EN Official Journal of the European Union C 323/11

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 323/09)

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

‘MOJAMA DE ISLA CRISTINA’

EC No: ES-PGI-0005-01211 – 10.3.2014

PGI ( X ) PDO ( )

1. Name

‘Mojama de Isla Cristina’

2. Member State or Third Country

Spain

3. Description of the agricultural product or foodstuff

3.1. Type of product

Class 1.7. Fresh fish, molluscs and crustaceans and products derived therefrom

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

‘Mojama de Isla Cristina’ is made from the fine part of the tuna fish known as the loin, both the upper and lower loins, which are cured by being seasoned and dried in the air or in tunnels designed for that purpose.

‘Mojama de Isla Cristina’ is classed as either Extra or Primera.

Categoría Extra : this is mojama made from the inside part of the loin, i.e. the part that is in contact with the backbone, which is less fatty.

Categoría Primera : this is mojama made from the parts of the loin adjacent to those used for Categoría Extra, which contain more fat.

‘Mojama de Isla Cristina’ is dark brown on the outside, while on the inside there are the streaks characteristic of tuna loin, which are much more conspicuous in Categoría Primera than in Categoría Extra. When cut it is varying shades of deep red, darker at the edges, with a texture that is compact, smooth and not very fibrous, and it smells and tastes of oily fish.

The salt content is between 3 % and 9 % and relative moisture must be between 40 % and 50 %.

The product is vacuum-packed in transparent plastic bags, duly labelled, in pieces of different weights or sliced in olive or sunflower oil. It may also be packed in glass jars, sliced in olive or sunflower oil.

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

‘Mojama de Isla Cristina’ is made from tuna loin of the following species: Thunnus albacares, commercially known as yellowfin tuna, light tuna or rabil, and Thunnus thynnus, commercially known as bluefin tuna, with a live weight of more than 200 kg. There are no restrictions regarding the area of provenance of the raw material, but only wild tuna may be used.

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

The following operations must take place in the defined geographical area: washing the tuna, cutting it up (traditionally known as ronqueo), washing the different cuts obtained, salting, repeated washing to reach the desired level of saltiness, pressing, curing of the loins by drying, trimming and final selection for packaging.

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

The product is vacuum-packed in transparent plastic bags, duly labelled, in pieces of different weights or sliced in olive or sunflower oil. It may also be packed in glass jars, sliced in olive or sunflower oil.

The product must be packed at source in order to maintain the physical, chemical and organoleptic characteristics attained at the end of the process, in particular the salt content and relative moisture.

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

The following must appear prominently on the label of every producer marketing PGI ‘Mojama de Isla Cristina’: the words ‘Mojama de Isla Cristina’ and the European Union PGI logo. In addition, the label must bear the Protected Geographical Indication’s own logo, shown below.

4. Concise definition of the geographical area

‘Mojama de Isla Cristina’ is made in the municipalities of Isla Cristina, Lepe, Cartaya and Ayamonte in the province of Huelva.

5. Link with the geographical area

‘Mojama de Isla Cristina’ is recognised on the national market as a gourmet product, characterised by careful preparation, a high price and discerning consumption. It can be found in food stores that specialise in regional specialities, in different parts of Spain.

The link between ‘Mojama de Isla Cristina’ and the geographical area derives from the prestige and reputation the product has acquired due to the area’s fish salting tradition. It is an area where tuna has been fished for centuries and is still fished today and where know-how resides in the artisanal preparation methods, based on knowledge and experience handed down from one generation to the next.

The whole coast of the Gulf of Cádiz has a long fishing and tuna salting tradition, which dates from the times of the Phoenicians and the Tartessians, who taught the fishing techniques to the early inhabitants of the area, and there are references to catching tuna in a maze of nets that date back to that time.

Fishing was a flourishing way of life, and because there was a need to salt fish so that it could be traded, many fish salting businesses sprang up around Isla Cristina, Ayamonte and Cartaya and generally all along the Huelva coast, where all kinds of tuna and other scombrids were prepared and exported all over the world.

Under the peoples who subsequently settled in the south of Spain, the fishing industry continued and prospered and it is still there today, preserving the traditional, artisanal methods used to process and salt the tuna loins.

The traditional Huelva salting industry is concentrated in Isla Cristina, Lepe and Ayamonte, where the traditional preparation techniques are still used, the climatic conditions being especially suitable.

‘Mojama de Isla Cristina’ is the most important salted tuna product and the industry that prepares it has been developed by small and medium-sized family companies, run by the founder or his descendants, which has enabled the most traditional production methods to be maintained, incorporating only those new methods that improve food safety and permit comprehensive control of the production process, in the pursuit of enhanced quality.

To prepare the product, specialised knowledge and experience are required at every stage of the process: cutting up the fish, removing the loins used to make ‘Mojama de Isla Cristina’, making the cuts in the right places, salting, where the skill lies in knowing how much to salt, then washing, which has to be done in a controlled manner to ensure that the excess — and only the excess — salt is eliminated, and finally drying, which takes place in optimal conditions due to the local microclimate, either naturally or in tunnels designed for that purpose.

Since 2001 Isla Cristina has hosted the Jornadas del atún [tuna week], where world experts gather to share knowledge of a species that is of relevance to tourism, the economy and conservation. This event is organised by the Muy Noble Sociedad de Amigos del Atún Thunnus thynnus y Amantes del Vino, and the activities organised to showcase traditional cuisine include professional mojama tasting, where prizes are awarded to Isla Cristina’s best mojamas, la Semana de Alta Gastronomía [haute cuisine week], where well-known restaurateurs prepare tuna dishes, or the Muestra Culinaria del Atún, involving most of Isla Cristina’s bars, tascas, restaurants and mesones, which compete to produce the excellent dishes passed down through generations of fishermen and their wives.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food’s publication Inventario Español de Productos Tradicionales (1996) and the research published by the Fundación Unicaja, entitled Catalogación y Caracterización de los Productos Típicos Agroalimentarios de Andalucía, Volume II (2006), list ‘Mojama de Isla Cristina’ as a traditional product.

As evidence of the product’s reputation in culinary circles outside the municipality, the ABC de Sevilla newspaper of 1 April 2003 reported on the III Jornadas Gastronómicas Andaluzas en el Ritz de Madrid: De Lepe a la Castellana. The article said that the event was inaugurated by the Coral Playa restaurant from La Antilla-Lepe (Huelva) and the menu included jamón de la sierra de Aracena, ‘Mojama de Isla Cristina’ and Huelva’s famous prawns.

At the XIX Jornada Gastronómica de Granada held in 2010, one of the dishes that could be tasted was Mojama de Isla Cristina en tostas con Salmorejo.

‘Mojama de Isla Cristina’ is mentioned in the Anuario de la Cocina de la Comunitat Valenciana 2013, which was published on 7 December 2012 by José Manuel Rubio, a lover of haute cuisine, and includes selected examples of national and European specialities.

‘Mojama de Isla Cristina’ features on the menu of the Acánthum restaurant as one of its favourite entremeses.

On the menu of the Casa Machaquito restaurant ‘Mojama de Isla Cristina’ features as a local culinary speciality.

La Mirta, the restaurant in the Hotel Eurostars Tartessos, has an extensive on-line menu featuring ‘Mojama de Isla Cristina’ along with two other prized products of Huelva province, prawns and ham.

‘Mojama de Isla Cristina’ also appears in the ‘Gruta’Vademecum de Alimentos [food compendium], which gives a detailed description, with its physical characteristics and guidelines on how to make it.

Regarding the use of the name in everyday language, an article in the ABC de Sevilla newspaper of 7 August 2000 featured the expression ‘…tiesos cual mojama de Barbate o de Isla Cristina’ [an expression meaning ‘completely skint’].

Publication reference of the specification

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

The full text of the product specification can be found at:

http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/agriculturaypesca/portal/export/sites/default/comun/galerias/galeriaDescargas/cap/industrias-agroalimentarias/denominacion-de-origen/Pliegos/Pliego_mojama_islacristina.pdf

or via the homepage of the Consejería de Agricultura, PESCA y Desarrollo Rural (http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/agriculturaypesca/portal), by following the navigation pathway: ‘Industrias Agroalimentarias’/‘Calidad y Promoción’/‘Denominaciones de Calidad’/‘Productos derivados de la pesca’. The specification can be found under the name of the Quality Designation.

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