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
Date: 2015-07-18
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Extremadura, Spain, consumer information, designation of origin, product designation, quality control of agricultural products, sheep's milk cheese




C_2015235EN.01000501.xml










18.7.2015   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 235/5





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 235/05)
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


‘TORTA DEL CASAR’


EU No: ES-PDO-0105-01128 – 8.7.2013


PDO ( X ) PGI ( )

1.   Applicant group and legitimate interest


Consejo Regulador de la Denominación de Origen Protegida Torta Del Casar [Regulatory Council for the Protected Designation of Origin ‘Torta del Casar’]





Avda. de la Constitución, 13. 10190




Casar de Cáceres




ESPAÑA




Tel./Fax +34 927290713/927291654




E-mail: info@tortadelcasar.eu




The Regulatory Council is a non-profit organisation recognised as the management body for the PDO by the competent authority in the Member State. It operates on democratic principles and represents the economic and sectoral interests of its members, with special concern for minority interests, thus ensuring equal representation of all the various interests.
With regard to this application, the Regulatory Council's role is to propose amendments to the product specification and take part in any proceedings instituted for that purpose, as well as to lay down requirements with regard to secondary labels, seals and other guarantee marks specific to this PDO (including marks that can be included in the label) and to issue them.
This application to amend the product specification has been agreed by the Regulatory Council for the Protected Designation of Origin ‘Torta del Casar’ in accordance with its allotted role, and its interest is therefore entirely legitimate.
2.   Member State or Third Country

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








—


☐


Name of product




—


☒


Description of product




—


☐


Geographical area




—


☒


Proof of origin




—


☒


Method of production




—


☒


Link




—


☒


Labelling




—


☒


Other:






—


National requirements










—


Control body








4.   Type of amendment(s)








—


☒


Amendment to product specification of a registered PDO or PGI not to be qualified as minor in accordance with the third subparagraph of Article 53(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012




—


☐


Amendment to product specification of a registered PDO or PGI for which a Single Document (or equivalent) has not been published not to be qualified as minor in accordance with the third subparagraph of Article 53(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012




5.   Amendment(s)


Introduction

The amendments to the ‘Description of Product’ and ‘Method of Production’ sections are intended to improve quality assurance, facilitate comprehension and respond to new market demand without affecting the specific characteristics of the product.
The amendments to the headings corresponding to ‘Proof of Origin’, ‘Labelling’ and ‘Other’ are necessary to comply with Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012. The current product specification was drawn up before that Regulation was published and some sections are therefore out of step with the legislation now in force. Amendments have also been made to improve conformity assessment, in accordance with the UNE-EN ISO/IEC 17065/2012 standard.
The section headed ‘Link’ has been restructured and enhanced at the request of the European Commission's Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development.
The amendments made and the reasons for making them are set out below.

Description of product







—


A more precise description is given of the physical characteristics of ‘Torta del Casar’, including its edges, which, in their original form, are not very pronounced. The words ‘rounded edges’ have therefore been included as evidence that the cheeses have been handled correctly at the maturing stage.










—


A new size of ‘Torta del Casar’ has been included. It is known as ‘small’ and weighs between 200 g and 500 g. The new size is being introduced in response to new market demand identified by the market research carried out by the consultants AC Nielsen (Estudio Notoriedad e Imagen de la Torta del Casar [Study on the reputation and image of ‘Torta del Casar’], May 2008) and Bureau Veritas (Estrategias de mercados de quesos DOP Torta del Casar [Marketing Strategies for PDO ‘Torta del Casar’ cheeses], 2005).




Checks have been carried out to verify that the new size still has the same physico-chemical and organoleptic characteristics as the medium-sized and large cheeses, particularly as regards the maturation period, given that the product specification does not set the same maturation period for all sizes but merely sets a minimum period to allow the cheeses to acquire their specific characteristics and to be ready for dispatch. A minimum maturation period of 60 days is also a sanitary requirement for the use of raw milk, but the maturation period could be increased to 90 or 100 days depending on the size of the cheese and the conditions. That period has been verified by the Agri-food Technology Institute of Extremadura (Instituto Tecnológico Agroalimentario de Extremadura, INTAEX), as shown by its report on the resizing of the cheeses. However, no tests were carried out to determine whether cheeses of the new size can mature in a shorter period of time, as no amendment is being requested with regard to the maturation period.
The weight ranges given in the product specification for the two existing sizes (900-1 100 g for the large cheese and 500-700 g for the medium-sized cheese) have been amended. The weight range for the large cheese has been increased by 100 g (801-1 100 g), as has the weight range for the medium-sized cheese (501-800 g), thus including in the classification cheeses weighing between 700 g and 900 g, which had inexplicably been excluded.
These three sizes, now known as ‘small’ (200-500 g), ‘medium-sized’ (501-800 g) and ‘large’ (801-1 100 g), have been defined because the conformity of the product is assessed and certification labels are allocated on the basis of the cheeses produced and not their weight. The three ranges thus set make it possible to connect the two sizes, allowing proper conformance testing to be carried out. The weight is checked at the end of the maturation process and before dispatch.
The sizing system has been modified, both to allow for the new size and to make sure that, in a traditional production system in which sizes are not exact, the resulting ‘Torta del Casar’ will always have the torta-like shape to which it owes its name, above all by being wider than it is tall.
The organoleptic characteristics are currently defined in a way that is largely subjective and not always comparable with the more objective terms and methodology used in the ISO standards for sensory analysis, which will form the basis for their subsequent verification. The current wording takes into account not only the terminology laid down in the relevant standards but also the publication Guía de evaluación sensorial de los quesos [Sensory Guide to the Assessment of Cheeses] (José González Crespo and Isidro Roa Ojalvo; Instituto Tecnológico Agroalimentario de Extremadura. Fondo Formación, 2000).
To make the sensory assessment more objective, the characteristics relating to the exterior or rind of the cheese have been differentiated from those relating to the interior or paste.
—   Rind: the colour was defined as ‘yellow to ochre’, but yellow has been deleted because it is already included in the definition of ochre and is therefore redundant and does not add to the description of the product.
—   Paste: the descriptors used have been clarified as follows:






—


The consistency of the paste has been redefined as ‘soft to very soft’. The term ‘spreadable’, which is linked to the attribute of ‘viscosity’ (ISO 5492:08; 3.48, viscosity), has been deleted.










—


In the definition of the ‘structure’ (ISO 5492:08; 3.55, conformation, structure), ‘closed texture’ has been replaced by ‘uniform’, with reference to the ‘arrangement and distribution of the internal elements’ (Guía de evaluación sensorial de los quesos, p. 22), and it has been specified that there should be ‘rounded holes characteristic of the maturing process’. The terms ‘soft and unctuous’ have also been deleted, because they are attributes relating to hardness (ISO 5492:08; 3.42, hardness) and viscosity (ISO 5492:08; 3.48, viscosity) and have already been defined with reference to the consistency of the paste.










—


The words ‘as a result the paste sometimes oozes out through cracks in the rind’ have been deleted, because they are not consistent with the description of the rind, which allows only small cracks in the surface of the cheese.










—


The following amendments have been made to the description of the texture to bring it into line without completely rewriting it:






—


The term ‘creamy’, used in the original description to define fluidity rather than viscosity (ISO 5492:08; 3.48, viscosity), has been retained, but the adverb ‘moderately’ has been included to bring it closer to ‘viscous’.










—


The attribute ‘slight to no granularity’ has been added (ISO 5492:08; 3.54, granularity).














—


As odour and taste are attributes that relate exclusively to the paste, they have been moved to this section from the section relating to the rind and have been described individually for the sake of clarity.






—


As regards the odour, the word ‘intense’ has been deleted, because it merely defines the magnitude of the perceived sensation (ISO 5492:08; 2.8, intensity) without necessarily identifying attributes that are specific to the protected product. That intensity has now been quantified in relation to descriptors that are specific to the product from the ‘lactic’ and ‘vegetal’ families.










—


As regards the taste, the word ‘developed’ has been deleted, because it is not defined in the standards. The basic taste ‘bitter’ (ISO 5492:08; 3.5, bitterness) has been quantified and two further basic tastes, ‘salty’ (ISO 5492:08; 3.6, saltiness) and ‘acid’ (ISO 5492:08; 3.3, acidity), have been added and quantified. The words ‘attributable to the vegetable rennet used’ have been deleted, as it is not a phrase describing or quantifying the taste.









Proof of origin

Some paragraphs in this section have been amended to bring them more closely into line with the UNE-EN ISO/IEC 17065/2012 standard, namely those describing the checks carried out by operators in accordance with the product specification and verification of compliance with that specification by the control body.

Method of production

To guarantee the origin of the milk used to produce PDO ‘Torta del Casar’ cheese, the following requirement has been introduced in relation to the livestock farming system: ‘All animals registered at registered holdings must belong to the merino or entrefino breeds, and all holdings that share handling and milking facilities must be entered in the relevant register.’ The following paragraph has been deleted: ‘Likewise, where sheep entered in the register are kept with sheep not entered in the register, the facilities used to handle them must be clearly differentiated.’
The paragraph setting out the number of animals that make up the current flock of milking sheep of the merino and entrefino breeds and the estimated annual milk production has been deleted, because these are parameters that can vary over time.
The permitted farming system and feed have been described. The term ‘pastures’ has been replaced by ‘natural resources’, which includes the area's traditional practices of sowing crops which can be used for grazing or, after the harvest, as either green or dried fodder. Similarly, the components that may be used as supplementary feed have been listed, namely fodder, straw, compound feed and concentrates. The words ‘checked by the Regulatory Council's technical staff’ have been deleted, as they do not describe the feed system.
Legislative developments in recent years, which post-date the initial drafting and publication of the specification for PDO ‘Torta del Casar’, have made it necessary to reorganise and supplement the point relating to processes falling within the scope of the legislation in question, i.e. milking, transport and storage of the milk. Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs (2) and Regulation (EC) No 853/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 laying down specific hygiene rules for food of animal origin (3) laid down hygiene standards for the production of raw sheep's milk. Subsequently, the Community rules were further developed at national level by Royal Decree 752/2011 of 27 May 2011 laying down the basic control regulations to be complied with by the raw sheep's and goat's milk sector. It also extends to the sheep's milk sector the compulsory notification of the various test results to the ‘Letra Q’ database, which has so far applied only to the cow's milk sector. In the light of the above, the following amendments have been made:






—


Including the following text setting minimum requirements for milk that will be used to make PDO ‘Torta del Casar’ cheeses: ‘In terms of its quality and composition, the milk used to produce “Torta del Casar” must, in any event: be raw, whole, non-standardised, clean and free of impurities; have a fat plus protein content of at least 11,0 % and a protein content of at least 4,8 %; have a pH of between 6,6 and 6,9.’










—


Enabling the primary producer to determine his own best practice for handling livestock, thus allowing individual flexibility but always guaranteeing milk hygiene. To this end, the sentence ‘Milking takes place twice a day’ has been deleted and the following sentence inserted: ‘Milking must take place in conditions that guarantee milk hygiene at all times, and, where necessary, the milk must be collected and transported separately from other milk.’










—


Bringing the milk-handling parameters as regards minimum and maximum temperatures and maximum storage time into line with the true situation, in which better facilities and the testing required by the new legislation make it possible to guarantee optimum milk quality at all times. To this end, the text ‘keeping the milk at a temperature of 4 °C for a maximum of 48 hours and transporting it, where necessary, in hygienic conditions in insulated or refrigerated containers’ has been deleted and the following text inserted: ‘The maximum period of storage after milking and before processing may not exceed 72 hours, during which time the milk must be kept at between 1 °C and 6 °C in cold tanks intended exclusively for milk from registered holdings and located in facilities declared by operators.’




The following requirement has also been included and represents an improvement in the production process that has an impact on quality and guarantees the milk used to produce PDO ‘Torta del Casar’: ‘All cheese dairies must have at least one cold tank on site reserved exclusively for taking delivery of and storing milk from registered operators.’
Amendments have been made to some manufacturing parameters that had hitherto been given as single, absolute values that were not compatible with the measuring equipment now installed at production facilities, the calibration, accuracy and precision of which make it possible to set tolerance ranges that not only do not undermine the initial value but also enhance the dairy's ability to monitor the process. Now that dairies can monitor temperature (thermometers in curdling vats), pressure (manometers in pneumatic presses) and relative humidity (hygrometers in maturing rooms) more closely and make use of external calibration and verification systems from independent laboratories, it is possible to obtain readings that are more accurate and closer to the true values in order to monitor the process. Consequently, adjustments have been made to the figures relating to temperature (reducing the minimum from 28 °C to 26 °C), curdling time (increasing the maximum from 80 to 90 minutes), pressing (increasing the maximum pressure from 2,5 kg/cm2 to 3 kg/cm2 and deleting the minimum pressing time, which now becomes ‘a maximum of 8 hours’ instead of ‘between 3 and 8 hours’) and relative humidity during maturation (increasing the maximum from 90 % to 95 %).
As regards the salting stage, the term ‘sodium chloride’ has been replaced by the term ‘common salt’, so as to use the traditional name of the substance in question, which also reflects the name of the stage itself. Furthermore, although the cheese may still be either dry-salted or wet-salted, the following paragraph has been deleted: ‘Where wet-salting is used, the cheeses must be placed in brine with a maximum concentration of 16° Beaumé for around 5 to 6 hours’. This is because the reference to a saline solution with a concentration of between 0° and 16° Beaumé would not necessarily result in the cheeses being salted correctly. It should also be pointed out that the maximum proportion of sodium chloride, which is the main component of common salt, has already been laid down in the product description (point B(2) of the specification: NaCl maximum 3 %) and is therefore subject to final testing.
The paragraph ‘During the maturing process, the surface of the cheeses may be treated with a colourless fungicide’ has been inserted to guarantee the final quality of the cheese, thereby accepting treatment with colourless fungicides. Penicillium, Aspergillus and Fusarium moulds are micro-organisms that grow well on moist, slightly acidic, nutrient-rich substrates with a low salt content at moderate temperatures in the presence of oxygen. These are conditions that can easily be found on the surface of ‘Torta del Casar’, where mould growth can be very vigorous and affect the quality of the product. Moreover, some moulds can produce mycotoxins, which would affect the safety of the product.
The following paragraphs have been deleted because they do not relate to the production process and refer to other documents (Regulation, Quality Manual, Manual of Procedures):






—


‘After maturation, the products with the characteristics set out in section B must be verified by the Regulatory Council's technical staff, who carry out the appropriate checks, sampling and testing to determine whether they comply with the requirements set out in the Regulation, Quality Manual and Manual of Procedures. The control process then continues with the Certification Committee, which has three members representing three interest groups, namely farmers and manufacturers, consumers and users, and technical specialists. It informs the Regulatory Council of whether or not it agrees with the results of the tests carried out.’










—


‘The certification process is complete once a numbered secondary label has been placed on each cheese that has been verified, guaranteeing its origin and quality. The secondary label is issued by the Regulatory Council and is inseparably and indelibly attached to the cheese until it is consumed.’




However, in order to ensure compliance with the specification, it is specified that the Regulatory Council is the control body within the meaning of Articles 37 and 39 of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 and has had the relevant accreditation under the UNE-EN 45011/1998 standard since 20 July 2012, that accreditation still being valid today (Technical Annex, Accreditation No 103/C-PR221, rev. 2, dated 29 July 2014). This means that the Regulatory Council has demonstrated its technical competence, impartiality and objectivity and shown that it has the necessary resources to act as product certification body.
The Regulatory Council, as the control body, thus inspects the operators' production process to assess whether the results of the checks are correct and to test the samples of the raw material and finished product taken during production. So as to guarantee the impartiality and objectivity of its actions, it has a Stakeholder Committee (previously known as the Certification Committee) with a balanced representation of the three interest groups, i.e. milk suppliers and processors, consumers and users, and technical specialists.
One of the main characteristics of ‘Torta del Casar’ is its creamy texture. However, once it has reached its optimum state, it gradually loses its creaminess, which could mean that, after a time, the cheese no longer has the characteristics that should be specific to it. Consequently, in order to ensure optimal product quality, a time limit has been set for consumption and the following text has been added: ‘Before dispatch, cheeses that have been assessed by the cheese dairies as conforming to the specification must have certification labels affixed to guarantee their origin and traceability. Each label must display at least the product's serial number, batch number and best-before date, which may not be more than 210 days after the date of manufacture’, that being understood as the date on which the milk is coagulated, thus starting the cheese-making process.
In response to the new market demand identified by the study conducted by Bureau Veritas (Estrategias de mercados de quesos con Denominación de Origen Protegida Torta del Casar), it is now permitted to dispatch cheeses cut into portions, which is why the following text has been added: ‘Certified cheeses may be dispatched in half- or quarter-sized portions.’
To guarantee better quality for the consumer, the following has been added with regard to packaging: ‘The packaging system must preserve the integrity and final quality of the product.’

Link

The paragraphs that make up this section have been reorganised. The part that relates to natural factors has not been amended, but improvements have been made to the wording of the part relating to historical and economic factors, and human factors that reinforce the link have also been included.

Labelling

The text has been brought into line with Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 and the preceding sections. All text that should form part of the procedure for using the brand, as laid down by the Regulatory Council in its quality documents, has been deleted.
In addition to the preceding paragraphs and in order to ensure checks on the traceability of certified whole and cut cheeses, the following text has been added: ‘The final labelling must consist of the commercial label of the cheese dairy and the certification label, which must be placed inseparably and indelibly on every certified whole or cut cheese, with ultimate responsibility for its correct use being borne by the manufacturer.’ As regards the mandatory certification label issued by the Regulatory Council, the latter operates a computerised application and allocation system for certification labels which is freely accessible to all operators. It has been audited by the external auditor ENAC, which verified its effectiveness, its suitability in terms of the automatic allocation and distribution of labels and its non-discrimination on the basis of the volume of certified products.
The cost borne by the operators for the labels they require is the same for all, regardless of the number of labels requested, and is calculated as a percentage of the production costs.

Other

—   National requirements: at the suggestion of the competent national authorities, this section, which has the title ‘Legislative Requirements’ in the specification, has been deleted because there are no specific requirements relating to the protected product.
—   Control body: the details have been updated for the control body, which, as previously stated, is the Regulatory Council for the Protected Designation of Origin ‘Torta del Casar’.
SINGLE DOCUMENT

‘TORTA DEL CASAR’


EU No: ES-PDO-0105-01128 – 8.7.2013


PDO ( X ) PGI ( )

1.   Name


‘Torta del Casar’

2.   Member State or Third Country

Spain
3.   Description of the agricultural product or foodstuff

3.1.   Type of product

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

‘Torta del Casar’ is a cheese made from the raw milk of ewes of the merino and entrefino breeds. It is coagulated with vegetable rennet made from the cardoon (Cynara cardunculus) and is matured for at least 60 days.
‘Torta del Casar’ must have the following physical, physico-chemical and organoleptic characteristics.
a.   Physical:

—   Shape: cylindrical with quite smooth faces, smooth-convex sides and rounded edges.
—   Dimensions: 
i.   Diameter: at least 7 cm
ii.   Height: no more than 50 % of its diameter
—   Weight: there are three size ranges, with a maximum tolerance of 5 %:
i.   Large: 801-1 100 g
ii.   Medium-sized: 501-800 g
iii.   Small: 200-500 g
b.   Physico-chemical:

—   Fat in dry matter: at least 50 %.
—   Dry matter: at least 50 %
—   pH: between 5,20 and 5,90
—   NaCl: no more than 3,0 %
c.   Organoleptic:

—   Rind: semi-hard, defined and differentiated from the paste, of a uniform ochre colour, free from colourings and traditionally presented rubbed in oil. There may be small cracks in the surface.
—   Paste: 
i.   Consistency: soft to very soft.
ii.   Colour: white to yellowish.
iii.   Structure: uniform, with the possible presence, when cut, of rounded holes characteristic of the maturing process.
iv.   Texture: the fundamental and distinctive quality of this cheese is its moderate to intense creaminess, fatty and melting texture and slight to no granularity.
v.   Odour: medium to low intensity, of the ‘lactic’ and/or ‘vegetal’ families.
vi.   Taste: slight to moderate bitterness, slight saltiness, slight to no acidity.
3.3.   Feed (for products of animal origin only) and raw materials (for processed products only)

Registered flocks of sheep must be fed in accordance with traditional practices, which make use of the natural resources of the geographical area through extensive or semi-extensive farming. Fodder, straw, compound feed and concentrates may be used as supplementary feed where necessary.
The maximum stocking density for semi-extensive farming is set at 1,8 livestock units per hectare (LU/ha). This ensures that supplementary feed sourced from outside the geographical area remains below the limit set by the applicable legislation.
In addition to the natural vegetation associated with extensive or semi-extensive farming, the geographical area also provides hay, straw, cereals or vetch grown from seed, which can be used for grazing or, after the harvest, as either green or dried fodder.
The supplementary feed is based principally around protein (soya, rapeseed >50 %) and cereal (barley, maize, wheat >25 %). The final mix given to the animals consists mainly of that basic feed (>25 %), forage crops (alfalfa, vetch >30 %), cereals (maize, barley >20 %) and seeds (cotton, sunflower >6 %).
It is not technically possible to obtain soya, rapeseed, sunflower, cotton or alfalfa in the geographical area.
The milk used to produce ‘Torta del Casar’ must be obtained from ewes of the merino and entrefino breeds.
In terms of its quality and composition, the milk used to produce ‘Torta del Casar’ must be suitable for cheese-making and must, in any event:






—


be raw, whole, non-standardised, clean and free of impurities;










—


have a fat plus protein content of at least 11,0 % and a protein content of at least 4,8 %;










—


have a pH of between 6,6 and 6,9.




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

The geographical area covered by the ‘Torta del Casar’ PDO lies in the province of Cáceres, which forms part of the Autonomous Community of Extremadura (Spain), and is defined in point 4 of this document. The production steps that must take place in this area are:






—


Milk production, as set out in point 3.3.










—


Cheese-making, including coagulation, cutting, moulding, pressing, salting and maturing.




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

The cheeses may be dispatched in half- or quarter-sized portions. There is a free choice of packaging as long as it preserves the integrity and final quality of the product.
3.6.   Specific rules concerning labelling of the product to which the registered name refers

The whole or cut cheeses must be labelled within the geographical area by certified operators so as to guarantee the origin and authenticity of the product. As stated in section 3.2(c) of this document, ‘Torta del Casar’ is a cheese with a semi-hard rind, which is why it is not permitted to affix removable identifiers such as casein labels to the rind to ensure traceability. Consequently, all there is to guarantee the authenticity and origin of the product is the certification label, which carries a printed batch number and unique serial number and must be placed on each cheese by the operators before dispatch to allow this to be carried out under the control of the Regulatory Council and without compromising traceability. It therefore does not constitute a restriction on the single market.
The final labelling must consist of the commercial label of the cheese dairy and the certification label, which must be placed inseparably and indelibly on every certified whole or cut cheese, with ultimate responsibility for its correct use being borne by the registered operator.
The final labelling must also display the batch number, the best-before date, which may not be more than 210 days after the date of manufacture, and all other particulars specified in the relevant legislation.

PDO ‘Torta del Casar’ logo:




4.   Concise definition of the geographical area

The geographical area in which the milk is produced and ‘Torta del Casar’ is made is located in the districts of Los Llanos de Cáceres, Sierra de Fuentes and Montánchez, in the south-central part of the province of Cáceres, which forms part of the Autonomous Community of Extremadura (Spain).
The area covers approximately 400 000 ha and comprises the following municipalities:
Albalá, Alcuéscar, Aldea del Cano, Aliseda, Almoharín, Arroyo de la Luz, Arroyomolinos, Benquerencia, Botija, Brozas, Cáceres, Casar de Cáceres, Casas de Don Antonio, Garrovillas, Herreruela, Hinojal, La Cumbre, Malpartida de Cáceres, Monroy, Montánchez, Navas del Madroño, Plasenzuela, Ruanes, Salvatierra de Santiago, Santa Ana, Santa Marta de Magasca, Santiago del Campo, Sierra de Fuentes, Talaván, Torremocha, Torreorgaz, Torrequemada, Torre de Santa María, Valdefuentes, Valdemorales, Zarza de Montánchez.
5.   Link with the geographical area


Specificity of the geographical area

a.   Natural factors:

—   Relief: The production area lies to the north of the Sierra de San Pedro and is bounded by the province of Badajoz, the rivers Magasca and Almonte to the east and the Tagus to the north. The steppe-like plain of the geographical area is broken by the Sierra de Fuentes, running north-west to south-east, with altitudes of between 250 m and 450 m.
—   Soils: the soils are sand, sandy loam or clay, not very fertile and rather thin, and are formed by the decomposition of the granite subsoil. There are numerous rocky outcrops, forming what are known as berrocales or barruecos, of which there is a well-known example in Malpartida de Cáceres. There are few places suitable for growing crops and most of the area is used to graze sheep.
—   Climate: the area has a continental climate with long, hot summers and short, mild winters. The annual average temperature is between 15 °C and 18 °C, but temperatures can climb to over 40 °C in summer. Rainfall, which ranges between 300 ml and 500 ml, is irregular and occurs mostly in spring and autumn.
—   Hydrography: in addition to the aforementioned watercourses that form the perimeter of the area, there are others.
—   Flora and natural grasslands: the flora consists mainly of herbaceous plants, with Gramineae (Gen. Poa, Festuca and Agrostis), Leguminosae (Gen. Medicago and Trifolium) and Compositae, species which are highly nutritious but slow-growing. There are also some shrubs, such as Genista and spiny broom, particularly in high-altitude areas, and trees of the Genus Quercus (holm oak, kermes oak, cork oak).
b.   Historical and economic factors:

Since time immemorial, transhumance and grazing have been practised in the geographical area of the ‘Torta del Casar’ PDO, as defined in point 4 of this document. These are activities that are closely interconnected and deeply rooted in the districts that make up the geographical area, as the natural factors described above obliged the peoples that settled there to make the most of the available resources in order to sustain their economies.
The scarcity of natural resources in the area favoured the emergence of livestock farming, particularly sheep farming. There is evidence that there have been flocks in the area since antiquity, and the work Interrogatorios de la Real Audiencia. Extremadura al final de los tiempos modernos. Partido Judicial de Cáceres [Hearings in the Royal Courts. Extremadura at the end of the modern age. Judicial district of Cáceres] contains evidence from 1791 of the production of the cheese, which was used to pay tithes, and the presence of the sheep that produced the milk, which were kept mainly for wool.
However, with the decline in the value of wool, milk and cheese production became more and more important, transforming the production of ‘Torta del Casar’ into an essential adjunct to the local economy.
c.   Human factors:

The specific character of ‘Torta del Casar’ has been preserved as a result of natural factors, historical and economic factors and human factors, in the form of the master cheese-maker. Despite the changes that the production process has undergone, as the practice of making cheeses for home consumption on sheep farms alongside the flocks has given way to today's cheese dairies designed to meet new requirements and market demands, the master cheese-maker has remained an essential figure, as there is still a need for his special knowledge of the raw materials, processes and desired result for the production of ‘Torta del Casar’. It should be noted that the master cheese-maker controls multiple variables which require particular expertise for the following reasons:






—


Working with raw, whole, non-standardised milk produced at various times of the year means that the composition and bacteriology of the milk can vary considerably, affecting the entire process.










—


The use of natural Cynara cardunculus that has not been extracted or standardised makes the coagulation stage particularly complex and decisive for optimal curd formation.










—


The decision as to when to cut the curd and how big the resulting grains should be is influenced by the above factors and is taken on the basis of experience.










—


Moulding by hand and pressing are processes which require an exact knowledge of how much curd to put in each mould and how much pressure to apply to attain the required moisture content.










—


As a result of the many environmental changes that occur over the course of the year and affect the maturing process, the cheese requires constant monitoring to make sure that it is developing correctly.




It is only with a knowledge of these factors that it is possible to achieve intense proteolysis, a process involving the breakdown of the milk proteins, which, when it occurs before the rind is fully formed, gives ‘Torta del Casar’ its characteristic texture and shape.

Specificity of the product

The specific characteristics which distinguish ‘Torta del Casar’ from other cheeses are its creamy texture, its characteristic slightly bitter taste and its unusual shape, which is reminiscent of a torta de pan [bread pudding cake] — it is wider than it is tall, with rounded, convex sides and almost no edges. The way in which the cheese is consumed also differs from other cheeses, because the top of the cheese has to be sliced off like a lid to get at the cheese without it oozing out. The ‘lid’ should be replaced for storage.

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)

Because the geographical area has few natural resources as a result of the characteristics set out in section 5.1(a), the inhabitants have centred their economy around livestock farming, specifically sheep, as they are well-adapted to the geographical environment. They are reared for milk and cheese production, because of the decline in the value of wool.
The hardy and adaptable merino and entrefino sheep have become perfectly acclimatised to the semi-steppe-like plains of the geographical area, producing milk which, because it is processed without undergoing heat treatment of any kind, retains all the diverse bacterial flora acquired as a result of the farming method. This gives the cheese its characteristic ‘lactic’ and/or ‘vegetal’ aromas.
Similarly, the unusual shape that is characteristic of ‘Torta del Casar’ is due to the unusual way in which it is matured, which makes it impossible to maintain the shape that is traditional for other cheeses.
The use of natural vegetable rennet obtained from the native cardoon (Cynara cardunculus), in combination with the know-how of the master cheese-maker, produces intense proteolysis during maturation at a stage when the rind is not yet fully formed, as a result of which the cheeses cannot support their own weight and tend to flatten and bulge out at the sides, giving them an unusual shape that reminded the artisan cheese-makers of a torta de pan, from which ‘Torta del Casar’ derives its name.
This intense proteolysis is also what gives ‘Torta del Casar’ its characteristically creamy texture.
Lastly, the slightly bitter taste that is characteristic of ‘Torta del Casar’ is due to the native cardoon (Cynara cardunculus) used to coagulate the milk.
Consequently, it is only the combination of the raw milk obtained from ewes of the merino and entrefino breeds reared in the geographical area of the PDO, the use of the native cardoon (Cynara cardunculus) as a natural coagulant and the traditional know-how acquired by the master cheese-makers that produces a cheese with the shape, texture, aroma and taste that characterise ‘Torta del Casar’.

Reference to publication of the product specification

(the second subparagraph of Article 6(1) of this Regulation)
http://pame.gobex.es/NR/rdonlyres/0C950236-7397-4C23-94BD-99772603F0DD/0/PliegoCondicionesTortaCasarModif.pdf


(1)  OJ L 343, 14.12.2012, p. 1.

(2)  OJ L 139, 30.4.2004, p. 1.

(3)  OJ L 139, 30.4.2004, p. 55.