Vodnjan’s pork shoulder 'špaleta' – star dish of the rich traditional Easter table in Vodnjan

It is time to get back to travelling, getting to know and exploring new destinations or else – time for the long-awaited reunion with the landscapes and the people we have already discovered and fell in love with.
Each Easter, with spring in full swing, sunny weather and festive days of rest invite you to Vodnjan. To facilitate your travel decision, we are here to present the traditional gastronomic wealth of Vodnjan’s Easter tables, whisper a few recipes into your ear and tell you the ultimate reason to be in Vodnjan on Easter Monday.
The Stancija Buršić family-owned estate in Vodnjan is the venue of the event called Vodnjanska špaleta (Vodnjan’s pork shoulder) where you can taste the widely known and much appreciated Istrian cured meat delicacy – špaleta giravolta.
PORK SHOULDER ŠPALETA GIRAVOLTA – REASON TO VISIT STANCIJA BURŠIĆ IN VODNJAN
Dark emerald green from mould and pepper on the outside, the very first notch of knife uncovers the true red ruby špaleta colour, even more pronounced in contrast with the white streaks of fat. It gets its name from the part of pork shoulder called špaleta which is placed in salt, covered with black pepper and transferred from the attic to the basement after three months of drying in the cold bura wind. It differs from Istrian prosciutto in that it is dried with skin on. Špaleta entered the tradition as a treasured ingredient of the Easter menu of Vodnjan’s families. Owing to the Stancija Buršić family restaurant and the Prosciutto Curing Facility, the tradition has been carefully preserved for the inhabitants of Vodnjan and their guests to be able to enjoy špaleta giravolta especially on Easter Monday. Špaleta is cut semi-dry, with a knife, a bit thicker than prosciutto, turned on warm olive oil and drizzled with Istrian Malvasia or Teran.
FASTING MEALS – A MANDATORY GOOD FRIDAY TRADITION
During the Holy Week, enticing aromas of dishes prepared with care and love have been coming from Vodnjan’s kitchens for centuries. Old cookbooks are consulted, a clatter of cutlery and crockery is heard, and the first, fasting meals usually involving fish and vegetables are served on Good Friday. Vodnjan’s traditional Good Friday menu typically includes codfish with posutice (traditional square shaped Istrian pasta).
Codfish With Posutice Recipe
Ingredients for posutice: 400 g flour, 2 eggs, 20 g salt, water as needed, a little flour for sprinkling
Method: Sift flour, put it in a bowl, make a hollow in the middle and add eggs, salt and water. Knead your dough until it is smooth, wrap it in foil and refrigerate for half an hour. Divide it into ball shapes and roll each ball thin. Cut the rolled-out dough into squares in the desired size. Cook the pasta in boiling salted water for a few minutes, drain and serve with codfish.
BREAKFAST WITH EASTER BLESSING BRIMMING WITH COLOURS AND SCENTS
After the blessing of food comes the first Easter meal – brunch or Easter breakfast. After fasting, a mere glance of the carefully laid table full of colours will certainly awaken your appetite. Green, white and yellow – spring onions, eggs and ombolo (air cured pork loin), homemade bread and frittata with wild asparagus bringing the scents of Vodnjan’s fields prepare the taste buds for the event awaited all year – the opening of špaleta, the star dish of Vodnjan’s Easter gastro tradition.
Asparagus Frittata Recipe
Ingredients: 8 eggs, 400 g asparagus, 150 g spring onions, 0.5 dl extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper, a tablespoon of milk
Method: Break the asparagus into small pieces. Sauté chopped spring onions on olive oil until golden brown. Add the asparagus, a pinch of salt and pepper, and fry until they are tender. Pour in beaten eggs and mix well. When the eggs are cooked, remove the frittata from heat and serve hot.
TRADITIONAL ISTRIAN SPECIALTY FOR SOLEMN EASTER LUNCH
Easter lunch is the most solemn part of the festive menu. As custom dictates, it is a meal that gathers the family after the return from Easter mass, a celebration of the power of life and faith that also coincides with gathering strength for works in nature after the end of winter. The rich and abundant Easter lunch features all traditional Istrian specialities: fuži pasta, pljukanci pasta with šugo (beef stew), asparagus, špaleta, polenta, roast lamb and radicchio salad.
Pljukanci Pasta With Šugo Meat Stew Recipe
Ingredients for pljukanci: 300 g sharp flour, 300 g smooth flour, 10 g salt, lukewarm water as needed
Method: Combine all the ingredients, knead them into smooth dough and refrigerate for two hours wrapped in thin foil. Pinch small pieces of dough and roll them between the palms previously dusted with flour to get the characteristic spindle-shaped pljukanci pasta. Drop the pljukanci into boiling water, cook until they float to the surface and drain.
Ingredients for šugo (beef stew): 500 g beef, 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 2 onions, 2-3 cloves of garlic, salt and pepper, tomato or tomato paste, a bay leaf, a sprig of rosemary, a few sage leaves, chopped parsley, a glass of wine, water
Method: Sauté thinly sliced onions on olive oil. Cut the meat into small pieces and add it to the onion. Cook on low heat. When the juices coming out of the meat evaporate, add a tablespoon of flour, stir, add the fresh tomato chopped into larger chunks (or tomato paste). Add water, salt and pepper, aromatic herbs and minced garlic. Towards the end of cooking, add wine, cover and let simmer a bit more.
BRAIDED EGG BREAD JAJARICA AND SWEET PINCA BREAD – THE SWEET TASTE OF EASTER IN VODNJAN
Easter in Vodnjan without sweet flavours is virtually unthinkable and therefore there is a local tradition of making a few very simple desserts. The best-known Easter dessert is the sweet pinca bread whose fragrant softness melts in the mouth. Just before Easter, the Vodnjan housewives used to bake it under the baking lid or in the bread oven, often decorating it with a cross carved on the upper surface. The same sweet dough was used to make jajarice – the specifically shaped sweet bread for children made by braiding dough strips with a thicker end into which an egg is set.
Braided Egg Bread Jajarica
Ingredients: 1 kg flour, 200 g sugar, 8 eggs, 200 g butter, 10-15 g yeast, orange and lemon zest, vanilla, rum, milk, a pinch of salt
Method: In a large bowl, melt half of the sugar with a glass of warm milk, half of the yeast, a handful of flour and two whole eggs. Mix everything and let the dough rise for around one hour. Add two more eggs and a handful of flour. Let it rise for approximately one more hour. Separately prepare the sabayon with four egg yolks and the remaining sugar; beat the egg whites separately into stiff peaks.
Put the remaining flour on the pastry board; pour melted butter in the middle, add the other half of yeast dissolved in warm milk, orange and lemon zest, vanilla and the leavened mixture with the sabayon. Give it a good stir. If the dough is hard and difficult to work with, add beaten egg whites. Divide the dough into four parts and take one fourth off each part, rolling the rest into a spindle shape with tapering ends. Shape it so that the ends are next to each other and set a well-washed egg into the thick part. Roll the previously separated part of the dough into a roll, weave it into a braid with the part of the dough containing the egg. Brush with beaten egg and bake in the oven for one hour at 180°C.
A HEARTY DINNER ENDING THE TRADITIONAL EASTER FEAST
Although the Easter feast certainly ended with a feeling of satiety and well-being owing to a variety of traditional tastes, there is always a little room for a plate of hearty chicken soup. Despite the fact that it used to be prepared with the most modest chicken or rooster parts, its taste helped nurture pregnant women, the sick and the elderly, and it was also an indispensable part of wedding menus. After the soup, dinner is complete with a few fragrant lamb chops or a piece of roasted lamb, and to top off Vodnjan’s Easter menu, you can slowly enjoy the remaining pieces of Easter pinca cake, so that its taste may linger on for as long as possible.
Chicken Soup Recipe
Ingredients: 400 g chicken meat, 200 g carrots, a celery stick, an onion, fresh tomato (or tomato paste), salt, grated cheese
Method: Put the meat, the onion, the carrot and a bit of celery into the pot with cold water, adding a tablespoon of tomato paste or an entire tomato. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and cook.