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A Thousand Year Old Race in the Istrian Woods
Project Objectives Of the 50,000 head counted before the Second World War, this breed has been reduced to near extinction: today only 200 exist in Istria. To save this genetic throwback, the use of the Boscarin Ox as a meat animal must be developed. The meat is flavorful, healthy, and substantial. But clearly the development of a market would entail a redevelopment of stock and a fair price. This is the objective of the project, which has been created thanks to the help of the Tuscan Cooperation Program. To this end, the Presidium will work on a project initiated by the Istrian Regional Authority to provide economic assistance to interested breeders and to increase the herds of Boscarin Oxen. In a second phase, when the oxen population is no longer 'at risk', the development of a gastronomic niche will become the priority. The giant Istrian Ox, called the Boscarin in local dialect, is part of the extensive family of Podolican steers. The Bos taurus macroceros, which once populated the steppes of Easter Europe and Asia, is the grandfather of all the steppe cattle and the ancestor of the Istrian Ox. Podolican steer are named for Podolia, the granite-rich highlands of the Ukraine. The Istrian Ox is recognizable as an ancient breed simply by its massive size and great physical presence. The animal can easily weigh up to a metric ton. With their giant harp-shaped horns and white-gray mantles, these oxen are a majestic sight as they graze in the Croatian forests. The Istrian Ox is reared for milk, meat, and farm labor. This breed has been working the soil at least since Roman times and was one of the most important work animals of the Venetian Republic. During Venice's rule over the Adriatic, the city-state's government requisitioned some 20,000 oxen to tow oak logs from the high forests to port, where they were used to make thousands of war ships. The long train of oxen that pulled the logs from the forests down to Venice was called the carrettada, and the road on which they traveled linked the town of Montona with distant Portole in the San Marco woods. At the time, the Venetian government mandated that the tops of the oak trees destined for shipbuilding be tied to the ground to make them grow in a bow hape. These enormous curved trunks were difficult to transport - their arched shape made them impossible to float them down the river - and sturdy animal traction was the only way to move them. The incredible strength of the area's white oxen was essential to Venetian shipbuilding and made the breed an asset to any small farm until the advent of the tractor. Today, fewer and fewer Boscarin bulls are castrated—a necessary step to develop its full musculature - and the market for draft animals has all but disappeared. A market for ox meat has yet to emerge and breeders prefer to sell the young animals, earning some quick money instead of investing in the years needed to raise a mature animal. Update - February 16, 2007: Giant Istrian Ox Presentation On February 16 the first phase of a project dedicated to the ‘Permanent protection of the Istrian Ox through commercial exploitation within the Istrian rural development system’ was presented. The project is promoted by the Istria Regional Authority and AZZRI, the Istria Rural Development Agency, in collaboration with the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Zagreb, the Istrian Ox Breeders’ Association and the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity. After following a training course on livestock slaughtering and meat cutting techniques at the Associazione La Granda, the association of Piedmontese ox breeders, in Italy, the Giant Istrian Ox breeders butchered animals of different categories and, working with the Istrian Culinary Union, identified the best methods for maturing and using their meat in traditional local dishes. The results of this work and a ‘farm-to-plate’ meat traceability system were presented to the public at the Štefanić farm, which rounded off the occasion by serving a rich tasting menu of dishes made with Istrian ox-meat. Sources:
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This page compliments of Marisa Ciceran Created:
Thursday, March 24, 2005; Last updated:
Sunday, March 25, 2007
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