Cecina de León

Appearance & taste

On the outside the Cecina is brownish to greyish brown and slightly dark. When cut, the colour ranges from cherry red to purple; towards the end of ripening it becomes even more intense at the edges. Light marbling makes it juicy. The meat tastes slightly salty and is slightly fibrous; smoking during ripening gives it a typical smoky aroma. According to the specification, colour, marbling, juiciness and the pronounced smoky aroma distinguish Cecina de León from Cecina from other areas.

Each cut has a minimum weight when dried: the conical, laterally flattened topside 4 kg, the silverside with the eye of round 5 kg, the rectangular silverside without the eye of round 4 kg, the egg-shaped thick flank 3.5 kg and the triangular rump 3 kg. Cecina is sold whole, in portions or in vacuum-packed slices, always with a numbered label.

Production

The meat comes from adult cattle; where the animals come from is not prescribed. Five muscle cuts from the hindquarters are used. They are trimmed, salted, washed, rested, smoked if desired and dried. All these steps take place in the province of León. Production takes more than seven months; after at least twelve months the Cecina may be called “Reserva”.

Origin & history

The area is the province of León. The specification cites numerous sources: in 1513 Gabriel Alonso de Herrera deals with the curing of meat, including beef, in his treatise on agriculture. In the picaresque novel “La Pícara Justina” from the beginning of the 17th century, the heroine’s parents run an inn in Mansilla de las Mulas where beef Cecina is offered. According to the specification, Padre Isla names “Cecina de León” by this name for the first time in 1758 in “Fray Gerundio de Campazas”.

Between 1835 and 1839, according to the historical archive, the city of León consumed an annual average of 972 arrobas of Cecina (one arroba equals 11.502 kg). A dictionary of livestock farming from 1885 reports that cows and calves were sold at the fairs in León and Mansilla for making Cecina, and the muleteers of the Maragatería carried beef Cecina to other cities in Spain. Cecina was part of the provisions of transhumant shepherds, of the wedding meal in the Maragatería and of the funeral meal in parts of León. It has been listed in the Spanish inventory of traditional products since 1996.