Publication of an application for registration of a name 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

(2022/C 219/04)

This publication confers the right to oppose the application pursuant to Article 51 of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (1) within three months from the date of this publication.

SINGLE DOCUMENT

’Marmelada Branca de Odivelas’

EU No: PGI-PT-02609 – 19.5.2020

PDO ( ) PGI (X )

1. Name(s) [of PDO or PGI]

‘Marmelada Branca de Odivelas’

2. Member State or Third Country

Portugal

3. Description of the agricultural product or foodstuff

3.1. Type of product

Class 1.6. Fruit, vegetables and cereals, fresh or processed

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

‘Marmelada Branca de Odivelas’ is a fruit preserve made by cooking quince mesocarp with white sugar, water and lemon juice only.

The quince mesocarp is yellow to pale yellow in colour and may have greenish tints. White sugar is used to obtain this quince cheese, which is almost white in colour. Lemon juice is used to prevent oxidation of the quince flesh once the fruit has been peeled.

At least 350 g of quinces in the form of pulp or puree must be used to make 1 000 g of finished product.

To make the sugar syrup the right amount of water and sugar is heated, the average proportion being 1 kg of sugar to 250 ml of water.

‘Marmelada Branca de Odivelas’ has the following physical and organoleptic characteristics:

Colour: uniform, almost white

Shine: uniform and intense

Consistency: firm enough to be cut with a knife

Aroma: quince

Taste: sweet

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

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

All the steps in the production of ‘Marmelada Branca de Odivelas’ must take place in the defined area, in the municipality of Odivelas in the Lisbon District:

Delivery of the raw materials and storage; selection, washing, peeling, cooking and pulping of the fruit; weighing the ingredients and preparing the sugar syrup, mixing and cooking the sugar syrup and the quince puree; filling the containers, stabilising the product (resting), cutting into the desired shape and drying.

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

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

Whatever the form in which the product is presented for sale, the label must bear the words ‘Marmelada Branca de Odivelas’ - IGP [‘Marmelada Branca de Odivelas’ - PGI] and the product logo shown below.

4. Concise definition of the geographical area

The municipality of Odivelas in the Lisbon District.

5. Link with the geographical area

The characteristics of ‘Marmelada Branca de Odivelas’ are due exclusively to its reputation and to human factors in the defined geographical area, and are the reason for its reputation.

‘Marmelada Branca de Odivelas’ is a secular legacy of the Cistercian nuns of the St Denis convent in Odivelas. It is one of a varied range of fine-quality ‘convent sweets’ that have been made in Odivelas for many generations.

Produced in the municipality of Odivelas, ‘Marmelada Branca de Odivelas’ has specific characteristics which can be attributed to the traditional methods that were used in the convent, which have been consistently and faithfully followed and passed down through the generations in Odivelas.

The specificity of this fruit preserve results from: the long-standing expertise of the producers in Odivelas, following a historical tradition passed down from one generation to the next, and therefore established over time; the different forms of marketing, which always mention Odivelas; the existence of pans and cutters that are over a hundred years old and still serve as models for some of the shapes used today; the fact that it has always been made in Odivelas and the historical factors that link the product with Odivelas, confirming its reputation.

The specific characteristics of ‘Marmelada Branca de Odivelas’ are the result of local know-how deployed in the traditional production process: from rigorous selection of the fruit to determining exactly when the sugar has reached the ‘hard ball’ stage, when a small amount dropped in water forms a lump, which the local producers judge by experience, showing how important the human factor is.

The fact that this quince cheese is almost white, whereas others are not, has made it famous and there are descriptions and references to it in books and manuscripts going back a long way, notably O Livro de Receitas da Ultima Freira de Odivelas [book of recipes of the convent’s last nun]. Historians agree that the recipe has been correctly transcribed, and this document thus confirms the product’s authenticity, a significant point being that the recipe is for Marmelada Branca [white quince cheese].

Its current reputation is evidenced by, among other things, the fact that it featured in the final of the 7 Maravilhas Doces de Portugal competition in 2019, the awards it has won, notably in the national Traditional Portuguese Fruit Sweets competitions, and references in the media.

By way of example, the SOL newspaper published an article on 5 June 2015 on the Confraria da Marmelada Branca de Odivelas [Marmelada Branca de Odivelas Society], which highlighted the product’s authenticity and uniqueness.

In Doces Conventuais e Licores da Tradição Portuguesa (1981), Maria de Lourdes Modesto speaks thus of ‘Marmelada Branca de Odivelas’: ‘The best quince cheese of all is the one still made in Odivelas. Only quince cheese that is almost pure white merits this hallowed name – a real treat’.

Reference to publication of the specification

https://www.dgadr.gov.pt/images/docs/val/dop_igp_etg/Valor/CE_marmelada_branca_odivelas.pdf

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