Alheira de Mirandela

Appearance & taste

The sausage is horseshoe-shaped with a round cross-section, about 20 to 25 cm long and 2 to 3 cm thick, and weighs 150 to 200 g. Its colour is yellowish brown in various shades. The casing of salted beef intestine fits closely without wrinkles and is tied at the ends with cotton string. Inside, the filling is fine and grainy, with clearly visible chopped pieces of meat.

It smells slightly of smoke and tastes slightly smoky and spicy, of very fruity olive oil and with a savoury note of garlic. It contains more than 14 % protein and less than 18 % fat. The label bears the name with the addition “PGI” and the logo of Alheira de Mirandela.

Production

The pork comes from Bísaro pigs or crosses with at least 50 % Bísaro blood; the whole carcass except the offal is used. In addition there is chicken, also without offal, and optionally game meat from ducks, partridges, rabbits, hares or pheasants. At least 60 % of the sausage is meat, of which 45 to 50 % is poultry and 10 to 15 % pork.

The seasoned meat is boiled in water. The typical regional wheat bread is soaked in the rich stock: a round loaf of about 1.5 kg made from type 55 wheat flour, baked for a long time and with no or very little raising agent; it is usually stored for at least 48 hours before use. The meat is shredded by hand and stirred into a mixture with the bread, olive oil, pork lard, salt, garlic and sweet and hot paprika. The oil is Azeite de Trás-os-Montes PDO or an olive oil with comparable characteristics. The mixture is packed firmly into beef casings and smoked slowly for about eight days over a low fire of oak and olive wood. All steps from cutting the bread to smoking take place in the municipality of Mirandela.

Origin & history

In the municipality of Mirandela the summers are warm and dry and the winters harsh. Typical trees of the area are oaks and olive trees; their wood is used for smoking the sausage, the olives for making olive oil. According to the specification, the wood becomes very dry and firm in the dry summers, which is decisive for the slightly smoky aftertaste. Generations of bakers from Trás-os-Montes have preserved the recipe for the wheat bread.

The local press has described Alheira de Mirandela as an artisanal local speciality since at least 1957. In 1960 the newspaper “Notícias de Mirandela” complained that other places were misusing the name for similar sausages and called for a register of local and regional names. According to the specification, the sausage is today the most important speciality of the cuisine in the municipality of Mirandela.