Description: The Chouriça de Sangue de Melgaço PGI is a smoked sausage, obtained from bloody pigmeat trimmings, pork fat and blood. It is a horseshoe-shaped sausage, with a diameter of 2 to 4 cm and a length of between 20 cm and 35 cm. It has a fairly smooth black outside colour and is moderately moist on the surface. An oblique cut reveals a well-bound filling, paté-like in appearance, in which the meat and fat is irregularly distributed, conferring a range of colours according to the proportion and type of raw material used.
Production method: The raw materials used in the production Chouriça de Sangue de Melgaço PGI come from Bísaro pigs (pure or crossbread), slaughtered with a minimum live weight of 110 kg and at a minimum age of 32 weeks. The bloody pigmeat trimmings and fat are cut into small pieces (2 to 3 cm), mixed with blood (to which red wine and salt were joined in order not to clot) and seasoned with onion, garlic, salt, bay leaves and pepper, and eventually with cumin and sweet or hot paprika. This mixture, (locally known as ‘sorça’) is left to rest in a dry cool place (8 to 11ºC), and stirred twice a day. After this resting period (up to one week) the casing is filled (rye flour being eventually added at this time) and the sausage is smoked with burning dry wood from non-resinous species from the local flora (oak, broom, birch, etc.). After 10-15 days of smoking the sausages are left to cure in a dry cool place (locally known as ‘sequeiro’), thus preserving its characteristics.
Special features: Chouriça de Sangue de Melgaço PGI distinguishes itself from others sausages by the inclusion of pig blood, red wine and onion, conferring it a semi-soft consistency, a dark colour and an intense flavour.
Production area: The production area is restricted to the municipality of Melgaço.
History: For a long time Melgaço was a highly inaccessible enclave. Thanks to this isolation, pig husbandry traditions channeled the local people's skill and know-how into meat processing and preservation employing natural methods adapted to the environment. The production of this sausage in Melgaço results from the area's environmental and climatic conditions and the know-how passed down from generation to generation until the present day.
Product specification (pdf)
Producer group
Melgaço Rural – Associação de Produtores Locais
Control and certification body
Control plan
Control plan (pdf)
Publication in EU official journal
Regulamento de Execução (CE) n.º 2015/586 da Comissão – L98/4 – 26.03.2015
Publicação do pedido de registo (2014/C 422/04) – C422/4 – 25.11.2014
Publication in the Portuguese official journal
Despacho 14836/2012 – 20.11.2012
Aviso 4539/2014 – 03.04.2014