Chouriço de Abóbora de Barroso-Montalegre

Appearance & taste

The sausage is cylindrical, about 6 cm thick and wrinkled. Its colour ranges from orange to dark brown with spots. A single cotton thread joins the two ends, which are closed with simple knots, so that it has the shape of a horseshoe. The filling is soft and dry, with small pieces of meat mixed in.

Because its composition means it cannot be sliced, it is sold only whole, always packed at the place of origin. The label bears “Chouriço de abóbora de Barroso — Montalegre — protected geographical indication”, the Community logo, the logo of the products of Barroso-Montalegre and a numbered certification mark through which each sausage can be traced back to the farm.

Production

The meat and fat come from pigs of the Bísaro breed or from crosses with at least 50 % Bísaro blood, kept on semi-extensive farms. Fatty meat in small pieces is used, mixed with meat from the shoulder and ham, occasionally also with lung. It is seasoned with salt, garlic and red or white wine from the region and rests for up to five days at below 10 °C and low humidity. Then hot paprika (“Pimento”) and/or sweet paprika (“Pimentão”) is added.

The pumpkins are halved and cleaned, the flesh is scraped out with a knife and wrapped in a cloth for two days so that the excess water drains off. This pumpkin pulp is added to the meat in a proportion of about 20 %. The mixture is filled into pig large intestine; the sausages are tied off with cotton thread, cut and closed into a horseshoe. They are smoked for about thirty days over a low fire in a smoking chamber or a traditional smokehouse; the smoke comes from wood from the region, mainly oak.

Origin & history

The pigs come from the municipalities of Boticas, Chaves and Montalegre in the district of Vila Real, an area known as Barroso. Processing takes place only in the municipality of Montalegre.

Because of the climate, the location and, according to the specification, the difficult connections with the rest of the country, the people of Barroso lived mainly on bread, potatoes and pork they produced themselves. Preserving pork became an old art passed on from generation to generation. In the cold, dry climate the hearth fire burned constantly in every house, and its weak, gradually acting smoke offered good conditions for smoking. Thus the traditional pig slaughter gave rise to sausages in many shapes, compositions, colours and flavours.