Research dossier

The history of Pag cheese

A documented chronology of Pag cheese, from nineteenth-century records to EU PDO registration in 2019.

The short answer

The earliest written reference identified in the PDO dossier to sheep’s-cheese production on Pag dates to 1831. The dossier places production of Paški sir in its recognisable modern form around 1870 and records a family-farm production method in 1912.

The official PDO dossier supplies a careful documentary spine for the history, while producer records add separate institutional and family chronologies.

1831, 1870 and 1912

The PDO single document cites the Nuovo dizionario geografico universale, printed in Venice in 1831, as the first mention of sheep’s-cheese production on Pag. It says Paški sir as known today is considered to have begun around 1870. Ljudevit Tejkal recorded the family-farm method in Sirarstvo u Dalmaciji in 1912.

Sources: 1

Recognition and protection

Nikola Zdanovski wrote about the association between Pag sheep and Paški sir in 1947. The producer association later submitted the application for protection; the European Commission registered Paški sir as a PDO through Regulation (EU) 2019/1940 in November 2019.

Sources: 1, 2

Sources

Source trail

Paški sir — EU single documentEUR-Lex · accessed 24 August 2026
ZOI Paški sir — registeredCroatian Ministry of Agriculture · accessed 24 August 2026

Page last verified: 24 August 2026