Today, the decision came into force that two new Croatian food products will receive a protected designation of origin on the official EU list: olive oil from Korčula and lamb from Pag.
“Korčulansko” olive oil is extra virgin olive oil that is obtained directly from olives by mechanical means. Korčulansko olive oil, when put on the market, must be strictly defined as physico-chemical with organoleptic properties, Dobra Hrana reports.
The basic raw material for the production of this oil are the fruits of the olives from autochthonous varieties Lastovka and Drobnica, which are the oldest indigenous varieties of olives on the island of Korčula – the use of them either by themselves or in combination with each other must make them the smallest share of 80% of the product. The area around the island is intended for the production of “Korčulansko” olive oil, as is evident from the product specifications of the Association of Olive Oil Vela Luka.
“Pag lamb” is the meat obtained by the slaughter of young male and female suckling lambs, born on the island of Pag from the eponymous Croatian indigenous breeds of sheep – these sheep are grown exclusively on the island of Pag. For the product “Pag lamb”, lambs must not be older than 45 days, from the date of lambing until the date of slaughter.
In addition, Croatia’s other protected goods include prosciutto from Krk, extra virgin olive oil from Cres, mandarins from Neretva, sour cabbage/sauerkraut from Ogulin, kulen from Baranja, potatoes from Lika, prosciutto from Istria, prosciutto from Drniš, Dalmatian prosciutto, soparnjak, zeljanik or uljenjak from Poljica, and turkey from Zagora.
