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
Date: 2015-10-08
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Auvergne, France, Limousin, Midi-Pyrenées, consumer information, designation of origin, labelling, meat product, processed foodstuff, product designation








C_2015331EN.01000801.xml










8.10.2015   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 331/8





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 331/09)
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

‘JAMBON D’AUVERGNE’


EU No: FR-PGI-0005-01348 — 23.06.2015


PDO ( ) PGI ( X )

1.   Name


‘Jambon d’Auvergne’

2.   Member State or Third Country

France
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 the product to which the name in (1) applies

‘Jambon d’Auvergne’ is the hind leg of a meat-producing pig that is dry salted, matured and dried for at least 240 days (eight months) (counted from the date of salting until the end of the maturing stage). Its bone-in weight is at least 6 kg after the maturing stage. It is prepared using a fresh, trimmed hind leg weighing at least 8,5 kg at the point when salt is applied. It is never smoked.
Between the date of salting and the end of the maturing stage, the whole hams must undergo a minimum weight reduction, which is a percentage loss based on the weight of the fresh, trimmed ham:
—   fresh ham weighing between 8,5 and 9,5 kg: minimum loss of 28 %,
—   fresh ham weighing between 9,5 and 10,5 kg: minimum loss of 28,5 %,
—   fresh ham weighing between 10,5 and 11,5 kg: minimum loss of 29 %,
—   fresh ham weighing 11,5 kg and over: minimum loss of 29,5 %.
The other physico-chemical characteristics of ‘Jambon d’Auvergne’ are as follows:
—   water content (in finished product, unpackaged): ≤ 61 %,
—   salt content (with a moisture content of 77 % in the product once the fat has been removed): ≤ 6,5 %,
—   total soluble sugar content (in finished product, unpackaged): ≤ 0,7 %.
A ‘Jambon d’Auvergne’ ham leg has a rounded shape with a uniform colour and is firm, but not excessively so. Its texture ranges from soft to dry. When eaten, ‘Jambon d’Auvergne’ has a strong flavour that lingers in the mouth. Its aroma and flavour are those typical of dried pork, with hazelnut flavours and possibly slight hints of garlic.
When cut, the slices are uniform, with little covering fat. The lean meat has a uniform colour that is red to dark red, and the fat is also uniform in colour, ranging from white to slightly yellow or pink.
‘Jambon d’Auvergne’ is sold in one of the following forms:






—


uncovered or packaged, with or without the bone, whole, or as a half, quarter or sixth of a ham,










—


by the slice and given directly to the consumer,










—


slices sold in vacuum packs or wrapped in controlled-atmosphere packaging.




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

The fattening feed given to the meat-producing pigs contains at least 60 % cereals, oilseeds and derived products and has a linoleic acid content of less than 1,7 % (in the dry matter).
‘Jambon d’Auvergne’ is produced using fresh hind legs of meat-producing female or castrated male pigs. Uncastrated males, young males that have not yet reached sexual maturity, males castrated of a single testicle, males with cryptorchidism and hermaphrodites are not used.
All animals are identified and traced.
All carcass categories on the Seurop classification are allowed.
The fresh hind leg used to produce ‘Jambon d’Auvergne’ has a rounded shape and is cut at no higher than 6 cm above the head of the femur. After trimming, and ready for salting, the ham weighs at least 8,5 kg, with fat that is at least 10 mm thick at the base.
3.4.   Specific steps in production that must take place in the defined geographical area

The production steps for ‘Jambon d’Auvergne’ — from salting to the end of the maturing phase — take place in the geographical area.
3.5.   Specific rules concerning slicing, grating, packaging, etc. of the product to which the registered name refers

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

Along with the name of the protected geographical indication, the words ‘dried ham’ may also appear on the product label. The words ‘dried ham’ must be written in type no more than three quarters the size of the type used for the name of the protected geographical indication.
4.   Concise definition of the geographical area

The geographical area encompasses the territory of the following municipalities:
The departments of Cantal, Haute-Loire and Puy-de-Dôme
Department of Allier: The cantons of Chantelle, Commentry, Cusset-Nord, Cusset-Sud, Ébreuil, Escurolles, Gannat, Huriel, Jaligny-sur-Besbre, Lapalisse, Marcillat-en-Combraille, Le Mayet-de-Montagne, Le Montet, Montmarault, Vichy-Nord and Vichy-Sud. Canton of Bourbon-l’Archambault: the municipalities of Buxières-les-Mines, Saint-Aubin-le-Monial, Saint-Hilaire and Ygrande. Canton of Cérilly: the municipalities of Cérilly, Theneuille, Le Vilhain and Vitray. Canton of Donjon: the municipalities of Avrilly, Le Bouchaud, Le Donjon, Lenax, Loddes, Montaiguët-en-Forez, Montcombroux-les-Mines, Neuilly-en-Donjon and Saint-Didier-en-Donjon. Canton of Hérisson: the municipalities of Bizeneuille, Le Brethon, Givarlais, Louroux-Bourbonnais, Louroux-Hodement, Maillet and Saint-Caprais. Canton of Montluçon-Est: the municipalities of Chamblet, Deneuille-les-Mines, Désertines, Saint-Angel and Verneix. Canton of Montluçon-Ouest: the municipalities of Lamaids, Prémilhat and Quinssaines. Canton of Montluçon-Sud: the municipalities of Lavault-Sainte-Anne, Lignerolles, Néris-les-Bains and Teillet-Argenty. Canton of Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule: the municipalities of Bransat, Cesset, Laféline, Loriges, Louchy-Montfand, Monétay-sur-Allier, Montord, Saulcet and Verneuil-en-Bourbonnais. Canton of Souvigny: the municipalities of Besson, Bresnay, Gipcy, Meillers, Noyant-d’Allier and Souvigny. Canton of Varennes-sur-Allier: the municipalities of Billy, Langy, Magnet, Montaigu-le-Blin, Saint-Félix, Saint-Gérand-le-Puy, Saint-Germain-des-Fossés, Sanssat and Seuillet.
Department of Corrèze: Cantons of Ussel-Est and Ussel-Ouest: all municipalities.
Department of Lot: Municipality of Labastide-du-Haut-Mont.
5.   Link with the geographical area


Specificities of the geographical area

The demarcation of the ‘Jambon d’Auvergne’ geographical area is based on an idea of continuity between the places where traditional practices are used, themselves historically influenced by the natural conditions that are conducive to meat-drying, and the locations of meat-curing businesses.
The geographical area is situated on a massif with an average altitude of 1 000 m, comprising high plateaus and volcanic summits interspersed with many valleys. The area has a continental climate that is influenced by the altitude. The wind conditions contribute to a ventilating effect; this encourages the water loss that helps cured meat products to dry. Indeed, given that the rugged terrain runs transversal to the humid air flows coming from the west, strong föhn effects influence the geographical area, particularly further down the massif.
Until the mid-20th century, there was a well-established domestic and farming tradition of rearing pigs and producing pork meat, mainly dry-cured products, as described in a number of literary works.
Production traditionally took place during the winter, so that the products could be consumed over a period spanning the summer, harvest time and around Christmas. As there were no cold storage facilities, it was only thanks to the winter conditions in the cold mid-mountain areas that salting and drying could be done properly. During production and at the beginning of the drying phase, the ham would sometimes be placed by the fireplace, which would activate flavour development without smoking the product. It would then be put in cool ventilated rooms to continue the drying process. Using garlic in the salt made preservation more effective, given garlic’s specific antioxidant properties, and it also helped the flavours of the ham to develop.
Following the agricultural revolution in the 19th century, the techniques for producing dry-cured meat products were slowly taken up and developed by small-scale businesses and then on an industrial scale. More than 15 of the companies currently found inside the geographical area began operations before the Second World War. From 1830 onwards, people began leaving Auvergne for Paris where they worked mainly in brasseries and restaurants. This helped dry-cured meats produced in the geographical area reach a new audience and enhanced their reputation.
Nowadays, dry-cured meats account for 78 % of prepared meat products made in the geographical area, whereas this figure stands at 16 % for the whole of France.

Specificity of the product

At the end of the production process, which lasts at least eight months and includes a heat-curing phase and salting with slightly garlicky dry salt, ‘Jambon d’Auvergne’ has a characteristically rounded shape, with a soft to dry texture, which is firm, but not excessively so.
The lean meat, which is red to dark red in colour, is surrounded by a thin layer of covering fat.
Its aroma and flavour, which are typical of dried pork meat, intensify during the maturing phase and feature hazelnut-type flavours, possibly with a hint of garlic.

Causal link

The link between the geographical area and ‘Jambon d’Auvergne’ is based on the reputation and specific characteristics of the product.
Farms began producing ‘Jambon d’Auvergne’ due to a range of factors inherent to the geographical area. These included natural factors, with a winter climate and terrain that helped the products to dry (cold average temperatures so that the product could be preserved and mountain ranges that created drying föhn effects), and human factors, with pig rearing developing strongly, thus providing the raw material.
This gave rise to traditional meat-curing practices, which were handed down and widely shared within the geographical area (attention to the heat-curing phase, the addition of garlic to the salt and a maturing phase of at least eight months).
When producing ‘Jambon d’Auvergne’ today, the heat-curing phase mimics the traditional methods and helps to break down and melt the intramuscular fat, which intensifies the ham’s colour and brings out its flavour.
The addition of garlic to the salt, which has its roots in the historical presence of the plant on the plains within the geographical area, is a significant step that is characteristic of the production process and one which marks out ‘Jambon d’Auvergne’ from other dried hams, as it lends the ham a slight flavour of garlic.
The ‘Jambon d’Auvergne’ production process, which lasts at least eight months, is a reflection of the importance of the maturing phase at the end of the process, which brings out all of the characteristic features of the ham.
The reputation of ‘Jambon d’Auvergne’ can be attributed to this meat-curing tradition. The know-how of meat-curers from the Auvergne gave rise to the ham’s characteristic features, which have stood the test of time (firm texture, hazelnut and garlicky flavours).
The ham’s reputation is endorsed by the numerous references to the product in literary works, both old and new. Since the mid-19th century, the many emigrants who left the Auvergne region for Paris or further afield have also helped promote the product.
As early as 1767, the authors of the ‘Gazetin du Comestible’, a mail-order catalogue, offered Parisian gourmets the chance to purchase hams from Arnac in the Cantal department, describing them as ‘highly prized’. Later, in 1834, Briand-de-Verzé revealed that the most highly ‘prized’ hams came from Cantal, particularly from Maurs and Aurillac in Auvergne, and there was significant trade in these products at the time.
More recently, in 1956, a Mr Pallu, the first director of the French Technical Centre for Cured, Prepared and Preserved Meat, attested to the reputation of ‘Jambon d’Auvergne’: ‘cured hams, such as those from Auvergne (…), are frequently delicious’.
On a different note, in the eleventh album of the Asterix the Gaul comic book series called ‘Asterix and the Chieftain’s Shield’, which was published in France in 1968, the authors René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo depicted cured hams hanging from the ceiling of an Auvergne inn to illustrate Auvergne and its speciality foods.
‘Jambon d’Auvergne’ is also mentioned in the books of the Belgian food writer Mr Buren (who wrote the works ‘Pigs’ in 1987 and ‘Ham’ in 1988) and in ‘A History of Food’ by cookery writer Ms M. Toussaint-Samat (1998).
The reputation of ‘Jambon d’Auvergne’ is still very much in evidence today.
For example, the chapter on cured meats in ‘Auvergne — Regional Products and Traditional Recipes’, part of the ‘French Culinary Heritage’ series published by Albin Michel in 2011 notes: ‘Cured meats from Auvergne can be found in markets throughout France and certain products such as ham and sausages are widely distributed, both in specialist shops and on the shelves of a number of supermarkets (…)’.
There are also many references to ‘Jambon d’Auvergne’ on the internet, on cookery and food websites and online stores, for example. This attests to the ham’s reputation, which now extends far beyond the geographical area, as do the products themselves, which are now widely available.
This reputation is also evidenced in other material, such as the brochure of the 2008 edition of the International Agricultural Show, which devoted a page to the Auvergne region, including a photo of hams from Auvergne with the following information: ‘(…) Auvergne has a centuries-old reputation for the quality of (…) its cured meats’. In 2012, the ‘Le Petit Futé’ tourist guidebook on Auvergne referred to ‘Jambon d’Auvergne’ as one of the geographical area’s speciality foods.

Reference to publication of the specification

(the second subparagraph of Article 6(1) of this Regulation)
https://info.agriculture.gouv.fr/gedei/site/bo-agri/document_administratif-600f67c7-c5d9-4695-b676-91a86276a8c4


(1)  OJ L 343, 14.12.2012, p. 1.