Pag is known for Paški sir, a cheese that has been produced from sheep milk for hundreds of years. The winds that blow hard over the hills of the island carry with them a strong content of salt from the ocean. The salt gets deposited on the fields, making them look like they got a dusting of snow. There’s only one hardy breed of sheep that has adapted to and survived the salty diet of shrubs and grass, and that is the small Paska Ovca.
Gligora Dairy till makes the Paški sir, and also a good number of other interesting cheeses. The tour of the Dairy is focused and educational, and best of all, everybody works up quite the appetite being surrounded by hundreds if not thousands of deliciously smelly rounds of cheese. We got to taste many of them after the tour, from fresh samples to aged–it was a really neat experience, to taste Pag’s ‘terroir’ in the cheeses.
They have a huge tasting room, and I bet buses stop there and drop off loads of scrambling tourists, so you may want to call ahead to find out the quieter times to visit.
If you’re in picnic mode–they have a great store there, too.
>>>Warm thanks to Alan Mandić from Secret Dalmatia, for organizing a truly memorable, and off the beaten path trip for our curious and insatiable group of travelers, and to the Art Hotel Kalelarga for perfect accommodations in Zadar.
