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Meat from Slovenia

Prleška tünka PGIPrleška tünka

Prleška tünka is cured pork that is dry-heated and smoked, then laid in alternate layers with salted, minced, heat-treated back fat in a vessel called a tünka and matured there for at least 30 days. It is a boundary entry; the Slovenian ministry describes it as a preserved meat, a pasteurised meat product, and no source we found describes a microbial fermentation.

Fully documentedMeat30 days

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceAmounts are set by the PGI specification as shares of the fresh meat or lard weight; the packed product holds meat and minced lard between 60:40 and 70:30.
Pork leg, loin, sirloin or neckWithout bone, skin or surface fat[eu-tunka-2010]
Curing salt2.4–2.8 % of the fresh meat weightHolds NaNO2 at the permitted 0.5–0.6 %; brine injection is prohibited[eu-tunka-2010]
SugarUp to 0.5 %[eu-tunka-2010]
Pepper, garlic, caraway and bay leaf[eu-tunka-2010]
Hard back fatHeat-treated, minced to pieces 6–8 mm across and seasoned[eu-tunka-2010]
Coarse salt for the minced lard2–2.4 %Black pepper and garlic may be added[eu-tunka-2010]

Total time across the recorded steps: 30 days

Start
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Close-up: salt moving into a piece0–8 °CSalt 2.4–2.8 %

What changes: Curing salt and spices move evenly into the meat

Step 1 of 5
Dry-cure the meat
Time
Not documented
Temperature
0–8 °C
Set
Salt
2.4–2.8 %
Set
Acidity
Not documented

Pepper, garlic, caraway and bay leaf may be added. Injecting brine is prohibited.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Prleška tünka is cured pork that is dry-heated and smoked, then laid in alternate layers with salted, minced, heat-treated back fat in a vessel called a tünka and matured there for at least 30 days. It is a boundary entry; the Slovenian ministry describes it as a preserved meat, a pasteurised meat product, and no source we found describes a microbial fermentation. Made in 5 steps over 30 days. The longest step, layer in the tünka and mature, takes at least 30 days (European Commission 2010) and runs at 4–12 °C (Društvo za promocijo in zaščito prleških dobr…). Salt is 2.4–2.8 % (European Commission 2010).

Key numbers
Main stepat least 30 daysSet[eu-tunka-2010][mkgp2021][mkgp-spec2010]Layer in the tünka and mature
Temperature4–12 °CSet[mkgp-spec2010]Layer in the tünka and mature
Salt2.4–2.8 %Set[eu-tunka-2010][mkgp-spec2010]Dry-cure the meat

What makes this one different

Prleška tünka keeps cooked, smoked meat under a seal of fat rather than drying raw meat. Its numbers are curing and storage limits, not a fermentation profile.

Related ferments

Safety

The specification caps storage at 12 °C in closed vessels or bags and requires packing in the area right after maturing to keep the product microbiologically safe. The meat is held under fat, and WHO says C. botulinum toxin forms in low-oxygen, lightly preserved foods, and that its spores can survive boiling for hours. So the 68 °C heating does not remove that risk, and the curing salt and cold storage must not be skipped.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Records from 1487 show that tünka has been known in Prlekija for several centuries. Farmers began making it mainly to preserve meat through the year; they salted and smoked it and sank it (in dialect, tünkali) into lard. The large wooden vessel in which the farmer matured the meat was called the tünka, and the name has survived. It was registered as an EU PGI in 2010 (Reg. (EU) No 886/2010).

Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
  1. [eu-tunka-2010] European Commission 2010, Publication of an application, summary 'Prleška tünka' PGI (SI-PGI-0005-0533-24.03.2006), Official Journal C 34, 11.2.2010 (CELEX 52010XC0211(02)), English, Slovenian and German versions read via the EU Publications Office cellarspec
  2. [mkgp2021] Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food of Slovenia (MKGP) 2021, Protected Slovenian Agricultural Products and Foodstuffs, entry Prleška tünkagov
  3. [mkgp-spec2010] Društvo za promocijo in zaščito prleških dobrot / Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food of Slovenia 2010, Proizvodna specifikacija Prleška tünka (321-155/01/61), 20.12.2010 (production specification, read in Slovenian)spec
  4. [eu-reg-886-2010] Commission Regulation (EU) No 886/2010 of 7 October 2010 entering a name in the register of protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications [Prleška tünka (PGI)], Official Journal L 265, 8.10.2010 (CELEX 32010R0886)spec
  5. [who-botulism] World Health Organization, Botulism, fact sheetgov