PROTECTED CROATIAN AGRI-FOOD PRODUCTS, Baranjski kulen

Baranjski kulen Baranjski kulen (Baranja kulen) is a fermented cured meat sausage made from pork and seasoned with paprika, garlic and pepper in a natural casing, light to dark brown on the outside, and light to dark red on the inside. The characteristic smoked fermented meat aroma blends well with the garlic and the pepper, with the paprika lending a mildly spicy tang. The addition of pepper sets baranjski kulen apart from other kulen products. In adding pepper to their sausages, kulen producers from Baranja followed the lead of South Hungarian salami producers, whose technology they were familiar with, since farms held by Austro-Hungarian nobles formed the backbone of Baranja’s economy. Thanks to their well-branched trade routes, Baranja had great connections with Europe, and the resulting accessibility of pepper was probably the reason why the producers of baranjski kulen started using it in the first place. PZ Baranjka, the company Belje’s meat processing facility based in Beli Manastir, has been the largest producer of baranjski kulen since World War II. The recipe was a trade secret, and master kulen maker Radivoj Vuković, who obtained the “panonski kulin” recipe from a sausage maker in Karanac, was in charge of the production. Vuković followed this recipe, but changed the product’s name to baranjski kulen, as it was more commonly referred to among the producers in Baranja. Legend has it that he used to keep his recipe in a locked safe until he realised that all producers in Baranja followed the same recipe. The name baranjski kulen received a Protected Geographic Indication from the European Union on 23 September 2015, protecting it against any form of abuse across the EU. Only products made according to the product specification for the Protected Geographic Indication baranjski kulen, whose producers have a valid certificate of compliance with the product specification, issued by the relevant authority, can be marketed under this name. Source: Ministry of Agriculture https://poljoprivreda.gov.hr/