Publication of an application for registration of a name pursuant to Article 50(2), point (a), of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs
Date: 2024-07-02
Institutions: Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development, European Commission
Subjects: Navarre, Spain, consumer information, designation of origin, labelling, meat product, product designation, quality control of agricultural products








C_202404269EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2024/4269


2.7.2024






Publication of an application for registration of a name pursuant to Article 50(2), point (a), of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs
(C/2024/4269)

Following this publication, the authorities of a Member State or of a third country, or a natural or legal person having a legitimate interest and established or resident in a third country, may lodge, in accordance with Article 17 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1143 of the European Parliament and of the Council (1) an opposition with the Commission within 3 months from the date of this publication.
SINGLE DOCUMENT

’Chistorra de Navarra / Txistorra de Navarra / Nafarroako Txistorra'


EU No: PGI-ES-02959 — 1.6.2023
                  


PDO ( ) PGI (x)

1.   Name(s) [of PDO or PGI]

’Chistorra de Navarra / Txistorra de Navarra / Nafarroako Txistorra'
2.   Member State or Third Country

Spain
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

Meat product made from pork and pork fat, minced and seasoned with salt, red pepper and garlic; all these ingredients are blended together, stuffed into a casing, and cured and matured for a short period. The final product is between 17 mm and 25 mm in thickness.
Characteristics on removal from the curing chamber (where the product spends at least 2 days):






a)


Shape and external appearance (on removal from the curing chamber / before packaging):






—


Uniform cylindrical shape, between 17 mm and 25 mm in diameter, the length being variable.














b)


Colour and appearance when cut:






—


Uniform reddish colour, mainly due to the red pepper it contains.










—


The meat is minced cleanly and finely, enabling lean meat to be distinguished clearly from fat (the texture is not viscous). This is the result of the process of protein gelation, which takes effect after the minimum established drying period.














c)


Physico-chemical parameters of the final product:






—


pH > 5,0










—


Water activity ≤ 0,94*










—


Fat ≤ 80 % in dry matter










—


Total protein ≥ 14 % in dry matter










—


Hydroxyproline ≥ 0,7 % in dry matter










—


Total carbohydrates expressed in glucose ≤ 9 % in dry matter










—


Salt ≤ 3 % of the product














*


No limit if the product has a natural casing made of lamb gut and contains no additives.




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

None mentioned
The raw materials and ingredients used to make the product are as follows:






a)


Mandatory:






—


Pork and pork fat










—


Seasoning and condiments:










—


Red pepper (Colour – minimum ASTA units: 90)










—


Garlic










—


Salt










—


Casing: natural (lamb gut) or made of an edible, transparent collagen covering.














b)


Optional:
The following products can also be added:






—


Additives










—


Preservation agents: E-252 and E-250










—


Antioxidant: E-301 (Sodium ascorbate) and E392 (rosemary extract)










—


Others:










—


Cayenne pepper and ordinary pepper










—


Herbs: oregano








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

The product is made in the defined geographical area. The production process comprises the following stages: processing the casing and preparing the raw materials, mincing the meat and pork fat, adding the other ingredients, mixing, stuffing the mixture into the casing, and drying the sausages.
3.5.   Specific rules concerning slicing, grating, packaging, etc. of the product the registered name refers to

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

Commercial labels must feature:






—


the product’s logo in any of its three language versions;










—


the name, company name or register number that identifies the maker;










—


a code that clearly identifies the product and shows its traceability.




If the product has a natural gut casing and is additive-free, the brand logo can be incorporated into the label, superimposed on a green background.
4.   Concise definition of the geographical area

The defined geographical area comprises the whole of Navarre.
5.   Link with the geographical area

The link between the 'Chistorra de Navarra / Txistorra de Navarra / Nafarroako Txistorra' and the geographical area where it is produced is based essentially on the reputation of the product, which derives from its geographical origin. The product also has certain specific characteristics arising from natural and human factors found in the region.
Reputation
The product now known by the generic name ‘chistorra’ originated in Navarre. It is a sausage similar to chorizo, but smaller in diameter. The chistorra’s characteristic thinness derives from natural and human factors found in the region, as explained in the subsection below.
Etymologically, the word ‘chistorra’ comes from the Basque ‘txistor’, Basque (Euskera) being the language historically spoken in Navarre. The dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy (Diccionario del Real Academia Española) provides the following definition of the term ‘chistorra’, which is the only meaning of the word: ‘From the Basque txistor, meaning “sausage”. A sausage of Navarrese origin, similar to chorizo, but thinner.’ The chistorra is a product originating in Navarre but now found throughout Spain, owing to its reputation and distribution over a wide area. It is now produced in other regions as well, and the name ‘chistorra’ is now the only term in use for this particular kind of sausage. However, the expressions 'Chistorra de Navarra / Txistorra de Navarra / Nafarroako Txistorra' are still used for the original sausage produced in Navarre, which has maintained its original reputation and the traditional method of production, based solely on pork and pork fat.
This product has been part of the region’s gastronomic traditions since at least the early 19th century. In the article ‘El comer, el vestir y la vida de los navarros de 1817, a través de un memorial de ratonera’ (José María Iribarren, Pamplona, 1956), txistorra is mentioned as a food commonly eaten by craftsmen of various kinds, though not by labourers. The chapter on the organisation of meals in the book La alimentación doméstica en Vasconia describes daily meals in the early 20th century – early breakfast (primer desayuno), elevenses (almuerzo amarretako), lunch (comida), an afternoon snack (merienda) and dinner (cena) – and what they consisted of. Chistorras/txistorras became an integral part of lunch, elevenses and dinner in many settlements in this region, which includes what is now Navarre.
Contemporary links between chistorras/txistorras and Navarre also feature in many gastronomic publications:






—


Embutidos de Navarra (José Bello, published by the Sociedad Navarra de Estudios Gastronómicos, 1997) notes that chistorras/txistorras are part of daily life for the people of Navarre and play an important part in their festivities and traditions. The chistorra/txistorra features as an essential foodstuff in the traditional local festivities of many municipalities in Navarre. Moreover, spring pilgrimages to the most venerated shrines traditionally culminate in a time-honoured txistorrada prepared by members of the participating cofradías (‘brotherhoods’).










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Volume 3 of Gran Cocina Navarra (Carmen Josué Simonena et al., Ediciones Herper, 1992, Pamplona) describes how the traditional ‘chistor’ is made.










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La cocina popular Navarra (CAN 1995) explains the Navarrese origin of the product and its name (txistorra), as well as the various local forms of the name.










—


Inventario Español de Productos Tradicionales, published by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in 1996, includes the chistorra (txistorra) as a traditional Navarrese product. Pages 94 and 95.










—


La matanza domiciliaria del cerdo en el Valle del Ebro (Pedro Roncalés and Luis Alberto Martínez Luna, Institución Fernando El Católico, Zaragoza, 2001) describes the chistorra as a ‘typically Navarrese product eaten everywhere in this autonomous community’.
Single document on the ‘Txistorra de Navarra’. September 2022. Page 4 of 4










—


Breve historia de los alimentos y la cocina (Sandalia González-Palacios Romero, 2017) describes the chistorra as ‘A sausage similar to chorizo, but thinner’ and adds: ‘The Navarrese chistorra is much appreciated when served fried in the traditional manner.’
                  




More general publications concerning Navarre refer to the 'Chistorra de Navarra / Txistorra de Navarra / Nafarroako Txistorra' as one of the crowning glories in its panoply of culinary specialities. Senderismo en Navarra (España): Las 100 rutas naturales. Caminos para disfrutar de la naturaleza (Victor Manuel Jimenez Gonzalez, 2014) notes: ‘Navarrese chistorra, local cheeses, robust local wines and patxaran (pacharán), or sloe liqueur, are famous products found in Pamplona.’
            
References to the Navarrese chistorra can also be found in Pamplona. Guía de la semana más esperada (Ediciones EL PAÍS, 2013), which deals with the famous festival of San Fermín, and in the novel La lectura (Jesús Taboada, 2014).
Since 2006, the Navarrese Butchers’ Guild (Gremio de Carniceros de Navarra) has been holding an annual ‘Navarrese Txistorra Contest’ (Concurso Navarro de Txistorra / Nafarroako Txistorra Lehiaketa) as part of the traditional Navarrese Txistorra Festival. The guild has also been working together with the Public University of Navarre since 2009 on studies designed to raise the profile of this regional product, further develop it and promote its consumption. In 2019, the prestigious scientific journal International Foods published the results of one of these studies conducted by the Public University of Navarra based on the quality standards applicable to the above-mentioned ‘Navarrese Txistorra Contest’.
Natural and human factors
Historically, the household economy in Navarre was based on working the land and rearing animals. The two main types of livestock reared on Navarrese family farms were pigs and sheep. Until a few years ago, the population of Navarre was structured around a rural, agrarian economy. The slaughtering of pigs, known in Navarra as ‘matatxerri’, ‘matacuto’ or (in the Basque language) ‘txerri iketa’, has traditionally been a mainstay of the family economy in rural Navarre. In the past, many families lived all year round on foodstuffs derived from pigs (Bello, 1997).
Rearing pigs in enclosures enabled people to make use of any waste left over from harvesting and family meals, while the slaughtering of pigs guaranteed their economic survival. After the slaughter, every part of the animal was used, providing a wide range of meat products.
The 'Chistorra de Navarra / Txistorra de Navarra / Nafarroako Txistorra' is made solely from pork and pork fat (while the general regulation covering the product – Royal Decree 474/2014 of 13 June 2014 – allows the use of beef as well).
Another of the defining features of the 'Chistorra de Navarra / Txistorra de Navarra / Nafarroako Txistorra' is its thinness (it is between 17 and 25 millimetres in diameter), the result of a number of natural factors found in the region. First, the casing traditionally used for the product was the small intestine of a lamb or kid (animals reared in addition to pigs, as noted above); in Navarra, this part of the gut is known as ‘ercemiñes’, ‘escemiñes’ or ‘chinchorras’. This accounts for the thinness of the sausages.
Second, during the slaughtering period (winter), between 40 % and 50 % of days are rainy. The frequency of rainy days (over 150 days a year in the northern half of the region) makes it harder to dry thicker chorizos and other kinds of sausage that undergo a curing process. The chistorra was invented in this region because, being thinner, it is easier to cure, and is a further addition to the country’s treasury of pork-based foodstuffs.
Finally, the minimum drying time of 2 days allows the protein gelation process to take place, which makes for a firm, solid filling and gives the product its typical non-viscous texture.

Reference to publication of the specification


http://www.navarra.es/NR/rdonlyres/25116C57-3611-4915-8F8D-C4B6017DEE8A/0/PLIEGODECONDICIONESTXISTORRARevMayo20222.pdf



(1)  Regulation (EU) 2024/1143 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 April 2024 on geographical indications for wine, spirit drinks and agricultural products, as well as traditional specialities guaranteed and optional quality terms for agricultural products, amending Regulations (EU) No 1308/2013, (EU) 2019/787 and (EU) 2019/1753 and repealing Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 (OJ L, 2024/1143, 23.4.2024, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1143/oj).


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2024/4269/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)