Pag curd (skuta) - Gastronomy - The Tourist board of the Kolan (Mandre, Kolan, Kolanjski Gajac) - Pag, Croatia

Since the milk of the Pag lamb is too rich in milk fat, after the cheese is made, the whey which is left is heated, with moderate mixing, until it boils. While it is boiling, the whey releases another cheese which we on Pag call SKUTA (curd). It is soft and creamy and is eaten as a spread or filling in cakes and pancakes. The whey with the curd left in it was used as a drink while the whey without curd was given to the pigs which in turn gave special Pag prosciutto, another specialty of the island of Pag.

The woman of Pag made butter by beating curd in which she added water. It was beaten for a long time and in the end, the finest butter to be spread on bread would swim to the top. When it would be cooked, it would become butter for cakes, a spice for cornmeal or rice and other Kolan recipes.

As final proof of the richness of the Pag lamb milk, we will also mention this: at the end of the process, from the buttermilk which was left over after the butter was separated, cooking it would separate another curd called «skutina» which, through a special process, would be processed into soap for washing cloths.