Ternasco de Aragón

Appearance & taste

The carcass weighs 8.0 to 13.0 kg and has a straight to slightly convex profile with rounded edges. The external fat is white and firm. The white internal fat covers at least half of the kidney, but never all of it. The meat is light pink, tender, juicy and soft, with fat deposits between the muscles.

Both halves of each carcass are stamped in ink with the initials “TA” at regular intervals on the shoulder, rib and leg. For sale, the meat carries a label with the PGI logo, which is attached at the slaughterhouse or by the registered distribution company and may not be reused. The offal of these lambs is also covered by the name.

Production

Ternasco comes from male and female lambs of the breeds Rasa Aragonesa, Ojinegra de Teruel, Roya Bilbilitana, Maellana and Ansotana. The lambs are fed indoors on their mothers’ milk; in addition they may be given straw and feed at will. They are weaned as soon as they can eat solid food on their own. They are born and reared in Aragon.

According to the specification, these breeds are early maturing: their lambs put on a lot of fat even at a low weight. In the Rasa Aragonesa, carcasses of 10.74 kg on average contain about 25 % fat, in the Roya Bilbilitana about 26.6 % at 10.6 kg; similar values have been shown for Ojinegra de Teruel, Maellana and Ansotana, the last two being earlier forms of the Rasa Aragonesa.

Origin & history

Aragon has a Mediterranean climate with continental influences: temperate, dry and windy in the central plain, where the annual average is 14 to 15 °C, colder and wetter in the Pyrenees and the Iberian System. According to the specification, only sheep can cope on the sparse pastures, whose growth varies with the seasons; this is how significant sheep farming developed in Aragon.

“Ternasco” has always been the usual name in Aragon for the most common type of slaughter lamb in the region. In Aragonese usage, “ternasco” and “ternasca” mean tender and young. According to the specification, Ternasco has long been known outside the region for its origin and quality.