Kulen

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (March 2008)

Kulen is a type of flavoured sausage made of minced pork that is traditionally produced in Croatian Region - Slavonija. 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 spice used is garlic. The original kulen recipe does not contain any black peppers, its hot flavor comes from hot red paprika.

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. Although similar to other air-dried procedures, the meat is not only air-dried but rather fermented as well. High-grade Kulen is sometimes even covered with thin layer of mold, giving it distinct aroma.

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 slaughter of pigs in Croatia done every autumn by most if not all rural households. Kulen matures during following winter, when can be eaten (although not fully dried and cured yet, with very hot taste) but full taste characteristics reaches in the following summer. Kulen is a shelf-stable meat product, sustaining shelf life up to two years when kept at refrigeration (or even room) temperatures.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Kulen"

Kulen finished during the winter is not as solid as the one finished during the summer, but some people prefer this kind of kulen, because it is very spicy.

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

[edit] References

This article does not cite any references or sources. (January 2007) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.