Salsichão de Barrancos

Description: Filled with about 30 to 40 cm in length and 6 to 8 cm in diameter. It is prepared with selected meat, mixed with the following condiments: salt, peppercorns, ground white pepper and wine. The meat and fats are chopped very finely, with the sausage, at the cut, having a marbled appearance in which the meat and fat are practically the same size. The meat comes from Alentejo pigs, obligatorily castrated while still in piglet, slaughtered between 12 and 16 months, with a carcass weight of about 120 kg. The food is based on acorns (montanheira feeding).

Region: Alentejo.

Special feature: Cylindrical filling, manually tied at both ends. Its curing process does not include smoking.

History: The sausage shop in Barrancos dates from the foundation of the village, around 1750 (however, in a document in the National Archive of Torre do Tombo, dated 1532, it says: «the village of Noudar belongs to the Master of Aviz and has a village called Barrancos»). Initially it was done in the village of Noudar, where there was a military fortress (whose ruins are still visited today). With its decline, Barrancos grew due to a better geographical situation, which allowed for greater commercial exchange with Spain. In addition, the relative isolation and the wealth of agriculture and livestock justify a certain individualization that translates into ancestral habits. Analysing the spices involved in its manufacture, we can consider this sausage as also exclusive to Barrancos.

Use: Once cured, it is consumed raw.

Know-how: It is made with selected minced meat with knives that allow the traditional cut. The meats are then seasoned with the following products: salt, peppercorns, ground white pepper and wine. It is allowed to ferment for 24 hours in vats. The tripe is pork and fresh and was previously washed, turned and seasoned with orange slices. After filling, they are hung and displayed in rooms suitable for this purpose where they are subjected to a natural curing process, in which there is no smoke. The microclimate conditions existing in this region have always allowed this type of curing.

Source: Produtos Tradicionais Portugueses, Lisboa, DGDR, 2001