Pršutarna Ščuka

Back in September, me and Daniel got visitors from Canada. They wanted to see the western part of Slovenia, especially the wine regions. I’ve never really been to those parts myself (I know shame on me), so I was excited to search for everything it has to offer. I knew I wanted to see an old village named Štanjel, so I searched for prosciutto places around there. That’s how I found out about Pršutarna Ščuka.

Pršutarna Ščuka is a family owned company that produces probably the best Slovenian prosciutto. I would be comfortable to say that probably even in a wider area. They are located in Kobjeglava, a small village in Karst plateau. Just about 3kilometres from the well-known village Štanjel.

Secrets of drying prosciutto and other meat products have been passed down from generation to generation. First, their quantities were small, but in the 1960’s they started to collaborate with MIP Nova Gorica. That meant massive productions, and that’s when they built a new, bigger drying facility. It all went great until MIP Nova Gorica bankrupted. After that Pršutarna Ščuka closed for years and reopened back in 2014.

Tour and tasting

We were greeted by owners daughter Maja in front of the entrance to the Pršutarna Ščuka. She explained to us a little about the area they are situated in its history. Then we continued to their courtyard where there is a 250-years old mulberry tree (I will write about it a bit lower down in this article.)

At this point, she started explaining us about the history of their family company, before we entered the drying facility. There she explained to us about the process of drying meat. It’s not common anymore to dry meat products only with the help of bora wind, but that’s exactly how they do it. They do it the right way! This is the way to get the best quality products like theirs. They dry meat with the help of bora wind and opening and closing the windows. Very impressive technique!

Maja really explains everything so nice and doesn’t mind answering on any questions you have about their business. Their prosciutto is really the best I ever tried! But besides that, they also make pancetta, wild boar and buck prosciuttos. All of which are incredible!

So tour and tasting are 12euros per person. All together it lasts around 1,5 hours. You get to taste their incredible prosciutto that is dried for 24months +, pancetta, wild boar prosciutto, local Karst cheese, olives, homemade bread and 2,5dcl of Teran wine or juice. I would say that’s a really good deal! And each and every product is so yummy! You will definitely want to buy some to take with you.

Mulberry tree

As soon as you enter Ščuka yard you spot this huge, magnificent mulberry tree. It’s 250-years old and it’s one of a kind. I’m almost certain no one in this world put as much effort into one tree as Ščuka family. They braid its treetop in the shape of an umbrella. It’s just incredible! I’ve never seen anything like that before. It also takes them around 1 month, 8hours a day, to finish braiding it. You are going to be very impressed, trust me!

Mulberry trees played a big role back in the days. They were used to grow silkworms on them, but nowadays no one grows them anymore.