with a mesh size of 1.3 mm. It has a concentrated salty taste without any bitterness.

The seawater from the bay of Pag is extremely clean and well-filtered because the bottom of Pag bay, from which it is obtained, is highly rich in shells which act as natural purifiers of the sea, meaning the seawater in that area has very low values ​​of heavy metals, which are at considerably lower levels than the average value of rest of the Mediterranean sea. In addition to that, Pag bay is located far from any areas in which industrial works are carried out, meaning that the sea is even more pure.

Croatia boasts a long and very rich tradition of production and preparation of various agricultural and food products that are characterised by certain special, unique qualities and traditional production methods, and now finally Pag's much loved salt has earned its protection at the highest level.

Although the Republic of Croatia is still the youngest member state of the European Union, it can be extremely proud of itself as it now has 22 different agricultural and food products with names that are now protected at the European Union level, either in the sense of having a protected destination of origin, or having a protected geographical indication. The EU currently has three such schemes which work to protect the names of quality agricultural products and foodstuffs.

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Thursday, 15 November 2018

Pre-Christmas Croatian Island Product Fair in Zagreb

Products awarded the Croatian Island Product label are again being presented to the public in Zagreb, on the main square. It's become some sort of a tradition, with fairs where those products are sold and tasted taking place before Easter and Christmas in Zagreb for several years now. 

The fair has opened today, November 15th at the main square (Ban Jelačić square) in Zagreb, although the official opening ceremony will be held tomorrow morning (at 9:30 am), with participation of singers from Jezera on the island of Murter and Korčula's own Sv. Cecilija "klapa" (an 'a capella' vocal band). There are over 30 participants at the fair, coming from various islands: Korčula, Vis, Lastovo, Brač, Krk, Hvar, Pag, Prvić, Rab, Dugi otok, Ugljan, Iž, Rava, Cres and Pelješac peninsula. 

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Of those from Korčula who have in the past years been awarded the Croatian Island Product label, several are participating at the fair. Cukarin is, od course, present in Zagreb, offering their "usual suspects", such as well-known klašuni, amarete etc., but also their korčulanska lojenica, for which they were just recently awarded the label. 

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Škatula, also a well-known sweets shop from Korčula, presented their Karat, a spread made from carob, a perfect product for those who do not really appreciate chocolate, in addition to the wealth of their other products. 

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Smokvun was also presented to the people of Zagreb, all of its creative varieties made an appearance. 

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Sanja Protić and her products from her family farm in Blato were, of course, also present in Zagreb. In addition to her sweets (the most well-known one being traditional local blatska lumblija) and olive oils and other products, she also helped promote wines from Blato on her stand - and, as you can see in the photo below, she was in a good mood in while in Zagreb! 

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