Episode 183
Dobar dan, prijatelji!
Je smo gladni? Are we hungry?
I hope you are, because we’ve got another recipe lesson for you.
We’ll learn how to make a delicious Cabbage salad in Croatian! Yummy!
Lesson
Cabbage Salad - kupus salata
Today I’m preparing cabbage salad. - Danas pripremam salatu od kupusa.
Vrijeme pripreme - petnaest minuta
Portions - porcije 4-6
Sastojci:
One small head of cabbage - jedna manja glavica kupusa
Sol i papar, maslinovo ulje, vinski ili balzamični ocat
Clean off the outer leaves - očistite od vanjskih listova
Cut in half - prepolovite
Cut into thin strips - narežite na tanke trakice
Add salt, mix well with your hands. - Dodajte sol, dobro promiješajte rukama.
Let it sit for half an hour. - Ostavite da ostoji pola sata.
Squeeze out excess liquid. - Ocijedite višak tekućine.
Add olive oil and balsamic vinegar. - Dodajte maslinovo ulje i balzamični ocat.
Season with pepper and mix well. - Začinite paprom i dobro promiješajte.
Super Slatko Report
There are places that produce lamb, and then there is Pag. Pag sits in the northern Adriatic, stretched along Croatia’s Dalmatian coast opposite the Velebit Mountains. It covers about 285 square kilometers, (110 square miles), but its long and skinny shape gives it an impressive 269 kilometers of coastline (167 miles). Among its nearest substantial island neighbors are Vir, roughly 1.2 kilometers away (three quarters of a mile), Rab, about 5.4 kilometers away (3.4 miles) and Olib, roughly 11.4 kilometers in the distance (7.1 miles). There are also tiny islands and islets much closer, including Maun; just off Pag’s western shore. Pag itself is famously stark: pale limestone, low vegetation, dry stone walls and wide open terrain that can look less like a Mediterranean island and more like an Adriatic moon scape. Even with a description like that, somehow, out of this rather unforgiving scenery comes one of Croatia’s greatest delicacies: Paška janjetina, Pag lamb.
So why does this rocky island make such remarkable lamb? I’ve got 5 reasons for you.
Number one: the bura, the fierce, cold wind that comes racing down from the Velebit Mountains.
Number two: sea salt, because that wind picks up Adriatic spray and deposits salt across Pag’s soil and vegetation, a phenomenon called posolica.
Number three: the plants — sparse Mediterranean grasses and aromatic herbs, most famously sage.
Number four: the terrain and climate, with rocky karst pastures, strong sun and a mild Mediterranean climate allowing sheep to spend enormous amounts of time outdoors.
And number five: the mother’s milk. This is the sneaky important one. The lambs themselves are primarily milk fed, while their mothers, Ewes, are the ones eating Pag’s salty, aromatic vegetation. Págs environment therefore reaches the lamb through the ewe’s unusually rich milk.
Although this combo sounds hard to replicate, this recipe of; wind, salt, herbs and free grazing occur elsewhere in the Adriatic: on Cres, Krk and other coastal sheep regions that produce excellent lamb as well. Pag doesn’t have a secret recipe patent on “salty sheep.” What Pag does have is its own particular combination of breed, vegetation, geography and husbandry; so specific that the European Union protects Paška janjetina by name.
Sheep raising on Pag is traditionally the work of local family farms, not some giant industrial lamb complex. One study of Pag Lamb producers found an average flock is around 58 sheep, while other research describes flocks ranging from fewer than 50 ewes to more than 100. Sheep have been raised on Pag for centuries, but systematic development of the modern Pag sheep is generally traced back to the late nineteenth century, particularly the formation of the Uzor stado breeding association in 1870, when local sheep were selectively improved using imported breeds. The modern system remains intertwined with another famous Pag product: Paški sir, Pag cheese. Once lambs finish their short suckling period, the ewe’s milk becomes available for cheesemaking, meaning lamb and cheese are essentially two chapters of the same agricultural story. And there are now some serious guardrails around the tradition. Paška janjetina received EU Protected Designation of Origin status in 2016, known as PDO, meaning meat carrying the protected name must meet an official specification concerning origin, breed and production. Modern genetic programs are also monitoring the Pag sheep population because maintaining this relatively small native breed matters to the future of both the lamb and the cheese.
Which brings us to the star of the show. Pag lamb comes from the Paška ovca, or Pag sheep, a native Croatian breed descended from the island’s old Pramenka type and shaped over generations through selective breeding, including historical influence from Negretti, Bergamo and other Italian sheep. These are not huge animals. An adult Pag ewe averages around 30 kilograms (66 pounds) and stands roughly two feet at the shoulder. They are compact, generally white, sturdy and extremely well adapted to Pag’s rocky landscape. They are genetically and physically distinct enough to be recognized as their own native breed, although to the untrained eye they still look reassuringly like sheep. The lambs are obviously even smaller. Authentic Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) Pag lamb comes from very young, suckling animals, traditionally sent to slaughter at around 45 days old, generally weighing 5 to 9 kilograms (11 to 20 pounds). During that time they remain with their mothers and feed overwhelmingly on milk rather than being fattened on grain like many commercial lambs. Farm sizes vary enormously, but family scale operations remain central to the tradition. It is a very different system from picturing hundreds of identical lambs lined up in an industrial barn.
Now for the most important question: why do people make such a fuss about Pag Lamb? Three reasons rise above the rest.
First is tenderness: because the animal is so young, the meat is exceptionally soft and fine textured.
Second is flavor: Pag lamb is known for being juicy, mildly aromatic and less aggressively “gamey” than older lamb or mutton.
Third is scarcity and provenance: you are eating meat from one protected breed, raised in one tightly defined island environment using a centuries old production system.
Add all that up and you reach to delicacy status. Delicacy means a food considered especially desirable because of its quality, distinctive flavor, rarity or careful production. And that’s Pag Lamb to the letter. Side by side with conventional supermarket lamb, Pag lamb tends to be smaller, paler pink, more delicate, fattier within the muscle despite appearing lean, and subtler in aroma. In case you’re wondering, in Croatia 2026, ordinary lamb in butcher shops has been running above €20 per kilogram ($23/lb.), while genuine Pag lamb has been reported around €28 per kilogram ($32.75/lb.). Restaurant prices climb substantially higher once someone adds fire, potatoes, a tablecloth and the privilege of not washing the dishes.
So if you finally get your hands on Pag lamb, how should you eat it? Fortunately, the traditional answer is basically: do as little as possible and try not to ruin it. The first and perhaps definitive preparation is:
Janjetina s ražnja, spit roasted lamb, slowly turning over an open fire until the skin becomes crisp and golden while the meat stays juicy inside; traditionally, salt may be almost all it needs.
Then there is janjetina ispod peke, lamb cooked beneath a heavy metal bell covered with hot embers, which we know as peka. Pag lamb usually sits alongside potatoes, allowing everything to slowly roast in its own juices.
Another favorite is oven roasted Pag lamb, it’s wonderfully simple in preparation where olive oil, salt and perhaps a small amount of rosemary or other Mediterranean herbs let the meat remain the main attraction.
What about boiled lamb, or janjetina na lešo, which sounds almost suspiciously plain until you realize that the gentle cooking puts the delicate meat and its broth completely on display.
Lastly try lamb stew, including regional vegetables such as peas or artichokes, the meat’s richness becomes the backbone of the dish.
In my research, it was a land slide; the 2 most popular ways to cook Pag Lamb was by Spit roasting and peka. These options showcase the lamb because they add smoke, heat and texture without overpowering the mild, slightly sweet, subtly herbal notes that made the lamb so famous in the first place.
So, is Pag lamb worth it? On paper, it certainly makes a persuasive argument. You have a native sheep breed shaped over generations to survive one very specific island where they freely graze in rocky pastures seasoned naturally by sage. There is even an EU Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) making sure that something sold as Paška janjetina actually deserves the name. The result is meat prized not for being enormous, heavily marbled or aggressively seasoned, but almost for the opposite reasons: it is small, young, tender, juicy, mildly aromatic, subtly sweet and remarkably delicate. Is it worth trying? If all that effort is being expressed, Absolutely; why not live a little and see what all the fuss is all about. And if you do get the chance to try it, don’t forget to tell us all about it.
And that’s it for the Super Slatko Report.
