A heavily smoked dry-cured ham from the Zlatibor highlands. Hams hang in wooden pušnice smokehouses over beech around Užice, and the village of Mačkat holds an annual pršuta fair.
Cold smoking holds raw meat for weeks at a temperature too low to kill anything, and the cure and the mountain air have to carry the whole safety burden across months.
What goes into it
- a pork leg, boned or bone-in
- coarse salt
- beech smoke
How it is made
The leg is salted and pressed for two to three weeks, then hung in a wooden pušnica where a beech fire burns below it, cold-smoking it for weeks — far more heavily than the Adriatic hams. It then dries in the cold mountain air of Zlatibor for months, losing over a third of its weight.
How long it takes: six to twelve months
How it is eaten
Shaved thin with kajmak, bread and rakija.
History
Cured around Užice, where hams hang in wooden pušnice smokehouses over beech; the village of Mačkat holds an annual pršuta fair.
Frequently asked questions
What is Užička pršuta?
Užička pršuta is a charcuterie & cured from Serbia: heavily smoked dry-cured ham from the Zlatibor highlands. Cured around Užice, where hams hang in wooden pušnice smokehouses over beech; the village of Mačkat holds an annual pršuta fair.
How is Užička pršuta made?
The leg is salted and pressed for two to three weeks, then hung in a wooden pušnica where a beech fire burns below it, cold-smoking it for weeks — far more heavily than the Adriatic hams. It then dries in the cold mountain air of Zlatibor for months, losing over a third of its weight. It takes six to twelve months.
Can I make Užička pršuta at home?
No, and the atlas gives no method for it. Cold smoking holds raw meat for weeks at a temperature too low to kill anything, and the cure and the mountain air have to carry the whole safety burden across months.
What goes into Užička pršuta?
A pork leg, boned or bone-in, coarse salt, beech smoke.
How is Užička pršuta eaten?
Shaved thin with kajmak, bread and rakija.
