The Taste Of Tradition - The Taste Of Europe

The art of cooking meat has been developing in Europe for over two thousand years. In order to well protect its culinary heritage, the European Union has introduced a registration system for traditional and regional agricultural products. The System of Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) for agricultural produce aims at protecting the names of products and ensuring their authenticity. It guarantees that a product is unique, prepared from a specifically determined raw material in a specific, traditional manner with the observance of all safety standards. This makes it possible to enjoy the unique taste of European meat & products.

Europe, due to its regional variety, has a rich culinary heritage where both pork and beef have played an important role for centuries. Every EU member state has different traditional dishes and menus, which translate into a plethora of various flavors, the common denominator being, among others, meat. Red meat is a significant element of the globally popular Mediterranean cuisine; it also has an important role to play in French cuisine. In Central European states such as Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary, meat is also been one of the fundamental items on the menu.

Europeans value that their history, tradition and natural, local and traditional nutrition is sought after and protected in Europe. In order to protect EU's culinary heritage, legislation was introduced in 1992 to ensure an effective system of protecting regional specialities. Thanks to this system it became possible to guarantee the authenticity of products such as: Italian Prosciutto ham, French "Porc de Franche-Comte" and Polish "Kielbasa Lisiecka" sausage.

Within the system there are three ways of registering regional and traditional products that are valid throughout the European Union. The first one is Protected Designation of Origin (PDO). This category includes products originating from a defined geographical region or location. The name of the location is protected for each particular product and may not be used as a name for products produced elsewhere or from different recipes. Examples of this category include the Spanish "Los Pedroches" made of ham and pork shoulder originating from the black Iberian pig and bred in the Cordoba province of Spain, in farms registered as "Los Pedroches". The characteristic quality of this meat is related to the production system - extensive highland pasturage and feeding with natural ingredients: acorns and Mediterranean grass.

Another form of securing traditional products is the Protected Geographical Indication (PGI). This system protects products produced in a particular region, place or country. However, the link between the product and the region does not need to be as strong for PGI as it does for PDO. An example of this category is the Slovene pork "prleska tunka" made of cured pork haunch, loin or neck with minced lard ("zaseka"), produced traditionally in the region of Prlekija. The PGI label also protects the Hungarian sausages: "Gyulai kolbasz" and "Csabai kolbasz", lightly smoked pork sausages spiced with paprika and produced in the Great Hungarian Plain within the administrative boundaries of towns called Gyula and Bekescsaba. Another specialty bearing the PDO label is the soft tasting Italian ham called Prosciutto di Carpegna.

A Polish specialty bearing the PGI label is Kielbasa Lisiecka, a pork sausage with lean meat content of up to 55-60%. The meat cannot be preserved in any way other than chilling. The remaining ingredients include: fresh garlic, salt, and ground white peppercorns. The meat is diced into 1-2 inch cubes and cured for 2 to 4 days. After curing the meat is minced twice and then mixed with the garlic and pepper. Kielbasa Li