EN Official Journal of the European Union C 257/4

Publication of an application pursuant to Article 8(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 509/2006 on agricultural products and foodstuffs as traditional specialities guaranteed

2012/C 257/04

This publication confers the right to object to the application pursuant to Article 9 of Council Regulation (EC) No 509/2006 (1). Statements of objections must reach the Commission within six months of the date of this publication.

APPLICATION FOR REGISTRATION OF A TSG

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 509/2006

‘TORTAS DE ACEITE DE CASTILLEJA DE LA CUESTA’

EC No: ES-TSG-007-0058-03.09.2008

1. Name and address of the applicant group:

Name of group or organisation (if relevant): Asociación de Empresarios de Confitería, Pastelería, Bollería, Heladería, Repostería y Platos Cocinados de Sevilla. (A.P.E.C.O.P.A.S.) Address: Avenida Recaredo 20, modulo 5 41003 Sevilla ESPAÑA Tel. +34 954576427 E-mail: jproman@inesrosales.com

2. Member State or Third Country:

Spain

3. Product specification:

3.1. Name(s) to be registered (Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 1216/2007):

‘Tortas de Aceite de Castilleja de la Cuesta’

3.2. Whether the name:

☒ is specific in itself  expresses the specific character of the agricultural product or foodstuff

The name ‘Tortas de Aceite de Castilleja de la Cuesta’ is a traditional name cited in the ‘Inventario Español de Productos Tradicionales’ (Spanish inventory of traditional products) published by the Secretariat-General for Agriculture and Food of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in 1996, in the context of the ‘Euroterroirs’ project financed by the European Union.

3.3. Whether reservation of the name is sought under Article 13(2) of Regulation (EC) No 509/2006:

☒ Registration with reservation of the name  Registration without reservation of the name

3.4. Type of product (as in Annex II):

Class 2.3. Confectionery, bread, pastry, cakes, biscuits and other baker’s wares

3.5. Description of the agricultural product or foodstuff to which the name under point 3.1 applies (Article 3(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1216/2007):

The name ‘Tortas de Aceite de Castilleja de la Cuesta’ expresses the specific characteristics of the product, as it is a pastry product made with 27,7 % extra virgin olive oil, with a tolerance of ± 2 %. This, in combination with the fact that it is made entirely by hand, gives the product its most prized qualities, namely its light, fine and flaky texture and its unmistakable flavour and aroma of olive oil.

Organoleptic characteristics

Colour A non-uniform toasted brown colour, with darker areas at its thinnest points Odour Characteristic, mild aroma of aniseed and olive oil Flavour Sweet, characteristic Texture Firm, without soft areas, crumbly consistency

Microbiological characteristics

Parameter Reading Moulds and yeasts < 500 UFC/g Mesophilic aerobic microorganisms < 500 000 UFC/g Enterobacteriaceae < 500 UFC/g E. coli Absent in 1 g Salmonella-Shigella Absent in 30 g Sulphite-reducing Clostridia < 1 000 UFC/g Staphylococcus aureus Absent in 0,1 g

Physico-chemical characteristics

Values per 100 g of the product Olive oil crispbread Tolerances Nutritional value 495 Kcal/100 g ± 10 Protein (N × 6,25) 6,5 g/100 g ± 1 Carbohydrates 70 g/100 g ± 5 Fat 22 g/100 g ± 2 Saturated 14 % ± 2 Unsaturated 85 % ± 5 Monounsaturated 75 % ± 5 Polyunsaturated 9 % ± 2 Cholesterol 0 Moisture content < 6 % Ash < 1,5 %

3.6. Description of the production method of the agricultural product or foodstuff to which the name under point 3.1 applies (Article 3(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1216/2007):

Ingredient Proportion Tolerance Wheat flour 66,8 % ± 5 % Extra virgin olive oil 27,7 % ± 2 % Inverted sugar 2,7 % ± 0,5 % Aniseed 1,0 % ± 0,25 % White sugar 0,8 % ± 0,25 % Sesame 0,7 % ± 0,25 % Salt 0,3 % ± 0,25 % Natural anise essence 0,03 % ± 0,01 %

Water and yeast are also added to the mixture in quantities equal to 34-40 % and 1-3 % of the weight of the flour respectively.

First of all, the liquid ingredients — virgin olive oil, water and inverted sugar — are added to the flour and mixed to form a dough. Then the rest of the ingredients are added and the dough is kneaded until it reaches the desired consistency. The final temperature of the dough must be between 25 °C and 28 °C. If it is higher, the dough will ferment in the chute of the divider, while if it is lower, there will be no fermentation. In neither case would the product have the desired appearance. In order to achieve this final, constant temperature, the temperature of the water added to the dough is varied by mixing in anything from ice flakes to hot water. In such cases, kneading time will vary. The temperature may also be controlled through food-quality refrigerant gases.

Making the crispbread by hand

Once the kneading process has been completed, the dough is divided up using a machine that separates it into portions of equal weight. The shaping of the crispbreads is done by hand as follows:

1. The ball of dough is held in one hand and then placed on the palm of the other.

2. With the dough resting on the palm of one hand, fingers together, the outside edge of the other hand is placed on the centre of the dough, applying light pressure and moving the hand first towards the wrist and then towards the fingertips. This spreads the dough out over the whole hand.

3. There is a bowl of white sugar next to each person. The dough, spread out on the palm of one hand, is then pressed against the surface of the sugar so that the surface of the crispbread is covered by a thin coating of sugar.

4. To place the crispbread on the baking line, the hand is held a few centimetres above the belt, palm upwards. The part of the crispbread that is stuck to the little finger is then taken between the fingers of the other hand and placed on the belt while spreading out the fingers of the hand on which the crispbread is resting. This gives it its rounded shape. That hand is gradually rotated (until the palm is facing the belt) and, at the same time, is moved in such a way that the crispbread is placed on the belt with the sugared surface facing upwards.

It is this way of shaping the dough that gives the olive oil crispbread its characteristic appearance, i.e. its more or less rounded shape, with a thickness that varies by only a few millimetres. The characteristics of the dough, namely its high fat content (olive oil in this case), make preparation by hand essential, as any other process would squeeze out the oil, thus producing a product with different characteristics.

Baking

The finished product is a disc some 13 cm in diameter and only a few millimetres thick. Given its shape, i.e. thin with a large exposed surface area, baking takes only a few minutes. When it comes out of the oven, the olive oil crispbread must have a relative moisture content of less than 6 %. The resulting product is a round crispbread, with an irregular thickness of only a few millimetres and a tendency to be thicker around the edges. It is a toasted brown colour, with darker areas at its thinnest points. It must be crunchy and firm in consistency, without any soft areas, and have a pleasant and mild fragrance of aniseed and olive oil.

Cooling and packaging of the product

After baking, the product is left to cool before packaging. As the product is very thin with a large surface area, it reaches the correct temperature for packaging in only a few minutes. Packaging involves two stages:

Individual packaging: each crispbread is wrapped individually in waxed paper. This involves placing the crispbread on the paper wrapper and folding the upper and lower edges over the crispbread. The right and left edges are both folded over to form a point, which is then folded underneath the crispbread.

Grouped packaging: each group of five or six crispbreads, individually wrapped in waxed paper, is placed in a tray to protect them. This is then packed in heat-sealable polypropylene, resulting in a bag fitted to the tray.

3.7. Specific character of the agricultural product or foodstuff (Article 3(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1216/2007):

The two major differences between ‘Tortas de Aceite de Castilleja de la Cuesta’ and the other oil crispbreads on the market are the fact that they are made by hand and the use of extra virgin olive oil.

3.8. Traditional character of the agricultural product or foodstuff (Article 3(4) of Regulation (EC) No 1216/2007):

There are a large number of written references to ‘Tortas de Aceite de Castilleja de la Cuesta’, ranging from recipe books and advertisements to eulogies praising its exquisite flavour.

The ‘Inventario Español de Productos Tradicionales’ (Spanish inventory of traditional products) recounts the history behind the traditional production of the famous ‘Tortas de Aceite de Castilleja de la Cuesta’ and lists the ingredients, which have remained unchanged, thus placing them on record:

History: the product is traditionally produced in this area of the province of Seville and has gradually spread to the western part of Andalusia. It traces its origins back to the home-made confections baked and eaten at Easter. In 1914, a woman from Seville, Inés Rosales, rescued a family recipe for a confectionery product typical of the Aljarafe area and started producing and marketing it. It is still being made today and is the most famous brand.

Ingredients: flour, wheat, olive oil, sugar, seeds, yeast, sesame and aniseed, salt and anise essence, and, sometimes, ground almonds.

In the research project ‘Cataloguing and description of typical Andalusian agri-food products’, which was awarded the seventh prize for research into economic development and rural studies, commissioned by Analistas Económicos de Andalucía (Economic Analysts of Andalusia), ‘Tortas de Aceite de Castilleja de la Cuesta’ are included as a traditional product.

— This product is traditionally produced in the Aljarafe area of Seville and has gradually spread to the western part of Andalusia.

— It traces its origins back to the home-made confections baked and eaten at Easter. It started to become popular at the beginning of the 20th century.

3.9. Minimum requirements and procedures to check the specific character (Article 4 of Regulation (EC) No 1216/2007):

The minimum requirements that characterise the olive oil crispbread described in this product specification are as follows:

It is a round crispbread which is 13 ± 2 cm in diameter and of an irregular thickness, varying between 1 mm at its thinnest and 7 mm at its thickest, with a tendency to be thicker around the edges.

It is a toasted brown colour, with darker areas at its thinnest points. It must be crunchy and firm in consistency, without any soft areas, and have a pleasant and mild fragrance of aniseed and olive oil.

Its ingredients must not include additives of any kind.

It is made with only extra virgin olive oil.

The nature of specific checks, the procedure followed and the frequency of such checks, are given below:

— moisture content: desiccation. Determined per batch of product,

— extra virgin olive oil content: chromatography. annually,

— absence of preservatives (sorbates, benzoates): chromatography. Annually,

— absence of colourings: chromatography. Annually,

— organoleptic characteristics: tasting panel. Quarterly.

4. Authorities or bodies verifying compliance with the product specification:

4.1. Name and address:

Name: SGS ICS Ibérica SA Address: C/ Trespaderne, 29 Edificio Barajas (Barrio Aeropuerto) 28042 Madrid ESPAÑA Tel. +34 913138115 / 955602300 Fax — E-mail: ysolina.berbel@sgs.com

 Public ☒ Private

4.2. Specific tasks of the authority or body:

The appointed supervisory body, being the only one, is responsible for verifying compliance with all the provisions of the specification.

(1) OJ L 93, 31.3.2006, p. 12.