Ternera Gallega

Appearance & taste

Meat of the “Suprema” category is pale pink to red, the fat pearly white to slightly yellow and creamy in texture; the muscle is fine-grained and firm. With “Ternera Gallega” the meat is pink to light red, the fat pearly white and evenly distributed, the fibres likewise fine and firm. “Añojo”, the meat of young cattle, is light to deep red, with pearly white, slightly yellowish fat, firm and lean. According to the specification, the meat of the older animals has a more intense colour, a firmer consistency and a stronger taste.

Every carcass, every cut and every piece is given a label at every stage, whose colour shows the category. The meat is sold at the earliest on the day after slaughter. If it is frozen, it loses the protection, unless it is intended for export to countries outside the EU.

Production

The permitted breeds are Rubia Gallega and Morenas Gallegas, their crosses with each other and with the beef breeds Asturiana de los Valles, Limousin and Blonde d’Aquitaine, and crosses of bulls of these breeds with dairy cows of the Holstein and Brown Swiss breeds. “Suprema” calves are kept with their mothers, suckled for at least seven months and slaughtered before the age of ten months. Animals of the “Ternera Gallega” category are weaned, fed green fodder and approved concentrates and slaughtered before twelve months, “Añojo” at 12 to 18 months.

On traditional farms the milk of the suckler cows is the basis, supplemented by cereals, especially maize, and potatoes, beets, green fodder and feedstuffs; fattening farms feed green fodder and feedstuffs. The feed must be plant-based and consist of raw materials customary in Galician livestock farming. Cereals predominate, with at least 60 % pure grains or 65 % grains and cereal products. Products that can affect the growth and development of the animals, such as by-products of carcass processing, are prohibited. Birth, rearing, fattening, slaughter and cutting take place in Galicia, and all the businesses involved are registered with the control body.

Origin & history

Galicia is a gentle landscape of hills crossed by many rivers. The rainy, mild Atlantic climate provides plenty of green fodder, and agriculture is strongly geared to livestock farming. It was based on family farms, where knowledge of rearing, feeding and keeping the animals was passed down from generation to generation. The Rubia Gallega breed was originally used as a draught animal and for milk and meat production, but above all as a beef breed. Traditionally, animals in Galicia are slaughtered at less than ten months; many calves are mainly suckled by their mothers.

According to the specification, the originally small, primitive cattle became sturdier with the introduction of potatoes and maize from America. In the 18th century they gained importance through meat exports to England, which continued until the beginning of the 20th century. After that and well into the 1960s, Galicia supplied half of Spain with beef; according to the specification, cattle farming is still the most important agricultural activity for the rural areas there.