EN Official Journal of the European Union C 170/10

Publication of an amendment application pursuant to Article 50(2)(a) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs

(2015/C 170/09)

This publication confers the right to oppose the amendment application, pursuant to Article 51 of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (1).

APPLICATION FOR APPROVAL OF AN AMENDMENT TO THE PRODUCT SPECIFICATION OF PROTECTED DESIGNATIONS OF ORIGIN/PROTECTED GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS WHICH IS NOT MINOR

Application for approval of an amendment in accordance with the first subparagraph of Article 53(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012

‘OVOS MOLES DE AVEIRO’

EU No: PT-PGI-0105-01169 — 31.10.2013

PDO ( ) PGI ( X )

1. Applicant group and legitimate interest

APOMA — Associação de Produtores de Ovos Moles de Aveiro Address: Mercado Municipal de Santiago, R. Ovar, Praceta de Ílhavo, no 106 – 1o AA, AB, AE, 3810 – 145 Aveiro, PORTUGAL Tel./Fax +351 234428829 Email: apoma@sapo.pt

2. Member State or Third Country

Portugal

3. Heading in the product specification affected by the amendment(s)

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4. Type of amendments

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5. Amendments

Description of product

1. ‘Ovos Moles de Aveiro’ in the wafer may also be coated with chocolate, as this has been confirmed to have been in line with local and traditional production methods. Accounts by producers in days gone by and literature of the time bear witness to the validity of this amendment.

2. Throughout the shelf life of the ‘Ovos Moles de Aveiro’ there is a reduction in water content and an increase in sugar content as a result of the crystallisation process of the product, and this variation in the water and sugar contents may not be greater than 10 % of the initial values.

Proof of origin

The use of chocolate requires changes to the traceability system, and its associated records, which is the reason for this amendment to the proof of origin.

Method of production

The amendments included were:

1. The use of chocolate as a coating

The use of the chocolate coating alters the flow-chart and the description of the method of production of the product.

The process of coating the ‘Ovos Moles de Aveiro’ in the wafer with chocolate starts by ‘tempering’ the latter, a process during which the chocolate reaches a maximum temperature of 40 °C. The chocolate coating is applied manually or mechanically by immersing and recovering the wafer. Then the excess chocolate is removed, allowing the chocolate on the wafer to crystallise. The crystallisation of the chocolate is a determining factor for the final quality of the product, as it influences its appearance and makes the coating shiny.

2. The introduction of mechanically separating the fresh egg yolks as part of the production process

The use of fresh egg yolks which have been mechanically separated as part of the production process is permitted and does not alter the quality of the raw material.

The use of egg yolks which have been mechanically separated replicates the process of manual separation used by confectioners, since as the method is merely physical, it does not alter the intrinsic characteristics of the egg yolks, in particular the degree of freshness and the colour.

3. Introduction of cooling using temperature-reducing equipment

When cooling ‘Ovos Moles de Aveiro’ dough, the possibility of using temperature-reducing equipment must be subject to precise technical conditions for temperatures and specific registers to enable the product obtained in this way to be subsequently identified. The final temperature must be 15-18 °C. In this case there is no need for a rest period of 24 hours. The sensorial analyses for ‘Ovos Moles de Aveiro’, the cooling of which was carried out using temperature-reducing equipment, demonstrate that the specific characteristics of the product are preserved. This fact was validated by a panel of tasters who are experienced in sensorial analysis who checked that these variations do not alter the distinguishing characteristics of the product, with the quality remaining the same.

4. Conservation

4.1. Deep-freezing the ‘Ovos Moles de Aveiro’, for all forms of presentation, required the amendment of the production flow-chart and the description of precise technical rules for deep-freezing. This amendment required scientific studies to be carried out to validate the procedure, and this involved confirming the correct form of freezing and defrosting the product, in order to ensure that the unique quality characteristics of the product are maintained. These results were validated by means of sensorial studies, using a panel of tasters who are experienced in tasting this product, which confirmed that there were no statistically significant differences between the fresh product and one which has previously been frozen and defrosted. In order to allow the deep-frozen product to be marketed, it was also necessary to verify its shelf-life. Introducing the deep-freezing of the product facilitates access to international markets, as it means that the shelf-life of the product increases from 15 days to 6 months.

4.2. The possibility of using ‘intelligent’ packaging materials, such as modified atmospheres and food preservation films, has been included as they increase the shelf-life of the product and help it to preserve its initial characteristics. This amendment is made to enable the product to be supplied to international markets. These results were validated using sensorial and microbiological studies carried out on different types of ‘intelligent’ packaging materials.

4.3. The shelf-lives of the product which are set at: Shelf-life Conservation and packaging 21 days Packaged in smart packaging 60 days In wafers, coated with chocolate 6 months Deep-frozen product

Link

Taking the original recipe as a basis and giving free reign to their creativity, confectioners carried out some experiments, in particular involving the production of ‘Ovos Moles de Aveiro’ coated in chocolate. Accounts by confectioners from days gone by such as Silvina Raimundo of the company Maria Apresentação da Cruz e Herdeiros, Lda, whose first permit dates from 1930, and who states: ‘In our establishment they were known as “black Ovos Moles”. Here the black Ovos Moles were only made for festivals, as they required a lot of labour. It didn't just involve dipping the wafer in chocolate and pulling it out again. … They were dipped one by one, and hand-finished to smooth each surface, so that they were perfect. They were produced for festivals and were only produced to order, as they were considered as a gift. Years later, there was a confectioner near the court which started making black Ovos Moles again, at the request of Dr Candal, and black Ovos Moles started being talked about again’.

Rosalina Jesus also makes a reference to this: ‘On special occasions there were orders. There was a cafe below the Arcada which sold real cigars at the counter. At the Casa dos Ovos Moles we looked for empty cigar boxes there in which to present the black Ovos Moles when a customer bought them. In this case, all that was sold in these boxes were 6 Ovos Moles cigars (they are now in the shape of a crab). Later Conceição ordered silk ribbons with a bow on top for decorative purposes. The ribbon was tied around the lower part of the Ovos Moles cigar which was coated with chocolate and later they were tied around the cigar box…’

Literary records go back as far as 1928 in ‘O Doce nunca amargou… doçaria portuguesa. História. Decoração. Receituário’ [The sweet that never turned sour… Portuguese confectionery. History. Decoration. Recipes] by Emanuel Ribeiro, which included designs of different shapes of ‘Ovos Moles de Aveiro’ in wafers, and using one particularly careful design, via the shading on the chocolate-coated ‘Ovos Moles de Aveiro’ figures. An old model of a china barrel, used in 1935, was included.

Labelling

1. Certification mark

Under the heading ‘Certification mark’, the obligation to use a hologram was withdrawn, due to the cost it entails.

2. New packaging

The possibility of including new types of packaging better suited to technological advances was included, since studies show that the technical innovation does not interfere with the characteristics of the product.

Marketing of ‘Ovos Moles de Aveiro’, in wafers, in 150 g packages, was included, in line with new consumer requirements.

3. Form in which marketed

Authorisation was given for the marketing of ‘Ovos Moles de Aveiro’, in wafers, in individual units in the original box, open, provided that the label, lot number, sell-by date and certification mark are still visible. This amendment was made so that small resale establishments can market the product in bulk, whilst safeguarding compliance with the traceability requirements for the product.

SINGLE DOCUMENT

‘OVOS MOLES DE AVEIRO’

EU No: PT-PGI-0105-01169 — 31.10.2013

PDO ( ) PGI ( X )

1. Name

‘Ovos Moles de Aveiro’

2. Member State or Third Country

Portugal

3. Description of agricultural product or foodstuff

3.1. Type of product

Class 2.3 — Confectionery, bread, pastry, cakes, biscuits and other baker's wares

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

‘Ovos Moles de Aveiro’ is a product obtained by the addition of raw egg yolk to sugar syrup. They may be put up for sale as they are, wrapped in Communion-type wafer, which may or may not be coated with a fine layer of sugar syrup or chocolate, or packaged directly in wooden or china barrels. They may also be marketed deep-frozen. Their colour is uniform, ranging from yellow to orange, shiny all over and not very intense, their complex aroma is of egg yolk developing towards a characteristic odour containing aromas as varied as caramel, cinnamon and dried fruit, as a result of the chemical reactions during cooking between the sugar and the components of the egg yolk. They are sweet, with the flavour of egg yolk and sugar softened by the cooking process and have a creamy consistency which does not run. The texture is uniform, with no yolk or sugar grains (although they are permissible several days after manufacture, inasmuch as they are the result of crystallisation of the product). The wafer occasionally used in the presentation is of even colour ranging from white to cream, opaque, matt and odourless or with a slight odour of flour and taste of wafer, its consistency soft and crumbly and its texture dry, smooth and uniform.

Its average chemical composition is as follows:

% Sugar = 41 ± 5

% Fat = 17 ± 3

% Total water = 29 ± 3

% Insoluble protein = 4,2 ± 1,1

The water activity is 0,864 ± 0,026

In no event is the presence of starch, colorants and preservatives permissible.

At the end of the shelf-life the reduction in water content and increase in sugar as a result of the crystallisation process which takes place in the product may not exceed 10 % of the initial values.

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

‘Ovos Moles de Aveiro’ are obtained solely from:

Egg yolk obtained exclusively from very fresh Category A eggs, L or XL in size, with a colour from 12 to 13 on the Roche scale.

In view of the specific conditions required for the egg yolks, in particular in terms of colour and degree of freshness, the geographical production area for the eggs is limited from an administrative point of view to the municipalities of Águeda, Albergaria-a-Velha, Aveiro, Estarreja, Ílhavo, Mira, Murtosa, Oliveira de Frades, Ovar, S. Pero do Sul, Sever do Vouga, Tondela, Vagos and Vouzela.

The eggs used in the production of ‘Ovos Moles de Aveiro’ have always come from this geographical region, which lend the product its specific colour and freshness.

Refined, white, cane sugar.

Water, wafer and chocolate.

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

Preparation of the sugar syrup.

Incorporation of the raw separated egg yolks into the sugar syrup.

Cooking the dough (mixture of egg yolks with sugar syrup).

Cooling and resting the dough.

Filling the wafers or wooden or china barrels.

Coating the wafers with sugar syrup or with chocolate.

3.5. Specific rules concerning slicing, grating, packaging, etc. of the product the registered name refers to

Due to the characteristics of the product, in order to avoid any contamination and to prevent changes to the dough or the wafer, the ‘Ovos Moles de Aveiro’ are marketed commercially packaged at source in barrels with the authorised format, materials and logos, or in cardboard or ‘intelligent’ packaging.

‘Ovos Moles de Aveiro’ may be put up for sale in bulk, without a wafer, but this is only authorised at a confectioners' premises, and always with documentation certifying their origin, lot number and date of manufacture.

In establishments involved in the resale of the products, the ‘Ovos Moles de Aveiro’ may be put up for sale pre-packaged, irrespective of their form of presentation or in individual units, in the original box, open, provided that the label, lot number, sell-by date and certification mark are still visible.

‘Ovos Moles de Aveiro’ are kept at room temperature, which gives them a shelf life of 15 days.

Where the product is packaged in modified atmospheres or using food preservation film (smart packaging), its shelf-life is 21 days, at room temperature. Where the product is presented deep-frozen, it has a shelf life of 6 months, if sold in this form. The unpackaged product may only be deep-frozen on the production premises of the ‘Ovos Moles de Aveiro’, where the specific requisite know-how is demonstrated, as well as the need to preserve the product from undesirable handling and microbiological contamination.

‘Ovos Moles de Aveiro’ in wafers coated in chocolate have a shelf life of 60 days, provided that they are conserved at the technical temperature advised for chocolate and in premises without odours.

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

The labelling must bear the words ‘Ovos Moles de Aveiro — Indicação Geográfica Protegida’, the certification mark and the logo of ‘Ovos Moles de Aveiro’, as shown here:

The certification mark must show the name of the product, the name of the Certification Body and the serial number allowing the product to be traced.

4. Concise definition of the geographical area

In view of the edapho-climatic conditions and characteristics required for preparation of the ‘Ovos Moles de Aveiro’, in particular as regards humidity and atmospheric temperature and the requisite specific know-how, as well as the need to preserve the product from microbiological contamination, the geographical area for the preparation and packaging is limited to the districts bordering the Ria de Aveiro and adjoining areas bordering a lagoon. From an administrative point of view, the area covers the districts of Águeda, Albergaria-a-Velha, Aveiro, Estarreja, Ílhavo, Mira, Murtosa, Ovar, Sever do Vouga and Vagos.

5. Link with the geographical area

Specificity of the geographical area

Natural features:

The phytoclimatic aspects of the region are dominated by the basin of the River Vouga, which flows into the Ria de Aveiro, which is another significant geographical feature. This gives rise to specific conditions for agriculture, in particular those relating to the growing of maize and the raising of poultry which has developed with particular vigour along the banks of the lagoon.

The area of the Baixo Vouga has always been marshy and the Médio Vouga a fertile region for the production of good-quality maize in large quantities. Although centuries ago this form of farming was at subsistence level, by the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries it had gained an entrepreneurial dimension with the establishment in the districts bordering on the river Vouga of undertakings with a large production capacity and a reputation for quality. The traditional maize used in chicken feed has no doubt contributed to the quality which distinguishes the resulting product.

Historical:

‘Ovos Moles de Aveiro’ have been manufactured for centuries. The tradition of manufacturing the product, which originated in convents, was maintained by ladies who had a convent education and passed the secret of its manufacture from generation to generation. There are documents showing that, in 1502, King Manuel I granted 10 ‘arrobas’ of Madeira sugar per year to the Convent of Jesus in Aveiro for the manufacture of confectionery products in the convent, which at the time was used to help patients during their convalescence. ‘Ovos Moles de Aveiro’ are referred to in 1908 as a dessert dish for royalty, are expressly mentioned in 1888 by the great Portuguese writer Eça de Queiroz in ‘The Maias’ and ‘The Capital’ and by the great Brazilian author Erico Veríssimo, who mentions the product in ‘Solo de Clarineta-Memórias’ [Clarinet Solo], in 1973. The chocolate-coated Ovos Moles are also referred to in ‘O Doce nunca amargou… doçaria portuguesa. História. Decoração. Receituário’ [The sweet that never turned sour… Portuguese confectionery. History. Decoration. Recipes] by Emanuel Ribeiro, in 1928.

The distinctive barrels in which the ‘Ovos Moles de Aveiro’ are presented, the shapes of the wafers, which are almost always on maritime themes, and the typical sellers often feature in tiled panels, prints, popular poetry, plays and the regional songbook. As early as 1856 there existed a register of reputable manufacturers. Taking the original recipe as a basis and giving free reign to their creativity, confectioners carried out some experiments, in particular involving the production of Ovos Moles coated in chocolate. Accounts by confectioners from days gone by, whose first permit dates back to 1930, state: ‘In our establishment they were known as “black Ovos Moles”. Here the black Ovos Moles were only made for festivals, as they required a lot of labour’.

Specificity of the product

‘Ovos Moles de Aveiro’ are special because of the basic raw materials with which they are produced — eggs and sugar — and from the local know-how, because the egg yolks are added to the sugar syrup in a way that resembles the rowing movement of the traditional boats, ‘moliceiros’, in the Aveiro lagoon.

The specific way of preparing them gives the ‘Ovos Moles de Aveiro’ a texture, colour and set of aromas which is very distinctive and unique to the region.

The eggs, which are very fresh, are carefully cracked open and the yolk ‘separated’ either by filtering through the fingers or by using an appropriate egg separator. At the same time, the sugar syrup is separately prepared; it must be heated to a point midway between thickening and forming threads (a temperature of 110 °C). The egg yolks are incorporated into the sugar syrup, and this mixture is baked until the bottom of the saucepan can be seen: the know-how linked to these operations is a key factor. Then follows the cooling and resting of the dough, which lasts 24 hours and must be carried out in suitable premises. The reason for this is the fact that, in this phase, the dough for ‘Ovos Moles de Aveiro’ is very sensitive to sudden changes in temperature and absorbs outside odours easily. Temperature-reducing equipment currently exists which allows the cooling operation to be carried out more quickly and in a controlled manner, in such a way that the characteristics of the dough for the ‘Ovos Moles de Aveiro’ are maintained. If the cooling is carried out with temperature-reducing equipment, the final temperature will be 15-18 °C. In this case there is no need for a rest period of 24 hours.

From this stage onwards, and depending on the final presentation format chosen, the cooled dough may be used:

— to fill the barrels, which are then sealed with the appropriate cover and removable film in order to insulate and protect the product,

— to fill the wafers, which are then compressed in a manual press after being sealed; the wafers may not be sealed using unpasteurised egg white. The shapes of the wafers are then separated using scissors and cut in straight lines into the various shapes or cut with appropriate cutting equipment. The shapes are placed on trays to be dried in the oven (where necessary), and may or may not be coated with sugar syrup or chocolate, which provides added protection against change.

Also specific and unique are the materials used in the packaging — the wafer, originating from the convent, and the wooden or china barrel, inspired by and made from materials present in the region and in both cases replicating shapes typical of the region — such as, in the case of the wafers, marine animals or instruments used in fishing or dried fruits which are very traditional in the highlands where the Ovos are produced, or, in the case of the barrels, the pictures linked to the specific scenes of the lagoon, such as its lighthouse or ‘moliceiro’ boats.

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)

The temperature and humidity of the lagoon are propitious to the manufacture of ‘Ovos Moles de Aveiro’ and the wafers, giving them the appropriate and long-lasting softness which is impossible to reproduce outside the region.

Both the use of the barrels made of wood or china and the moulds used in the manufacture of the wafer attest to an unmistakable link with the Ria de Aveiro and its lagoon motifs, in particular by means of the use of the lighthouse on the lagoon or of typical ‘moliceiro’ river boats as trademarks or by making the wafers in the shape of fish, shellfish and barrels and buoys to mark fishing nets, another of the activities which are typical of the region.

Presentation in the form of wafers with lagoon motifs linked to the Aveiro lagoon and the river Vouga — fish, crabs or razor clams, mussels, shells, common cockles, barrels, maritime buoys or bottles, cockles, casks or tubs, baby clams, oysters and ‘moliceiro’ boats, are factors providing an undeniable link to the geographical area. The unique elements inspired by local flora, nuts, acorns, chestnuts and wicker baskets, are also unequivocal proof of the link to the region, since they are fruit from native trees which spontaneously grow there. It is worth noting that barrels made locally of poplar wood and of china are made of typical and traditional raw materials in typical and traditional industries.

And so it can be seen that ‘Ovos Moles de Aveiro’ are totally specific to the region, and that the mere mention of Ovos Moles in the mind of the people is a reference to the region of Aveiro, and the simple appearance of regional symbols (the lagoon, the Aveiro lighthouse or the ‘moliceiros’) on packaging or in a shop window causes the products to be immediately linked to Aveiro.

Reference to publication of the specification

(Article 6(1), second subparagraph of this Regulation)

http://www.dgadr.mamaot.pt/images/docs/val/dop_igp_etg/Valor/doc/CE_Ovos_Moles_Aveiro.pdf

(1) OJ L 343, 14.12.2012, p. 1.