Publication of the amended single document following the approval of a minor amendment pursuant to the second subparagraph of Article 53(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012

(2021/C 309/11)

The European Commission has approved this minor amendment in accordance with the third subparagraph of Article 6(2) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 664/2014 (1).

The application for approval of this minor amendment can be consulted in the Commission’s eAmbrosia database.

SINGLE DOCUMENT

‘Cebreiro’

EU No: PDO-ES-0443-AM01 – 16 February 2021

PDO (X) PGI ( )

1. Name

‘Cebreiro’

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 product to which the name in (1) applies

Full-fat cheese made from pasteurised cow’s milk by means of a process comprising coagulation, cutting of the curd, draining, kneading and salting, moulding and pressing. It may be marketed fresh or cured, in the latter case with a minimum maturation period of 45 days.

Its main features are the following:

Physical characteristics

— Shape: mushroom-shaped, or in the form of a chef’s hat, consisting of two parts: a cylindrical base of varying diameter and no greater than 12 cm in height, except for cheeses weighing more than 2 kg, which may be up to 15 cm in height; and a hat which has a diameter 1 to 2 cm larger than the base and which is no greater than 3 cm in height. In cheeses weighing more than 2 kg, the diameter of the hat may be up to 4 cm larger than that of the base, and it may not be greater than 5 cm in height.

— Weight: minimum of 0,3 kg.

Organoleptic properties

The fresh cheese has no rind and only a slight colour transition relative to the interior. Its paste is homogeneous, white or slightly yellowish, soft and without eyes; it may have a slightly striated and friable appearance when cut. It smells of acidified milk with touches of cream or butter. The mouthfeel is grainy but melty and highly adhesive. The flavour is similar to the smell, of acidified milk, cream, butter. The aftertaste is persistent and slightly acidic.

When cured, the cheese has an only slightly differentiated rind varying from yellow to intense yellow, and mould may be present depending on the maturation stage. The paste can vary from ivory-coloured to yellow and has a consistency that is between buttery and firm, sometimes hard depending on the degree of maturation. Its flavour is milky and can be somewhat metallic and piquant.

Analytical characteristics

— Moisture (for cured cheeses): varies depending on the degree of maturation, but always less than 50 %.

— Fat: minimum 45 % and maximum 60 %, calculated on the dry extract

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

Feedstuffs

grassland and forage crops in the production area are an important constituent of the cows’ diet. An important role is also played by extensive grasslands (pasture land and pasture with bushes), where the animals graze freely when conditions permit.

Concentrated feed of vegetable origin is used as a supplement to cover the cows’ energy requirements.

Raw materials

‘Cebreiro’ is made from cow’s milk; animal rennet or other expressly authorised coagulating enzymes; and salt (sodium chloride).

The cheese is made from whole milk of cows of the Rubia Gallega, Friesian or Brown Alpine breeds or their crosses on holdings located within the defined geographical area and entered in the appropriate register.

The milk must not contain colostrum, preservatives, inhibitors or medicinal products that could affect the production, maturation, curing or conservation of the cheese. No procedures to standardise the milk or processes that change its initial composition are permitted.

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

Production of the milk, the preliminary operations to which it is subject and the production, maturation and curing of the cheese must take place within the geographical area defined in point 4. All steps in production must therefore take place within the defined geographical area.

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

The protected cheeses should generally be marketed as whole cheeses and in authorised packaging.

However, marketing in portions, including cutting at the point of sale, may be authorised provided that an appropriate monitoring system has been established for this purpose that guarantees the product’s origin, quality, perfect conservation and correct presentation to the consumer, avoiding all possibility of confusion.

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

Cheese marketed with the Protected Designation of Origin ‘Cebreiro’, after being certified, must carry the label corresponding to each producer’s mark and a secondary label, approved and issued by the Regulatory Board, bearing a sequential alphanumeric code and the official logo of the Protected Designation of Origin shown below:

The words ‘Denominación de Origen Protegida “Cebreiro”’ must appear on both the label and the secondary label. In addition, on cured Cebreiro cheese, the word ‘curado’ (cured) must appear prominently on the label to distinguish it from the fresh product.

4. Concise definition of the geographical area

The area for producing the milk and making the cheeses covered by the Protected Designation of Origin ‘Cebreiro’ comprises the geographical area which includes the following municipalities, all of which are in the province of Lugo (Autonomous Community of Galicia): Baleira, Baralla, Becerreá, Castroverde, Cervantes, Folgoso do Courel, A Fonsagrada, Láncara, Navia de Suarna, As Nogais, Pedrafita do Cebreiro, Samos and Triacastela.

5. Link with the geographical area

Historical factors

These cheeses are said to have originated with the first monks who settled in the village of Cebreiro – the point of entry into Galicia of the main pilgrim route to Santiago, El Camino francés – to serve in the hospital built at the end of the 9th century to meet the needs of pilgrims. As the centuries passed, the pilgrims tasted the cheese in the mountains of Cebreiro and made it known throughout Spain and Europe.

The documents preserved in the National Historical Archives and in the General Archives of Simancas reveal curious details of the annual consignment of cheese from Cebreiro for consumption by the Portuguese royal house during the reign of Charles III. The cheese was made at home by the villagers of the district (mainly women) from November. The deliveries always consisted of two dozen cheeses, which were always made in the final two weeks of the year, taking advantage of the seasonal cold weather to ensure that they would keep better, and then presented as a gift to the Queen of Portugal during the first two weeks of January.

In addition, there are numerous documents from the 18th and 19th centuries attesting to the fame of Cebreiro cheese at that time.

More recent works, for example, the ‘Geografía General del Reino de Galicia’ (General Geography of the Kingdom of Galicia) (1936), provide information on Cebreiro cheese, its characteristics and method of production.

More recently still, in the 1970s, Carlos Compairé Fernández, an expert in Spanish cheeses in general and Galician cheeses in particular, published a number of works containing a detailed study of these cheeses, with chemical and bacteriological analyses. These can be cited as the first scientific studies of Cebreiro cheese.

In the ‘Inventario Español de Productos Tradicionales’ (Spanish Inventory of Traditional Products), published by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in 1996, the chapter on cheeses provides detailed information on Cebreiro cheese, including its characteristics, its method of production, its history and its economic importance.

Natural factors

The area covered by the Protected Designation of Origin ‘Cebreiro’ has a mountain ocean climate, with strongly reduced maritime influences and heightened continental characteristics. This seriously restricts agricultural activities. A large part of the area, lying more than 1 000 metres above sea level, experiences temperatures that can be described as ‘very cold’ compared with the norm for Galicia, with fewer than five frost-free months each year.

These unfavourable environmental conditions mean that cattle farming plays a vital role in the area’s economy, since this sector can cope better with the climate, soil and mountainous terrain than can the arable sector, taking advantage of the good natural meadows and fodder available in the mountains and cattle adapted to the rigours of the climate.

Causal link between the geographical environment and the characteristics of the product

The geographical area in which ‘Cebreiro’ cheese is produced is characterised by numerous valleys surrounded by mountains, in which meadows and grazing land form an important part of the landscape.

This unique environment contributes to the distinctive characteristics of ‘Cebreiro’ cheese in various ways:

— Firstly, as already stated, the geographical environment is favourable to the growth of abundant high quality fodder.

— Additionally, milk is produced on small, family farms, using traditional herd-management methods. Animals of indigenous breeds still make up a significant proportion of herds and feed comes mainly from fodder produced on the farm, supplemented, when weather permits, by grazing.

— Only small quantities of concentrated feedingstuffs are bought in as a supplement to cover the cattle’s energy requirements. This traditional model, in which the use of inputs bought in from outside the farm is kept to a strict minimum, contributes to the economic viability of these small family farms.

— The characteristics of these farms make the milk produced on them ideal for cheese-making. It has been scientifically proven that these more natural systems of production and methods of feeding the cattle improve the nutritional qualities of the milk by increasing the CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) content and the omega-3 fatty acid content of its lipid profile, since the more herbage the cows eat, the more the content of these dietetically beneficial fats increases, influencing the qualities of the cheese.

— Finally, the region’s farmers are the inheritors of a long tradition of producing this cheese, with its unique characteristics – such as its peculiar and traditional ‘chef’s hat’ shape, which immediately identifies it – and their product has gained well-merited prestige and renown among consumers.

Reference to publication of the specification

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

https://mediorural.xunta.gal/sites/default/files/produtos/en-tramitacion/Pliego_de_condiciones_DOP_Cebreiro_septiembre_2020_final.pdf

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