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: 2016-10-18
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Northern Portugal, Portugal, bread, consumer information, designation of origin, labelling, product designation, quality control of agricultural products








C_2016384EN.01001901.xml










18.10.2016   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 384/19





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
(2016/C 384/09)
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

‘FOLAR DE VALPAÇOS’


EU No: PT-PGI-0005-01392 — 23.10.2015


PDO ( ) PGI ( X )

1.   Name(s)

‘Folar de Valpaços’
2.   Member State or Third Country

Portugal
3.   Description of the agricultural product or foodstuff

3.1.   Product type

Class 2.3. Bread, pastry, cakes, confectionery, biscuits and other baker’s wares
3.2.   Description of the product to which the name in 1 applies

‘Folar de Valpaços’ is a rectangular bakery product made from wheat bread dough, eggs, PDO olive oil from Trás-os-Montes or olive oil with similar organoleptic characteristics, vegetable margarine and/or pork lard, filled with fatty pig meat and/or dry and salty streaky bacon (not smoked), dry and salty pork belly (not smoked), smoke-cured pork sausages (salpicão and linguiça), smoke-cured or dry-cured ham and/or smoked pork shoulder.
When introduced into the supply chain, the ‘Folar de Valpaços’ has the following physical and organoleptic characteristics:

Table 1


Minimum and maximum values for each of the physical parameters of ‘Folar de Valpaços’








 


‘Folar de Valpaços’




Minimum


Maximum




Length (cm)


15


40




Width (cm)


10


25




Height (cm)


8


12




Weight (kg)


0,5 


2




Ratio dough/filling
once baked


25 %


50 %








Table 2


Visual and organoleptic characteristics of ‘Folar de Valpaços’







Exterior appearance


Rectangular-shaped ‘folar’ (type of bread) that, once baked, has a thin, smooth and shiny crust which varies in colour from yellow to light brown.




Interior appearance


When cut, the ‘folar’ can be seen to have a soft and spongy dough which is a yellowish colour, scattered with marks that are slightly greasy and reddish in colour where it surrounds pieces of the smoked products (salpicão, linguiça or others seasoned with red paprika), interspersed with scattered, irregular pieces of the meats that make up the filling and whose different colours can be distinguished in the colourful mosaic they create.




Organoleptic characteristics


The dough is fragrant, soft, slightly salted, fatty and with a flavour of eggs and olive oil and the perceptible evocative aroma of the smoked products. When eaten, the characteristic aroma and flavour of the olive oil used can be smelt and tasted, and both the smoked products and the different meats that make up the filling can be identified by their taste, aroma and texture.




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

The olive oil used in the production of the ‘Folar de Valpaços’ is PDO Trás-os-Montes extra-virgin olive oil (or olive oil with similar organoleptic characteristics), whose specific flavours and aromas are transferred to the bread dough and consequently to the final product. The distinctly fruity flavour of the dough of the ‘Folar de Valpaços’ owes itself to the flavour and smell of fresh fruit and sweet, green, bitter and spicy sensation of the olive oil used.
3.4.   Specific steps in production that must take place in the identified geographical area

Preparation and mixing of the bread dough, rising, filling and pre-freezing.
Pre-freezing — After the rising process, the ‘Folar de Valpaços’ can be pre-frozen/deep-frozen. This process takes place at the production site in order to avoid microbiological contaminations as transporting the product from these installations to another location for further processing would mean a risk of unacceptable contamination.
3.5.   Specific rules concerning slicing, grating, packaging, etc. of the product the registered name refers to

The ‘Folar de Valpaços’ is sold by the unit (whole) or in portions, packaged as follows:






(a)


for immediate sale at the production site: it is put in individual trays;










(b)


when sent to another place of consumption:






—


packaged in wrapping paper or in a closed paper bag,










—


vacuum-packed,










—


packaged in frozen/deep-frozen form. Note: the ‘Folar de Valpaços’ can be frozen/deep-frozen after baking as long as it has not been previously pre-frozen/deep-frozen.








The packaging in vacuum packs or frozen/deep-frozen form takes place at the production site in order to avoid microbiological contaminations as transporting the product from these installations to another location for further processing would mean a risk of unacceptable contamination.
3.6.   Specific rules concerning labelling of the product the registered name refers to

In addition to the statutory information, the labelling of the ‘Folar de Valpaços’ must bear:






—


the words ‘Folar de Valpaços — Protected Geographical Indication’ or ‘Folar de Valpaços — PGI’ (pasted in the centre on the top of the ‘folar’), and










—


the ‘Folar de Valpaços’ logo:







4.   Concise definition of the geographical area

The municipality of Valpaços.
5.   Link with the geographical area

The link between ‘Folar de Valpaços’ and the geographical area is based on reputation.
The word ‘folar’ is often associated with a present and/or gift and means ‘the best’. Traditionally, the ‘folar’ was made at Eastertime. On Easter Sunday, in what was called the ‘Compasso’ or Easter visit, the clergy collected the ‘folar’ from the families and it was made from the finest products produced by the land and the people: flour, eggs, olive oil from the Madural, Verdeal and Cobrançosa varieties, preserved pig meat and smoked products traditional to Valpaços which are seasoned with wine and garlic and smoked on firewood from trees that grew in the area, such as oak, pine and vines.
Although nowadays the ‘folar’ remains essential at Easter, it is a regular presence on the tables of the Valpaços people throughout the entire year and is essential for any family or official celebration.
The ‘Folar de Valpaços’ can be distinguished from other similar products by the way the bread dough is prepared, using two fermentation phases specific to the Valpaços municipality.
The first reference to the recipe with the name ‘Folar de Valpaços’ was in 1959 in the cookbook ‘Livro de Pantagruel’ (Pantagruel’s Book) (Bertha Rosa Limpo, 1959). Afterwards it appeared in various works on national cuisine, notably in the book ‘Cozinha Tradicional Portuguesa’ (Traditional Portuguese Cuisine) by Maria de Lourdes Modesto (1982).
In 1961, the ‘Folar de Valpaços’ produced by Maria Eugénia Cerqueira da Mota from Valpaços won first place in the ‘Concurso Nacional de Cozinha e Doçaria Portuguesa’ (National Competition of Portuguese Cuisine and Desserts) promoted by the RTP (Rádio e Televisão de Portugal — Portuguese Radio and Television) (Barroso da Fonte, 2003).
Virgílio Nogueiro Gomes noted the reputation and use of the name ‘Folar de Valpaços’ in his book ‘Transmontanices – Causas de Comer’ (Transmonticisms — Reasons to Eat) (2010) and in his chronicles ‘Folares e a Pascoa’ (Folares and Easter) (2009) and ‘Cadernos de Receitas’ (Recipe Books) (2012).
The primary materials used, the know-how of the region’s producers who follow a historic tradition passed down from generation to generation, and the reputation and history linked to this product and to the city of Valpaços justify the designation of this municipality as the production area of this ‘folar’.

Reference to publication of the specification

(The second subparagraph of Article 6(1) of this Regulation)
http://www.dgadr.mamaot.pt/images/docs/val/dop_igp_etg/Valor/CE_Folar_Valpacos.pdf


(1)  OJ L 343, 14.12.2012, p. 1.