En Spain there is the paradoxical situation of having one of the most powerful gastronomy and food industry in the world. But despite this, the culture and knowledge of the general population in this field is quite limited. That is why today we present you pedigree meats.
It is no less true that little by little more people awaken their side more good gourmet food. This is how they enjoy food, appreciating and distinguishing qualities and forms of preparation. To this last have contributed the successful TV cooking programs that televisions emit. While with regard to knowing and valuing the properties and characteristics of meats with a seal of excellence, steps are being taken.
All this following –saving distances- the wake of the world of wine, with their designations of origin, harvests and vintages.
Pedigree meats from Spain
If you wonder on the street about the reference meats in the Iberian Peninsula, the map of them would be organized in the following way. Broadly speaking, respondents would comment that the steaks and entrecots better eat them from Basque Country or Galicia. Then, to a lesser extent, of Cantabria.
Or that the roast lamb and suckling pig they are masterfully roasted in Castilla y Leon. And this simplification would be an unfair portrait of the efforts made to promote quality products in many regions and counties of Spain. Are those pedigree meats that go more unnoticed.
The products agricultural and food quality are protected by the European Union. Based on two figures: the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) and Protected Geographical Indication (PGI). Both function as certificates of the specific characteristics of a product. Also of the geography of the production area.
But there are small nuances that differentiate both figures. This is how it appears in the Regulation (EC) 510/2006, of March 20, 2006, on the protection of geographical indications and appellations of origin of agricultural and food products.
PDO and PGI regulations
That standard defines a DOP as the name of a region, of a specific place or, in exceptional cases, of a country. This serves to designate an agricultural product or a food product that meets the following premises:
- Originally from said region, from said specific place or from said country.
- Whose quality or characteristics are mainly or exclusively due to the geographical environment with its natural and human factors.
- Whose production, transformation and elaboration are carried out in the defined geographical area.
La Protected Geographical Indication (PGI), for its part, shares with the DOP the fact that they have a geographical name (region, region or place). Also that applies to agricultural or food product that comes from that area. And then, that there is a link between the specific characteristics of the product and the geographical environment of the area.
However, the difference is that in a product with PDO, production, transformation and processing take place in the same area. Instead, in a product with PGI it is not mandatory that all phases take place in the same area.
From this new section of Great Products we will analyze the particularities of quality meats. Those that can be enjoyed throughout Spain. All with the aim of creating a new meat culture where the quality to the amount.
You can eat healthy meat.
David ruipérez, journalist. Author of the book The happy carnivore.
