Description: Sangueira de Barroso-Montalegre PGI is a horseshoe-shaped smoked sausage, with a diameter of approximately 3 cm, made from meat, fat and blood of pure or cross bred Bísaro pigs and wheat bread, seasoned with salt, garlic, wine, chilli and/or red bell pepper, parsley, onion and olive oil. It is black in colour and has a rough exterior. Its interior consists in a soft and dry paste in which small pieces of meat are visible.
Production method: The pig blood is drained, mixed with water, seasoned with salt and garlic and left to rest. The wheat bread is cut into thin slices. The fatty cuts of meat are cut into small pieces, seasoned with salt, wine and garlic and left to marinate for up to 3 days in a cool room with low humidity. Bread and blood are added to the meat mixture, which is then seasoned with pepper powder, chopped parsley, chopped onion and olive oil. This mixture is then stuffed into a casing bent and tied into a horseshoe shape. The sausage is smoked over a low fire (mainly from oak wood) for 3 to 4 days. Sangueira de Barroso-Montalegre PGI is placed on the market as a pre-packed whole sausage.
Distinctive features: The production of Sangueira de Barroso-Montalegre PGI depends greatly from the region's cold and dry climate, which forces every household to keep a fire burning at all times, thus providing unique conditions for smoking characterised due to a light and gradual smoke supply.
Production area: The geographical area for meat and fat production encompasses the municipalities of Boticas, Chaves and Montalegre (area traditionally known as ‘Barroso’), in the Vila Real district. The geographical area for processing and packing encompasses the municipality of Montalegre.
History: Due to the geographic isolation of the Barroso region, the local diet, constituted mainly of bread, potatoes and pork, became essentially limited to the local production. The countless references to the taxation of pigs and pork products in various municipal registers, including that of Montalegre, demonstrate the antiquity and the importance of these activities in this region. Sangueira de Barroso—Montalegre PGI is an example of the preservation techniques locally developed and passed down from one generation to the next in order to assure pork meat availability throughout the year.
Product specification (pdf)
Producer group
Associação dos Produtores de Fumeiro da Terra Fria Barrosã
Control and certification body
Kiwa Sativa – Unipessoal, Lda.
Control plan
Control plan (pdf)
Publication in EU official journal
Regulamento (CE) n.º 148/2007 da Comissão de 15 02.2007
Publicação do pedido de registo (2005/C 334/10), de 30.12.2005
Publication in the Portuguese official journal
Aviso n.º 7854/2001, de 8 de junho