Description
Chouriça de Carne de Vinhais PGI is a traditional smoked sausage made from pork from the Bísaro breed of pig, seasoned with red or white local wine, salt, garlic, sweet paprika and bay leaves.
Production Area
Chouriça de Carne de Vinhais PGI is made in the municipal areas of Alfândega da Fé, Bragança, Carrazede de Ansiães, Macedo de Cavaleiros, Mirandela, Torre de Moncorvo, Vila Flôr and Vinhais, in the Vila Real and Bragança districts.
Production Method
The pig is slaughtered when it is between 9 and 18 months old and has reached a minimum weight of 100 kg. The meat is cut into small cubes of about 3 cm, then the seasoning is added and it is left to marinate for four days. It is then generously stuffed into natural intestine casings and smoked over oak and chestnut wood fires. The smoking process lasts at least 35 days.
Appearance and Flavour
Chouriça de Carne de Vinhais PGI is in a horse shoe shape, between 30 cm and 35 cm long, and 2 cm to 3 cm in diameter. It is semi-rigid and dark red in colour. When sliced it has a coarse appearance and is bright red and white in colour.
History
The attention given to the making of this sausage, which already begins with the type of feed given to the Bísaro pigs, has become a real art over the years for the population of this region, who have, annually since 1981, celebrated the making of the Chouriça de Carne de Vinhais PGI sausage and other similar local products with a great festival called the Feira de Fumeiro.
Gastronomy
Chouriça de Carne de Vinhais PGI must be stored in the cold to maintain it at its best and prevent it degrading. Traditionally it is cooked in water, cut in half, peeled and eaten while still hot. There are other recipes in which it is roast or used as an ingredient in soups or bean dishes.
Marketing
This sausage is sold as Chouriça de Carne de Vinhais PGI, prepacked at source, whole or in pieces.
Distinctive Features
The meat used in the preparation of Chouriça de Carne de Vinhais PGI has a distinctive flavour deriving from the chestnuts from the woods of the region, on which the Bísaro pigs are mostly fed.
