By Mary O'Brien
A family from the Istrian Peninsula finds a ready market for their traditional smallgoods.
NOT FAR FROM DAYLESFORD, IN a little place called Musk (population 177), the Christmas rush is under way at the cluster of ramshackle buildings that make up Istra Smallgoods. Run by the Jurcan family, Istra produces its smallgoods from Western Plains pigs bred free-range near Ballarat, and the business can be credited with putting quality prosciutto, salami and ham on the menus of many of Melbourne's best cafes.
The Jurcans are working around the clock as festive orders flood in from customers seeking a luscious European-style ham: slightly smoky, mildly garlicky, dense. The lead-up to Christmas is peak time for the small crew at Istra. Bernie Jurcan says they can produce as many as 1500 hams on the bone and 300 boneless hams during this period.
Jurcan, 30, runs Istra, having taken over from his parents, Lidia and Livio, about five years ago. Of course, that doesn't mean he's totally on his own. Lidia still "drops in", working four days a week and often cooking lunch, while the sociable Livio likes to help out in the shop at weekends.
"Dad's always around for some quality assurance," Jurcan says.
The Istra story began when Lidia and Livio left Croatia in 1974 to work in Melbourne for a few years. They ended up staying, had a family and moved to Musk, an area that reminded them of their homeland, the Istrian Peninsula in northern Croatia, near the Italian border.
The Jurcans always reared pigs, whether living in Croatia, Sunshine or Musk, and every winter they would make their own hams and sausages to centuries-old Croatian traditions.
The smallgoods were so tasty that friends, including Alla Wolf-Tasker of Lake House, urged them to start selling to others. So what started in 1997 as something on the side for the couple, then aged in their late-40s, soon became their main business.
Istra now employs five locals (with a couple extra for the seasonal rush), moving from processing six to eight pigs a week (about 600 kilograms) to six to eight tonnes a week at this time of year.
"The salamis they make specific to the Istrian method are really interesting," Wolf-Tasker says. "The particular spice blends that they use in, for example, their spicy salami, or their fennel and pork sausages, are beautiful.
"To have small-scale, artisan family-based production means that the people who are involved are there right from the get-go through to the end. It's that personal touch."
When Istra opened, it was mainly European families who sought out their smallgoods. Now, several of Melbourne's top delis stock their products and cafes such as Dench, Three Bags Full and St Ali use their bacon, chorizo and prosciutto in their dishes.
At St Ali in South Melbourne, chef Chris Hamburger whips through 100 kilograms of Istra bacon a week. "Istra tastes like bacon should taste,'' he says. ''It's got just enough cure, not too salty, it doesn't have too much water retention or shrinkage and it's got a nice smokiness and cuts really well."
Ham on the bone is salted and cooked and tastes like old-fashioned ham from your childhood, with a clean, mildly salted, slightly smoky taste and dense texture. It isn't shot with nitrates or puffed up with brine. "We like to slow-age our products," Bernie Jurcan says. "We don't try to speed up the process."
Prosciutto on the bone is aged for 18 to 24 months while the boneless variety hangs for nine to 12 months. It's smeared with lard and spices, then air-dried in one of the many cool rooms on the property. Their jamon is drier than the Spanish variety while the chorizo is flavoured with 13 ingredients (including three types of paprika) and walks the line between smoky and sweet.
Jurcan does not advertise, spruik his products or even employ a sales rep. Business is all word of mouth - friends telling friends, and aficionados seeking them out.
It's a long way from Croatia to Musk, but Istra Smallgoods helps bridge the gap.
*Istra Smallgoods is at 36 Wheelers Hill Road, Musk. It is taking Christmas orders until early December (or until sold out). Prices from $13.50/kg (ham on the bone) to $30.95/kg (boneless prosciutto). Call 5348 3382 or order through Annie's Provedore, Barwon Heads; Bossy Boots, Brighton; Dench Bakers, Fitzroy North; the Green Grocer, Fitzroy North; the Olive Pit, Ocean Grove; and Toscano's, Toorak, Kew and Richmond.