EN Official Journal of the European Union C 312/5

Publication of an 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 312/05)

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).

SINGLE DOCUMENT

Council Regulation (EC) No 510/2006 on the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs (2)

‘AACHENER WEIHNACHTS-LEBERWURST’/‘OECHER WEIHNACHTSLEBERWURST’

EC No: DE-PGI-0005-01053 — 5.11.2012

PGI ( X ) PDO ( )

1. Name

‘Aachener Weihnachts-Leberwurst’/‘Oecher Weihnachtsleberwurst’

2. Member State or Third Country

Germany

3. Description of the agricultural product or foodstuff

3.1. Type of product

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

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

‘Aachener Weihnachts-Leberwurst’/‘Oecher Weihnachtsleberwurst’ is a liver sausage speciality. At a storage temperature of approx. 8 °C it has a firm, spreadable consistency. Its colour varies from light brown to pale pink, depending on its composition. The finished product is filled in natural or sterile casings, linen skins, glass jars or tin cans.

The liver and lean meat content is determined by the requirements laid down in the Guidelines on high-quality meat and meat products (Leitsätze für Fleisch- und Fleischerzeugnisse an Spitzenqualität), (1a) Liver sausages. The content of meat protein free of connective tissue protein (MPFCTP) is always more than 10 %. The chemically determined MPFCTP content of the meat protein is at least 82 %. Although cream containing at least 30 % fat is added (‘Sahne’ is the term usually used for cream in the production area), the sausage must contain no extraneous water.

The special feature of ‘Aachener Weihnachts-Leberwurst’/‘Oecher Weihnachtsleberwurst’ is the compulsory addition of cream and the use of a Christmas spice mix.

3.3. Raw materials (for processed products only)

Composition of ‘Aachener Weihnachts-Leberwurst’/‘Oecher Weihnachtsleberwurst’: pork, pig's liver, nitrite curing salt, braised onion, cream, spice mix (in particular coriander, cardamom, pepper, ginger and ingredients such as cranberries and aniseed). The product always contains at least two of the possible spices including coriander, cardamom, pepper and ginger. Some variations of ‘Aachener Weihnachts-Leberwurst/Oecher Weihnachtsleberwurst’ are smoked.

The liver used is always fresh, or frozen soon after slaughter, so as to prevent undesirable bitter substances from forming. Unlike in industrial sausage-making, the bile ducts in the liver are traditionally removed by hand all the way to their branches so as to prevent bitter substances from infiltrating the sausage. The heated end product must not contain more water than it did prior to heating. The cream added may therefore only compensate for the water lost during cooking; it must not increase the water content. In other words, the sausage must contain no extraneous water. The fatty tissue consists of derinded bacon and belly, hams and chain meat.

3.4. Feed (for products of animal origin only)

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3.5. Specific steps in production that must take place in the defined geographical area

The entire process of producing the finished product must be carried out in the defined geographical area.

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

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3.7. Specific rules concerning labelling

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4. Concise definition of the geographical area

The city of Aachen.

5. Link with the geographical area

5.1. Specificity of the geographical area

As a result of Aachen's geographical location in a basin and with the protection afforded by its city walls during its long history as an imperial stronghold, local producers soon developed a particular sense of belonging to a guild. Unlike many other dialects in the north and west of Germany, the Aachen dialect, a variant of the Rhenish dialect, is spoken to this day. It too creates a feeling of belonging among local people and producers that is also reflected in the city's local specialities. This geographical and historical background led to the particular formation of craft industries which passed on from generation to generation the traditional recipes and production methods favoured by customers and still used today. Aachen's butchers have been making sausages for over 200 years.

5.2. Specificity of the product

The product has a special reputation which is based on its geographical origin, as the producers' close links to the historical roots of their city and their craft also established the reputation of ‘Aachener Weihnachts-Leberwurst’/‘Oecher Weihnachtsleberwurst’ as a liver sausage speciality. It has been made under that name for over 120 years. The reputation is founded on the skill and experience of Aachen's butchers and is linked to objective qualities of the product, i.e. the greatly appreciated special flavour given to the sausage by the addition of cream and the use of a Christmas spice mix.

The cutting of an ‘Aachener Weihnachts-Leberwurst’/‘Oecher Weihnachtsleberwurst’ by the Mayor of Aachen in the Town Hall signals the start of the season each year. This event demonstrates the importance of the product for local identity and shows that it has a special reputation associated with its origin.

The particular quality on which that reputation is in part founded is also demonstrated by the ‘Aachener Weihnachts-Leberwurst’ competition which has been held for over 40 years at which trained, independent judges assess the products' quality on the basis of German Agricultural Society (Deutsche Landwirtschafts-Gesellschaft, DLG) standards. The competition stabilised and improved the product's quality, reinforcing, as it did, the local producers' awareness of their speciality's historical roots in the city.

The product's reputation is demonstrated by the coverage of the quality competitions and ceremony at the start of each season in the local and national press and on television and radio. ‘Aachener Weihnachts-Leberwurst’, like ‘Aachener Printen’ gingerbread biscuits, is one of the cornerstones of Aachen's culinary identity. ‘afz’, the national meat industry journal, thus stated in 2004: ‘Not only was the advertising value enormous. “Last year many of our customers enquired about ‘Karlswurst’ at specialist butchers' shops. Some colleagues now stock it all year round”, reports an upbeat Hubert Geerkens. “At this rate it looks set to become a branded article like ‘Aachener Weihnachts-Leberwurst’”’ (afz — allgemeine fleischer zeitung No 7, 11.2.2004, p. 7, ‘Knappen boten die dampfende Karlswurst feil’ (‘Varlets sold steaming “Karlswurst”’).

The reputation of ‘Aachener Weihnachts-Leberwurst’ is borne out by the fact that the then guild master points to it as the product whose renown even the ‘Karlswurst’ must aspire to. Moreover, the publication of the article in the national afz journal confirms that that reputation extends well beyond the boundaries of the old imperial city of Aachen. The sausage is also offered for sale at the city's Christmas market, where it is very popular among tourists and others.

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)

The product's special reputation derives from its geographical origin as indicated by its name. Special sausage products have been made in Aachen for centuries. This long-standing tradition has helped to make ‘Aachener Weihnachts-Leberwurst’/‘Oecher Weihnachtsleberwurst’ a seasonal speciality well known to consumers in the region who appreciate its high quality and subtle flavour. Like ‘Aachener Printen’, ‘Aachener Weihnachts-Leberwurst’/‘Oecher Weihnachtsleberwurst’ is — as is apparent from its coverage in the press, for example — one of the cornerstones of the culinary identity of the old imperial city of Aachen. In fact, such is the reputation of ‘Aachener Weihnachts-Leberwurst’/‘Oecher Weihnachtsleberwurst’ that producers seek to achieve the same renown for other products typical of the city. Because of that reputation, customers who purchase ‘Aachener Weihnachts-Leberwurst’/‘Oecher Weihnachtsleberwurst’ expect a particularly authentic product from Aachen that also possesses certain qualities derived from the locally developed recipe. That recipe enhances the value of the product in the eyes of consumers, as the product contains cream, a high-quality ingredient typically enjoyed at Christmas, and a Christmas spice mix. The special, geographically based, commercial reputation enjoyed by the product therefore stems from its recipe developed in Aachen, the city's tradition of making and selling the product only in the Christmas season, and its special ingredients which make it part of the Christmas tradition specific to Aachen.

Reference to publication of the specification

(Article 5(7) of Regulation (EC) No 510/2006 (3))

http://register.dpma.de/DPMAregister/geo/detail.pdfdownload/34550

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

(2) OJ L 93, 31.3.2006, p. 12. Replaced by Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012.

(3) See footnote 2.