Description: The Linguiça do Baixo Alentejo PGI is a smoked sausage made from 70%-80% meat and 20-30% fat of the Alentejana breed of pig. The meat is seasoned with paprika, salt, dried, minced garlic, pepper, crushed cloves and the local white wine.
Production method: The pork meat and fat are cut into very small pieces and the water and seasoning are added. Once the ingredients have all been mixed together, the resulting paste is left to marinate for two days and then stuffed into pre-prepared pork intestines which have been conserved in brine. Lastly the sausages are smoked, usually for two or three days over fires made with well dried wood from the oak tree.
Distinctive features: Linguiça do Baixo Alentejo PGI is one of the many meat based products traditionally made in the Alentejo region, the so-called salsicheria tradicional, because of the long established tradition of pig breeding, the propitious local micro-climate and the traditional skills of sausage making of the local people.
Production area: Linguiça do Baixo Alentejo PGI is made in the municipal areas of Aljustrel, Beja, Castro Verde, Ferreira do Alentejo, Mértola, Moura, Serpa and Vidigueira, in the Beja and Faro districts.
History: The history of Linguiça do Baixo Alentejo PGI is closely linked to the traditional consumption of pork in the Alentejo region, first noted in the megalithic remains found in this area, dating back to the Bronze Age, and which continued under Celtic domination. Its popularity grew under the Romans who also discovered the benefit of the acorn as the principal ingredient for pig feed. The Arab domination did not affect the consumption of pork even though banned by the Koran. With the first explorations to the east and the opening up of the spice route, the consumption of pork increased yet again with the addition of newly discovered spices.
Producer group
ANCPA - Associação Nacional de Criadores de Porco Alentejano
Publication in EU official journal
Regulamento (CE) n.º 510/2006 do Conselho de 7.6.2006 - C 132/36
Regulamento (CE) n.º 148/2007 da Comissão de 15.02.2007 - L 46/14