Publication of an approved standard amendment to the product specification of a protected designation of origin or protected geographical indication in the agricultural products and foodstuffs sector, as referred to in Article 6b(2) and (3) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 664/2014

(2023/C 18/09)

This communication is published in accordance with Article 6b(5) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 664/2014 (1).

Communicating the approval of a standard amendment to the product specification of a protected designation of origin or protected geographical indication originating in a Member State (Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012)

‘Torta del Casar’

EU No: PDO-ES-0213-AM02 – 21.10.2022

PDO (X) PGI ( )

1. Name of product

‘Torta del Casar’

2. Member State to which the geographical area belongs

Spain

3. Member State authority communicating the standard amendment

Directorate-General for Crop and Livestock Farming, attached to the Regional Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development, Population and Territory of the Government of the Autonomous Community of Extremadura

4. Description of the approved amendment(s)

The ‘standard amendment’ affects only point 2 (Cheese dairies) of Section E of the product specification. It simply involves deleting the specific best-before date (210 days from the date of manufacture) under the heading ‘Dispatch’ in the aforementioned point on cheese dairies. Although this is only a slight change, the amendment request entails a small change to the corresponding single document; namely, in the last paragraph of point 3.6 (Specific rules concerning labelling of the product to which the registered name refers), the sentence relating to setting a best-before date of 210 days from the date of manufacture has also been deleted.

This is a change which can in no way be considered a Union amendment: it does not affect the protected name or a traditional speciality guaranteed, does not risk voiding the link and does not entail further restrictions on the marketing of the product (rather, it removes a restriction on the marketing of the product).

SINGLE DOCUMENT

‘Torta del Casar’

EU No: PDO-ES-0213-AM02 – 21.10.2022

PDO (X) PGI ( )

1. Name

‘Torta del Casar’

2. Member State or third country

Spain

3. Description of the agricultural product or foodstuff

3.1. Type of product

Class 1.3. Cheeses

3.2. Description of the product to which the name in (1) applies

‘Torta del Casar’ is a cheese made from the raw milk of ewes of the merino and entrefino breeds. It is coagulated with vegetable rennet made from the cardoon (Cynara cardunculus) and is matured for at least 60 days.

‘Torta del Casar’ must have the following physical, physico-chemical and organoleptic characteristics.

(a) Physical — Shape: cylindrical with quite flat faces, plano-convex sides and rounded edges. — Size: i. Diameter: at least 7 cm ii. Height: no more than 50 % of its diameter — Weight: there are three size ranges, with a maximum tolerance of 5 %: i. Large: 801–1 100 g ii. Medium-sized: 501–800 g iii. Small: 200–500 g

(b) Physico-chemical — Fat in dry matter: at least 50 % — Dry matter: at least 50 % — pH: between 5,20 and 5,90 — NaCl: no more than 3,0 %

(c) Organoleptic — Rind: semi-hard, defined and differentiated from the paste, of a uniform ochre colour, free from colourings and traditionally presented rubbed with oil. There may be small cracks in the surface.

3.3. Feed (for products of animal origin only) and raw materials (for processed products only)

Registered flocks of sheep must be fed in accordance with traditional practices, which make use of the natural resources of the geographical area through extensive or semi-extensive farming. Fodder, straw, compound feed and concentrates may be used as supplementary feed where necessary.

The maximum stocking density for semi-extensive farming is set at 1,8 livestock units per hectare (LU/ha). This ensures that supplementary feed sourced from outside the geographical area remains below the limit set by the applicable legislation.

In addition to the natural vegetation associated with extensive or semi-extensive farming, the geographical area also provides hay, straw, cereals or vetch grown from seed, which can be used for grazing or, after the harvest, as either green or dried fodder.

The supplementary feed is based principally around protein (soya, rapeseed > 50 %) and cereal (barley, maize, wheat > 25 %). The final mix given to the animals consists mainly of that basic feed (> 25 %), forage crops (alfalfa, vetch > 30 %), cereals (maize, barley > 20 %) and seeds (cotton, sunflower > 6 %).

It is not technically possible to obtain soya, rapeseed, sunflower, cotton or alfalfa in the geographical area.

The milk used to produce ‘Torta del Casar’ must be obtained from ewes of the merino and entrefino breeds.

In terms of its quality and composition, the milk used to produce ‘Torta del Casar’ must be suitable for cheese-making and must, in any event:

— be raw, whole, non-standardised, clean and free of impurities;

— have a fat plus protein content of at least 11,0 % and a protein content of at least 4,8 %;

— have a pH of between 6,6 and 6,9.

3.4. Specific steps in production that must take place in the identified geographical area

The geographical area covered by the ‘Torta del Casar’ PDO lies in the province of Cáceres, which forms part of the Autonomous Community of Extremadura (Spain), and is defined in point 4 of this document. The production steps that must take place in this area are:

— milk production, as set out in point 3.3;

— cheese-making, including coagulation, cutting, moulding, pressing, salting and maturing.

3.5. Specific rules concerning slicing, grating, packaging, etc.

The cheeses may be dispatched in half- or quarter-sized portions. There is a free choice of packaging as long as it preserves the integrity and final quality of the product.

3.6. Specific rules concerning labelling of the product to which the registered name refers

The whole or cut cheeses must be labelled within the geographical area by certified operators so as to guarantee the origin and authenticity of the product. As stated in section 3.2(c) of this document, ‘Torta del Casar’ is a cheese with a semi-hard rind, which is why it is not permitted to affix removable identifiers, such as casein labels, to the rind to ensure traceability. Consequently, all there is to guarantee the authenticity and origin of the product is the certification label, which carries a printed batch number and unique serial number and must be placed on each cheese by the operators before dispatch to allow this to be carried out under the control of the Regulatory Council and without compromising traceability. It therefore does not constitute a restriction on the single market.

The final labelling must consist of the commercial label of the cheese dairy and the certification label, which must be placed inseparably and indelibly on every certified whole or cut cheese, with ultimate responsibility for its correct use being borne by the registered operator.

The final labelling must also display the batch number, the best-before date and all other particulars specified in the relevant legislation.

PDO ‘Torta del Casar’ logo:

4. Concise definition of the geographical area

The geographical area in which the milk is produced and ‘Torta del Casar’ is made is located in the districts of Los Llanos de Cáceres, Sierra de Fuentes and Montánchez, in the south-central part of the province of Cáceres, which forms part of the Autonomous Community of Extremadura (Spain).

The area covers approximately400 000 ha and comprises the following municipalities:

Albalá, Alcuéscar, Aldea del Cano, Aliseda, Almoharín, Arroyo de la Luz, Arroyomolinos, Benquerencia, Botija, Brozas, Cáceres, Casar de Cáceres, Casas de Don Antonio, Garrovillas,

Herreruela, Hinojal, La Cumbre, Malpartida de Cáceres, Monroy, Montánchez, Navas del Madroño, Plasenzuela, Ruanes, Salvatierra de Santiago, Santa Ana, Santa Marta de Magasca, Santiago del Campo, Sierra de Fuentes, Talaván, Torremocha, Torreorgaz, Torrequemada, Torre de Santa María, Valdefuentes, Valdemorales, Zarza de Montánchez.

5. Link with the geographical area

5.1. Specificity of the geographical area

(a) Natural factors

— Relief: the production area lies to the north of the Sierra de San Pedro and is bounded by the province of Badajoz, the rivers Magasca and Almonte to the east and the Tagus to the north. The steppe-like plain of the geographical area is broken by the Sierra de Fuentes, running north-west to south-east, with altitudes of between 250 m and 450 m.

— Soils: the soils are sand, sandy loam or clay, not very fertile and rather thin, and are formed by the decomposition of the granite subsoil. There are numerous rocky outcrops, forming what are known as berrocales or barruecos, of which there is a well-known example in Malpartida de Cáceres. There are few places suitable for growing crops and most of the area is used to graze sheep.

— Climate: the area has a continental climate with long, hot summers and short, mild winters. The annual average temperature is between 15 °C and 18 °C, but temperatures can climb to over 40 °C in summer. Rainfall, which ranges between 300 ml and 500 ml, is irregular and occurs mostly in spring and autumn.

— Hydrography: in addition to the aforementioned watercourses that form the perimeter of the area, there are others, such as the Salor and Ayuela, which are tributaries of the Tagus, and the Guadiloba, a tributary of the Almonte.

— Flora and natural grasslands: the flora consists mainly of herbaceous plants, with Gramineae (gen. Poa, Festuca and Agrostis), Leguminosae (gen. Medicago and Trifolium) and Compositae, species which are highly nutritious but slow-growing. There are also some shrubs, such as Genista and spiny broom, particularly in high-altitude areas, and trees of the genus Quercus (holm oak, kermes oak, cork oak).

(b) Historical and economic factors

Since time immemorial, transhumance and grazing have been practised in the geographical area of the ‘Torta del Casar’ PDO, as defined in point 4 of this document. These are activities that are closely interconnected and deeply rooted in the districts that make up the geographical area, as the natural factors described above obliged the peoples that settled there to make the most of the available resources in order to sustain their economies.

The scarcity of natural resources in the area favoured the emergence of livestock farming, particularly sheep farming. There is evidence that there have been flocks in the area since antiquity, and the work Interrogatorios de la Real Audiencia. Extremadura al final de los tiempos modernos. Partido Judicial de Cáceres [Hearings in the Royal Courts. Extremadura at the end of the modern age. Judicial district of Cáceres] contains evidence from 1791 of the existence of the cheese, which was used to pay tithes, and the presence of the sheep that produced the milk, which were kept mainly for wool.

However, with the decline in the value of wool, milk and cheese production became more and more important, transforming the production of ‘Torta del Casar’ into an essential adjunct to the local economy.

(c) Human factors

The specific character of ‘Torta del Casar’ has been preserved as a result of natural factors, historical and economic factors and human factors, in the form of the master cheese-maker. Despite the changes that the production process has undergone, as the practice of making cheeses for home consumption on sheep farms alongside the flocks has given way to today’s cheese dairies designed to meet new requirements and market demands, the master cheese-maker has remained an essential figure, as there is still a need for their special knowledge of the raw materials, processes and desired result for the production of ‘Torta del Casar’. It should be noted that the master cheese-maker controls multiple variables which require particular expertise for the following reasons:

— Working with raw, whole, non-standardised milk produced at various times of the year means that the composition and bacteriology of the milk can vary considerably, affecting the entire process.

— The use of natural Cynara cardunculus that has not been extracted or standardised makes the coagulation stage particularly complex and decisive for optimal curd formation.

— The decision as to when to cut the curd and how big the resulting grains should be is influenced by the above factors and is taken on the basis of experience.

— Moulding by hand and pressing are processes which require an exact knowledge of how much curd to put in each mould and how much pressure to apply to attain the required moisture content.

— As a result of the many environmental changes that occur over the course of the year and affect the maturing process, the cheese requires constant monitoring to make sure that it is developing correctly.

It is only with a knowledge of these factors that it is possible to achieve intense proteolysis, a process involving the breakdown of the milk proteins, which, when it occurs before the rind is fully formed, gives ‘Torta del Casar’ its characteristic texture and shape.

5.2. Specificity of the product

The specific characteristics which distinguish ‘Torta del Casar’ from other cheeses are its creamy texture, its characteristic slightly bitter taste and its unusual shape, which is reminiscent of a torta de pan [bread pudding cake] – it is wider than it is tall, with rounded, convex sides and almost no edges. The way in which the cheese is consumed also differs from other cheeses, because the top of the cheese has to be sliced off like a lid to get at the cheese without it oozing out. The ‘lid’ should be replaced for storage.

5.3. Causal link between the geographical area and the quality or characteristics of the product (for PDO) or a specific quality, the reputation or other characteristic of the product (for PGI)

Because the geographical area has few natural resources as a result of the characteristics set out in section 5.1(a), the inhabitants have centred their economy around livestock farming, specifically sheep, as they are well-adapted to the geographical environment. They are reared for milk and cheese production, because of the decline in the value of wool.

The hardy and adaptable merino and entrefino sheep have become perfectly acclimatised to the semi-steppe-like plains of the geographical area, producing milk which, because it is processed without undergoing heat treatment of any kind, retains all the diverse bacterial flora acquired as a result of the farming method. This gives the cheese its characteristic ‘lactic’ and/or ‘vegetal’ aromas.

Similarly, the unusual shape that is characteristic of ‘Torta del Casar’ is due to the unusual way in which it is matured, which makes it impossible to maintain the shape that is traditional for other cheeses.

The use of natural vegetable rennet obtained from the native cardoon (Cynara cardunculus), in combination with the know-how of the master cheese-maker, produces intense proteolysis during maturation at a stage when the rind is not yet fully formed, as a result of which the cheeses cannot support their own weight and tend to flatten and bulge out at the sides, giving them an unusual shape that reminded the artisan cheese-makers of a torta de pan, from which ‘Torta del Casar’ derives its name.

This intense proteolysis is also what gives ‘Torta del Casar’ its characteristically creamy texture.

Lastly, the slightly bitter taste that is characteristic of ‘Torta del Casar’ is due to the native cardoon (Cynara cardunculus) used to coagulate the milk.

Consequently, it is only the combination of the raw milk obtained from ewes of the merino and entrefino breeds reared in the geographical area of the PDO, the use of the native cardoon (Cynara cardunculus) as a natural coagulant and the traditional know-how acquired by the master cheese-makers that produces a cheese with the shape, texture, aroma and taste that characterise ‘Torta del Casar’.

Reference to publication of the product specification

(Article 8(2)(d) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012)

https://www.juntaex.es/documents/77055/621148/DOP+Torta+del+Casar.+Pliego+condiciones.pdf

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