Kulen

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Kulen is a type of flavoured sausage made of minced pork that is traditionally produced in Vojvodina and Slavonia. The meat is low-fat, rather brittle and thick, and the flavor is rather spicy. The red paprika gives it aroma and colour, and other spices used are black pepper and garlic.

The meat is stuffed and pressed into bags made of swine intestine, generally the colon (because it is wider), and made into pieces that are usually around ten centimeters in diameter, and up to three times as long, weighing around a kilogram.

The pieces of kulen are smoked for several months with only certain types of wood. After the smoking they are air-dried for several months. This process can last up to a year.

When the kulen meat is stuffed into the smaller intestine, it is narrower and requires less smoking and drying, but it also gets done quicker. This type of sausage is often referred to as kulenova seka (literally kulen's little sister).

Kulen is occasionally produced commercially, but it has not yet become a major product due to the lengthy and somewhat complicated production process. However, it is economically feasible, given that on a Zagreb market, even a low-grade kulen can cost around 30 euros per kilogram, which is much more expensive than other types of sausages and comparable to smoked ham.

The traditional time of producing kulen is during the svinjokolja, the slaughtering of pigs, done every autumn by most if not all rural Slavonian households. The kulen matures during the coming winter and can be eaten even then (undried, and has a pretty hot taste) and is edible in the summer, remaining edible for up to two years.

Kulen finished during the winter is not as tight as the one finished during the summer, but some people prefer this kind of kulen, due to the fact that it is very spicy.

In parts of Slavonia kulen is called kulin due to ikavian speech.