It is uncooked ham, tasty but not salty, with strong notes of wood smoke. Maturation process takes a minimum of six months to a year and a half, being a period that is seen by many as an ideal.
We are at two steps from Dalmatia, another area with good prosciutto; however, it would be wrong to associate these products just because of their geographical proximity. Different waters, different winds, and different wood mark the beautiful hams from western Herzegovina. These are the waters of the river Trebižat – the bright, impetuous, karst tributary of Neretva. These are the bora and sirocco, which meet and collide, while blowing only in this area. This is the smoke from hornbeam and beech – the trees growing at high altitudes in the nearby mountains. Another air, then, gives it a special feature: there is neither moisture, nor dew in the morning, nor frost and snow in winter.
Pigs in this area are free grazing; they eat potatoes from Vodice, pomegranates and figs from Počitelj, and wheat, rye, barley and corn grinded in the Čapljina mills. The herbs used to season the ham along with salt, pepper and garlic are part of the lavish assortment of plants that also make the main ingredients of the famous Herzegovina honey