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Meat from Slovenia

Šebreljski želodec PGIŠebreljski želodec

Šebreljski želodec is a flat, dried pork sausage from the Idrija and Cerkno hills of western Slovenia. Minced pork and hard bacon with salt, garlic, pepper and sugar fill a pig's bladder or a beef rectum, which is drained and pressed, cold-smoked for up to two days and then dried at 10–15 °C for three to five months. No nitrite or nitrate is used.

Fully documentedMeat3.4 months – 5.4 months

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceProportions from the PGI specification summary, as shares of the filling. Nitrates, nitrites and other additives are not allowed.
Pork from the thigh, shoulder, neck and back75–80 % of the fillingMinced into 8–10 mm pieces; from pigs of at least 115 kg live weight[eu-sebrelje-2011]
Hard bacon from the thigh, shoulder and back20–25 % of the fillingCut into 6–8 mm pieces[eu-sebrelje-2011]
Sea salt2.4–2.5 %[eu-sebrelje-2011]
Garlicabout 1 %[eu-sebrelje-2011]
Pepper0.1–0.35 %[eu-sebrelje-2011]
Sugar0.5 % of the filling weight[eu-sebrelje-2011]
Starteroptional in a home recipe adapted from the PGI product, which adds a T-SPX starter culture

Total time across the recorded steps: 3.4 months – 5.4 months

Start
Drag the bar or press Play

What changes: Pork is minced and hard bacon is cut into small cubes

Step 1 of 6
Mince the meat and cut the bacon
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
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

Šebreljski želodec is a flat, dried pork sausage from the Idrija and Cerkno hills of western Slovenia. Minced pork and hard bacon with salt, garlic, pepper and sugar fill a pig's bladder or a beef rectum, which is drained and pressed, cold-smoked for up to two days and then dried at 10–15 °C for three to five months. No nitrite or nitrate is used. Made in 6 steps over 3.4 months – 5.4 months. The longest step, dry and mature, takes 3–5 months (European Commission 2011) and runs at 10–15 °C (European Commission 2011). Salt is 2.4–2.5 % (European Commission 2011).

Key numbers
Main step3–5 monthsSet[eu-sebrelje-2011]Dry and mature
Temperature10–15 °CSet[eu-sebrelje-2011]Dry and mature
Salt2.4–2.5 %Set[eu-sebrelje-2011]Season with salt, garlic, pepper and sugar

What makes this one different

Šebreljski želodec is pressed flat and cold-smoked before its long drying, and it is made with no nitrite or nitrate. Zgornjesavinjski želodec, from the Upper Savinja valley, is not smoked and is covered with a grey-brown Penicillium mould.

Related ferments

Safety

The specification allows no nitrites, nitrates or other additives. It sets salt at 2.4–2.5 %, cold smoking for up to two days, and drying at 10–15 °C and 60–80 % relative humidity for three to five months (at least 100 days in an air-conditioned room). Nitrite protects against food poisoning, so this raw pork sausage has one barrier fewer. These figures describe a controlled make, not a home method. Washington State University Extension does not recommend making dry sausage at home, because S. aureus toxin can form if fermentation is not rigidly controlled. The US CDC says curing, drying or smoking alone does not reliably kill Trichinella worms.

History and sources

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

Few written records exist; a survey of older people in the area confirmed the long tradition. Slovenia's rulebook on the geographical indication was issued on 5 December 2003 and published in Uradni list RS 124/2003. The name was entered in the EU register as a PGI by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1155/2011 of 10 November 2011.

Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
  1. [wsu-sausage] Washington State University Extension, Homemade Meat, Poultry, and Game Sausages (EB1661)gov
  2. [cdc-trichinellosis] US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Preventing Trichinellosisgov
  3. [eu-sebrelje-2011] European Commission 2011, Publication of an application, Šebreljski želodec PGI (SI-PGI-0005-0415-29.10.2004), summary, Official Journal C 45, 12.2.2011 (CELEX 52011XC0212(04)), read via the EU Publications Office cellarspec
  4. [mas-sebrelje] Meats and Sausages, Šebreljski želodec (stuffed pork stomach), home recipe adapted from the PGI productweb
  5. [eu-reg-1155-2011] Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1155/2011 of 10 November 2011 entering a name in the register of protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications (Šebreljski želodec (PGI)), Official Journal L 296, 15.11.2011, p. 16, read via the EU Publications Office cellarspec
  6. [si-pravilnik-2003] Ministrstvo za kmetijstvo, gozdarstvo in prehrano 2003, Pravilnik o geografski označbi Šebreljski želodec (Rulebook on the geographical indication Šebreljski želodec), Uradni list RS 124/2003, 12 December 2003, item 5315gov