Description: Painho de Portalegre PGI is a smoked sausage made with fresh meat and solid fat from Alentejana breed, cut in pieces exceeding 2 cm, added with crushed dried garlic sweet pepper and pepper paste. The casing is of pork’s natural dried tripe.
Production method: The meat and fat are cut in slices of more than 2 cm, mixed with the rest of the ingredients and left to marinate for two or three days at a temperature of less than 10 °C at 80% to 90% humidity. The resulting mixture is stuffed into pork intestine casings which have been previously treated with water and vinegar. Lastly the sausages are smoked for between 10 to 30 days.
Distinctive features: The characteristic flavour of Painho de Portalegre PGI is largely due to the utilization of meat and fat from Alentejo pure bred pigs with an acorn-rich diet.
Production area: Painho de Portalegre PGI is made in the Portalegre district.
History: Painho de Portalegre PGI is part of a wide range of traditional sausage from the Portalegre region, developed throughout the centuries in order to cope with the concentration of pork supply in a short period of the year, and taking advantage of an enabling micro climate influenced by the Serra de São Mamede and from the know-how of the local population. This led to the development of local traditional techniques of pork processing and conservation by processes of salting and drying.
Product specification (pdf)
Producer group
Natur-al-Carnes, Agrupamento de Produtores Pecuários do Norte Alentejo, S. A.
Control and certification body
Publication in EU official journal
Regulamento (CE) n.º 1875/97 da Comissão de 26.09.1997 - L 265/26
JOCE C24 de 24.1.1997 – publicação do período de oposição
Publication in the Portuguese official journal
Rectificação n.º 2940/2000 – 30.11.2000
Aviso n.º 7820/2000 – 06.05.2000