C 307/24
4.
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
12.8.2022
Concise definition of the geographical area The geographical area of the Protected Geographical Indication ‘Pa de Pagès Català’ covers the entire region of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia.
5.
Link with the geographical area
5.1.
Specificity of the geographical area ‘Pa de Pagès Català’, more commonly known throughout the Autonomous Community as pa de pagès, is the bread with the greatest historical reputation in Catalonia.
The etymology of the name pa de pagès already gives a clear indication of the product’s rural origins.
Pagès means ‘farmer’ or ‘peasant’ in Catalan.
Pa de pagès was the bread made in rural areas throughout Catalonia for local consumption.
It was therefore an artisan bread, as it was made in the masías (farmhouses) and in the villages.
Bakers in rural areas also made pa de pagès because it kept perfectly for several days, which was ideal for country folk.
Pa de pagès is round and always shaped by hand; the dough is fermented slowly and baked in an oven with a refractory floor, a tradition that has been maintained for over six hundred years.
For centuries, the tradition of pa de pagès was passed down from one generation to the next, in people’s homes and in professional bakeries.
It was these rural bakers who, with the successive migrations from rural to urban areas that took place in Catalonia from the 16th to the 18th century, gradually introduced pa de pagès to consumers in the large towns and cities and the surrounding areas.
At the end of the 19th century certain historical events occurred that led to ‘Pa de Pagès Català’ becoming more widely known as the most typical Catalan bakery product.
The World Fairs held in Barcelona in 1888 and 1929, which coincided with the industrialisation of Catalonia, triggered a huge migration of people from rural areas to the Catalan capital.
Thousands of people left their villages in the inland and southern part of the region to make a better living in factories in Barcelona and other industrial centres such as Manresa, Reus, etc.
Among them were people who had been bakers in their villages of origin or were responsible for making pa de pagès at home.
Many of these people found work not in the factories, but in the town and city bakeries, which had to produce bread for an ever-growing population.
At the same time as these people became bakery workers, the bakery sector itself was changing, with the introduction of machinery and flours that were more refined than those that had been used up until then.
This was when baguettetype bread began to appear, which was easier and quicker to make than the traditional pa de pagès.
However, the new urban populations remained loyal to their traditional bread and asked the bakeries for pa de pagès, so the bakeries started making pa de pagès as well as modern baguette-type bread.
At that time pa de pagès was known throughout Catalonia as a traditional, artisan bread, the good old bread, which was quite different from the new types of bread.
It has exactly the same reputation today, to the extent that one cannot imagine pa amb tamàquet (bread with tomato), one of the most famous Catalan specialities, being made with any other type of bread.
In the 19th and 20th centuries, the method used to make pa de pagès in Barcelona and other industrial towns was gradually adopted all over Catalonia.
This method has not changed and has remained essentially the same for the past 100 years, according to descendants of bread-making families throughout the region.
The bread is made using slow methods and special attention is paid to how it is baked, especially when adding the steam - this is where each baker employs their expertise, which determines the final appearance of the crust.
5.2.
Specificity of the product ‘Pa de Pagès Català’ is the most representative Catalan bakery speciality.
It is a slow-fermentation bread, shaped exclusively by hand and baked slowly in ovens with a refractory floor.
It has a crisp, toasted-brown crust, a tender, spongy crumb with large alveoli, which keeps its fresh appearance and pleasant texture for 8-9 hours after it is baked.
These features result from the expertise and long experience of the Catalan bakers, and give the bread its special character, which has always been the same and has maintained its reputation over time.