Description
The Linguiça de Portalegre PGI is a smoked sausage made principally from pork meat (approximately 70%) and pork fat from the Alentejana breed of pig. The meat is seasoned with sweet paprika, pepper, salt, garlic and the local wine.
Production Area
Linguiça de Portalegre PGI is made in the Portalegre district.
Production Method
The meat and fat are cut into 1-2 cm pieces to which seasoning and water is added. After all the ingredients have been mixed together the mixture is left to marinate for two days at a temperature of less than 10°C at 80% to 90% humidity. The mixture is then stuffed into natural beef or pork intestine casing. The smoking process takes place over oak fires for approximately 10 days.
Appearance and Flavour
Linguiça de Portalege PGI is about 50 cm long, in the traditional horse shoe shape with a diameter of no more than 28 mm. The interior has a smooth, uniform marbled appearance. The taste is mildly salty and it has a lightly smoked aroma.
History
These delicious traditional sausages from the Portalegre area, which in the past were the staple diet of the local population, have become specialities today and are served in the best restaurants throughout the country. Already at the end of the 19th century the writer Bento da Maia, in his cookery book, described the excellent sausages of Portalegre and even mentioned the Linguiça de Portalegre PGI and the traditional method of making them which is still used today.
Gastronomy
Linguiça de Portalegre PGI must be stored at a temperature of between 5°C and 15°C. Sometimes it is bottled in local extra virgin olive oil. It can be eaten just as it is as a snack, a starter, or as an ingredient in traditional Portuguese dishes, especially those of the local area.
Marketing
This sausage is sold as Linguiça de Portalegre PGI. It is sold whole or sliced in prepacked vacuum packaging.
Distinctive Features
The high quality of Linguiça de Portalegre PGI is owed to the pork meat of the Alentejana breed of pig, raised in the land of the cork oak in Alentejo, together with traditional local seasonings and the carefully applied smoking process.
