Publication of the amended product specification following the approval of a minor amendment pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 53(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012

(2020/C 108/07)

The European Commission has approved this minor amendment in accordance with the third subparagraph of Article 6(2) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 664/2014 (1).

The application for approval of this minor amendment can be consulted in the Commission’s eAmbrosia database.

PRODUCT SPECIFICATION OF A TRADITIONAL SPECIALITY GUARANTEED

‘ЛУКАНКА ПАНАГЮРСКА’ (LUKANKA PANAGYURSKA)

EU No: TSG-BG-01099-AM01 – 23.7.2019

‘Bulgaria’

1. Name(s) to be registered

‘Луканка Панагюрска’ (Lukanka Panagyurska)

2. Type of product

Class 1.2. Meat products (cooked, salted, smoked, etc.)

3. Grounds for registration

3.1. Whether the product

☒ results from a mode of production, processing or composition corresponding to traditional practice for that product or foodstuff

☐ is produced from raw materials or ingredients that are those traditionally used.

The product was registered under Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 835/2014

3.2. Whether the name

☒ has been traditionally used to refer to the specific product

☐ identifies the traditional character or specific character of the product

The name ‘Луканка Панагюрска’ (Lukanka Panagyurska) is specific in itself. It is derived from the city of Panagyurishte, where the product was first made. ‘Lukanka Panagyurska’ is a very popular sausage widely known under this name. For this reason it is produced all year round under strict adherence to the traditional recipe and production methods, without its quality and characteristics being influenced by seasonal or geographical variations. Right up to the present day, this has remained the practice in the production of ‘Lukanka Panagyurska’.

The name ‘lukanka’ originated in the 19th century. In his article ‘Kak be sazdadena bulgarskata lukanka’ (‘How the Bulgarian lukanka sausage was created’, Hranitelna promishlenost, issue 1, 1975, Sofia, page 40) Marin Marinov describes how the name ‘lukanka’ was originally linked to meat products that had onion as an ingredient (the root of the name ‘lukanka’ is ‘luk’, the Bulgarian word for onion). Onions have since disappeared from the recipe, but the name ‘lukanka’ has been consecrated by use. In 1958 the recipe and quality standards for ‘Lukanka Panagyurska’ sausage were laid down in Bulgarian State Standard 2589-58 and have not been changed since.

4. Description

4.1. Description of the product to which the name under point 1 applies, including its main physical, chemical, microbiological or organoleptic characteristics showing the product’s specific character (Article 7(2) of this Regulation)

‘Lukanka Panagyurska’ sausage is a pressed, raw-cured meat product prepared from fresh-cut beef (which may be replaced by fresh buffalo meat) and fresh pork, additives and natural seasoning, stuffed into a natural or artificial casing with a diameter (φ) of 50-80 mm, adhering tightly to the filling. If stuffed into an artificial casing, the ‘Lukanka Panagyurska’ is a straight sausage tied with twine or closed with clips at both ends. If stuffed into a natural casing it is slightly curved and tied with twine at both ends. Natural casing can be made of bovine large intestine or ovine caecum. The cut surface is evenly structured and homogeneous, shows no gaps, is red to brownish red in colour, and dotted with regularly spaced bits of fat 2 to 4 mm in diameter and white to faintly pink in colour. The product has a dense elastic consistency. Typical is the moderately salty taste and the distinct aroma of its seasoning.

‘Lukanka Panagyurska’ sausage is suitable for direct consumption after removal of the casing.

‘Lukanka Panagyurska’ sausage has the following physico-chemical properties:

— maximum water content: 40 % by mass,

— maximum fat content: 42 % by mass,

— minimum protein content: 28 % of dry matter (using the Kjeldahl method),

— maximum salt content: 4,6 % by mass,

— minimum pH: 5,2.

‘Lukanka Panagyurska’ sausage may be marketed whole, in pieces or sliced, vacuum-packed or in modified-atmosphere packaging.

4.2. Description of the production method of the product to which the name under point 1 applies that the producers must follow including, where appropriate, the nature and characteristics of the raw materials or ingredients used, and the method by which the product is prepared (Article 7(2) of this Regulation)

The recipe for 100 kg of ‘Lukanka Panagyurska’ sausage filling is as follows:

Meat: — Fresh beef (may be replaced with fresh buffalo meat), up to 10 % fat (unsorted): 60 kg — Fresh pork, up to 5 % fat (lean pork): 20 kg — Fresh pork, up to 50 % fat (pork belly): 20 kg

Seasoning: — Black or white pepper, without additives: 300 g — Cumin, without additives: 300 g

Other ingredients: — Sugar: 300 g — Salt: 2,3 kg — Preservative: potassium nitrate: 100 g, or sodium nitrate: 85 g — (Note: 100 g potassium nitrate may be replaced with 85 g sodium nitrate.) — Antioxidant: ascorbic acid (E300): 50 g

The use of starter cultures is allowed.

Casing: natural (made from salted bovine large intestine or ovine caecum) or artificial, diameter (φ): 50–80 mm.

Twine or clips and suspension hooks.

Production method:

‘Lukanka Panagyurska’ sausage is made from fresh beef (which may be replaced by fresh buffalo meat) and fresh pork with a pH of 5,6 to 6,2. After the bones and sinews have been removed and the pork and beef (or buffalo meat) have been sorted by type and quality, the meat is chopped by hand or machine. The chopped beef (or buffalo meat) and pork are then weighed in the quantities called for by the recipe and ground in one of the following three ways:

— by grinding in a meat grinder (mincer) and blending in a cutter machine,

— by grinding in a meat grinder (mincer) and blending in a mixer,

— by grinding and blending in a cutter machine.

During the grinding process all seasoning and salting ingredients are added in the amounts called for by the recipe (salt, potassium or sodium nitrate, sugar, ascorbic acid, and seasoning, consisting of black or white pepper without additives, cumin without additives, and starter cultures).

The resulting sausage mixture is then stuffed by machine into a casing made of bovine large intestine or ovine caecum or into an artificial casing. The casing is tied with twine or closed with clips at both ends. Once stuffed, the ‘Lukanka Panagyurska’ sausages are suspended from wooden or metal frames (rods) arranged on sausage trolleys. For two to six days the ‘Lukanka Panagyurska’ sausages are dried and drained at an air temperature of 8 to 24 °C and 65 to 90 % relative humidity, then moved to the drying room. The sausages are dried at a maximum air temperature of 17 °C and 70 to 85 % relative humidity in natural or air-conditioned drying rooms. During drying and maturing, the sausages are pressed two to three times using flat wooden presses. The sausages are kept in the presses for 12–24 hours. The production supervisor determines by sight when the sausages are ready for pressing. The sausages are first placed in the press when the lower end and the surface are fully dry to the touch and bits of grease are bulging slightly under the casing. Subsequent pressing takes place as the production supervisor sees fit. The mechanical pressure slightly raises the temperature of the product. Combined with the condensed moisture this enables a layer of white noble mould to form on the surface. The presses must be manufactured according to certain traditional standards. Apart from being resistant to physical stress, they must be able to absorb the moisture that is released. For this reason they are made of wood, a natural material that can be sanitised and dried.

The production process for ‘Lukanka Panagyurska’ sausage takes at least 20 days and is complete when the product has taken on its characteristic structure and consistency.

4.3. Description of the key elements establishing the product’s traditional character (Article 7(2) of this Regulation)

Specific character of the product:

‘Lukanka Panagyurska’ sausage has the following specific properties:

— Distinctive appearance: the exterior surface is covered in dry white noble mould, which is a sign that the sausage has been properly matured and dried.

— Flattened shape of the sausages, which is the result of pressing. The shape of this product is distinct from other cylindrically or parallelepiped-shaped raw-cured cut meat products.

— Characteristic aroma and flavour: lightly salted, with elements of the seasoning clearly expressed. The specific taste and aroma of the meat, enriched with the aroma of cumin in combination with black or white pepper set ‘Lukanka Panagyurska’ sausage apart from similar products in this category, which are seasoned with garlic, cardamom, allspice and nutmeg.

— The cut surface, which is specific in that it has an elliptic cross-section, while other dry cured products have round or rectangular cross-sections. ‘Lukanka Panagyurska’ sausage has a characteristic brownish-red to red colour, which it owes to its combination of beef (or buffalo meat) and pork, as opposed to the pinkish red found in similar products made of pure pork.

Traditional character of the product:

The traditional character of the product consists of its composition, which has never changed, the methods used for its production and the aroma and flavour, which have been kept over the years.

The traditional character of the recipe is determined by the basic meat ingredients and the seasoning mixture.

The composition and the quality requirements for ‘Lukanka Panagyurska’ sausage have remained unchanged for over 30 years. The composition per 100 kg of sausage filling (60 kg beef or buffalo meat, 20 kg lean pork, 20 kg pork belly, 300 g black or white pepper without additives, 300 g cumin without additives) was laid down in 1983 by Technical Standard 37-83, approved by the National Agro-Industrial Union (NAPS) under BDS 2589-83 (basic standard).

To ensure the quality of the end product it is essential that the quality standards for the ingredients be observed. In the journal Hranitelna promishlenost, issue 8/9 of 1964, the authors G. Gerginov, production manager, and Kr. Dimov, division manager, explain: ‘Beef fat (with the exception of kidney fat) improves the quality of sudzhuk and lukanka sausages, requiring unsorted meat as is the case for “Lukanka Panagyurska” sausage, and gives the sausages their specific pleasant taste. Meat from sows or boars is not allowed ...’ (Marin Marinov, Proizvodstvo i plasment na mesni produkti (Production and distribution of meat products), Sofia, 1963, page 110).

The traditional drying and pressing methods have also been kept. These are essential aspects of the ‘Lukanka Panagyurska’ sausage production process. According to Stefan Danchev in his 1972 dissertation Tehnologichno prouchvane na mehaniziran sposob za presovane i sushene na trayni mesni produkti (Study of mechanised pressing and drying techniques for meat products with a long shelf life), ‘pressing also affects maturing and drying, which are crucial to the quality of the finished product’.

According to Traditsionni Bulgarski Retsepturi i Tehnologii (Traditional Bulgarian Recipes and Preparation Methods) published by the Asotsiatsia na mesoprerabotvatelite v Bulgaria (Bulgarian Meat Processors Association), Sofia, 2002, ‘on day five, when the lukanka sausages have started to dry and bits of fat are beginning to bulge slightly under the casing, it is time to put them under the press. They are pressed twice or three times, depending on the size of the sausage’ (page 17).

(1) OJ L 179, 19.6.2014, p. 17.