Description
The Chouriça Doce de Vinhais PGI is a sausage made with meat from the pure bred or cross bred Bísaro (which must be at least 50% Bísaro) with the local bread, Trás-os-Montes olive oil, pig's blood, honey and walnuts or almonds.
Production Area
Chouriça Doce de Vinhais PGI is made in the municipal areas of Alfândega da Fé, Bragança, Carrazeda de Ansiães, Freixo de Espada à Cinta, Macedo de Cavaleiros, Miranda do Douro, Mirandela, Mogadouro, Torre de Moncorvo, Vila Flor, Vimioso and Vinhais, in the Bragança district.
Production Method
The meat is chopped and cooked in salted water. Once it is cooked the bread is finely sliced and added to the stock produced by the meat to make a paste. To the meat is then added the olive oil, pig's blood, honey and almonds or walnuts. The resulting mixture is stuffed into a fine beef or pork gut skin and smoked over a slow burning oak or chestnut wood fire. The sausage is left to cure or stabilise for at least 15 days.
Appearance and Flavour
Chouriça Doce de Vinhais PGI is 20 to 25 cm long, in a horse shoe shape, has a diameter of 2 cm to 3 cm and weighs approximately 150 gr. It is black in colour, has a textured appearance and the pieces of meat and the nuts can be clearly seen. It has a very distinctive, slightly sweet taste given by the honey.
History
Chouriça Doce de Vinhais PGI is closely linked to the importance of pig breeding in this area as demonstrated by the number of statues and sculptures representing the animal all over the region.
Gastronomy
Chouriça Doce de Vinhais PGI must be stored in a fridge to maintain its unique flavour and taste. It is usually eaten hot, cooked in water, cut in half and skinned. Because of its sweet taste and the nuts used in its making, it is often eaten as a dessert with honey and nuts.
Marketing
This sausage is sold as Chouriça Doce de Vinhais PGI in whole pieces and prepacked either in climate controlled conditions or vacuum packed.
Distinctive Features
The climatic conditions of the area, the patrimony of expertise of the local population in rearing pigs and the particular high quality of their feed, as well as the particular method of smoking these sausages over a slow burning wood fire make Chouriça Doce de Vinhais PGI a unique product of its kind.
