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 61 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.

‘Arroz de Sarrabulho à moda de Ponte de Lima’

TSG-PT-02975 - 12.7.2023

Portugal

1.   Name(s) to be registered

2.   Type of product (as in Annex XI)

Class 2.21. Prepared meals

3.   Grounds for registration

3.1.   Whether the product

□	results from a mode of production, processing or composition corresponding to traditional practice for that product or foodstuff

☒	is produced from raw materials or ingredients that are those traditionally used.

Various records testify to the traditional preparation of this dish. The most notable is the record of a recipe for ‘Arroz de Sarrabulho’ like the present-day one, in a book of correspondence from the House of Bertiandos (in Ponte de Lima) from 1844 to 1850 (held in the municipal archives of Ponte de Lima, with the reference PT-AMPL-Casa de Bertiandos-Copiadores de Correspondência_1844-1850-16-17). Also notable are the references that the Conde d’Aurora (a writer from Ponte de Lima) made to the dish’s composition and preparation in his 1935 book ‘Pinto: infância, paixões e morte de um cacique eleitoral’ (p. 57, Ed. Livraria Tavares Martins, Porto).

Moreover, according to history, since 1916 the dish has transcended private kitchens (to quote A. M. Couto Viana writing in the annual periodical O Anunciador das Feiras Novas in 2000), while continuing to be made with specific ingredients traditionally used in the Ponte de Lima region, namely beloura (a bread/blood sausage hybrid), chouriça de verde (blood chorizo with fat and chopped onion), white intestines, and rojões (fried boneless pieces of pork meat), but also wine and/or viniagre de vinho verde tinto (vinegar made from red vinho verde). The traditional way in which each product is prepared and the presentation of the cooked dish remain the same today.

3.2.   Whether the name

☒	has been traditionally used to refer to the specific product

□	identifies the traditional character or specific character of the product.

The name ‘Arroz de Sarrabulho à moda de Ponte de Lima’ - used already in advertisements for various local restaurants in the FEIRAS NOVAS publication in 1951 (Festas do Concelho de Ponte de Lima, Edição da Tipografia Guimarães) and in the Ponte de Lima periodical O Anunciador das Feiras Novas in 1986 (year 3, series 2, number 3) and 1987 (year 4, series 2, number 3, p. 41) - designates a cooked dish consisting of rice cooked in a broth of different meats, accompanied by pieces of meat and sausages prepared specifically for that purpose. The dish is traditionally flavoured with spices and vinegar and/or red vinho verde. At the beginning of the 20th century, a famous chef, Clara Penha (1836-1924), first started to prepare the dish outside the home. It went on to become a staple on the daily menus of Ponte de Lima, made by family and faithful followers, and to this day is still a feature in both famous restaurants and small taverns that make and serve the dish daily, always following the long-established recipe.

4.   Description

4.1.   Description of the product to which the name under point 1 applies, including its main physical, chemical, microbiological or organoleptic characteristics showing the product’s specific character (Article 7(2) of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 668/2014 of 13 June 2014)

The name ‘Arroz de Sarrabulho à moda de Ponte de Lima’ refers to a cooked dish presented with two distinct parts:

—

an arroz malandro rice dish, not soaked, containing an ample amount of dark chestnut-coloured broth with no clots, in which shredded meat predominates. The dish has a pleasant aroma with hints of cumin, bay leaf and lemon. It has a strong, slightly acidic taste, with a pronounced flavour of cumin, cloves and bay leaf.

—

an assemblage of meats and sausages, which must include: beloura - a homogeneous mixture, cut into round slices, with a uniform chestnut colour, and a mild scent and taste of bay leaf and garlic; chouriça de verde, with a fairly homogeneous filling that includes onions, in whose slightly sweet aroma and taste the presence of cumin, garlic and bay can be distinguished; white intestines of a uniform light colour, with an aroma of garlic and bay and a slightly pungent taste, also of garlic, bay and cumin; pork rojões, presented as small cubes of soft and juicy pork leg meat, with a uniform golden colour, whose aroma and taste reflect the garlic-infused wine in which they have been marinated; and which may include the following: stomach; pork liver, heart, lungs and blood, duly cooked and presented as small pieces fried in lard, and duly prepared potatoes or chestnuts.

Physico-chemical characteristics of the following ready-to-eat components: rice, rojões, chouriça de verde, beloura, and intestines (values in g/100 g of edible part).

	Moisture	Protein	Fat	Salt expressed as chlorides
Rice	73,90 – 80,71	3,04 – 7,09	0,90 – 2,40	0,78 – 1,52
Rojões	50,20 – 58,00	27,04 – 34,17	6,46 – 12,77	0,55 – 1,50
(*1) Chouriça de Verde	54,36 – 81,85	6,10 – 14,80	0,35 – 14,75	1,17 – 2,33
(*1) Beloura	41,92 – 58,41	5,03 – 8,94	0,20 – 3,26	0,26 – 1,59
Intestines	43,56 – 62,79	6,97 – 11,18	16,32 – 20,92	0,67 – 1,60

4.2.   Description of the compulsory production method of the product to which the name under point 1 applies, including, where appropriate, the nature and characteristics of the raw materials or ingredients used, and the method by which the product is prepared (Article 7(2) of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 668/2014 of 13 June 2014)

Making ‘Arroz de Sarrabulho à moda de Ponte de Lima’ involves the following stages of preparing the dish’s various component parts:

Rice

Ingredients for making the rice broth:

—	½ kg beef (preferably eye of round);

—	½ kg pork (ribs and backbone, preferably from the Bísaro breed of pigs or pigs resulting from cross-breeding with this breed);

—	½ kg chicken (preferably with ample fat); chouriça de carne (150 g) and a little fresh pork may also be used;

—	1 kg Carolino rice;

—	¼ litre pig’s blood, to which vinegar made from red vinho verde or red wine vinegar mixed with red vinho verde from the region has been added.

Basic seasonings

—	edible salt (NaCl), 1-1,5 % (10-15 g per kg of rice);

—	bay or laurel leaves (Laurus nobilis), to taste;

—	pepper (Piper nigrum), to taste;

—	cloves (Syzygium aromaticum), to taste;

—	nutmeg (Myristica fragrans), to taste;

—	cumin (Cuminum cyminum), to taste;

—	lemon (Citrus limonum), juice of 1 lemon.

Preparing the rice

Put the meat in a pan of cold water (approximately 3 litres) and bring it to the boil, then add a few bay leaves and some cloves, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Cook the meat thoroughly, removing any foam that forms on the surface. Once the meat is well cooked, remove it from the heat. Let the meat cool, then shred it. After adjusting the seasoning and removing any excess fat, put the broth in which the meat was cooked back on the heat and bring it to the boil after adding as much water as is needed. Add the rice. Once the rice is half-cooked, add the shredded meat and the liquefied pig’s blood. Adjust the seasoning and leave the mixture to boil until the rice is completely cooked. Then add lemon juice, cloves, and cumin powder. Serve immediately.

Beloura

The raw materials traditionally used to prepare beloura are:

—	cornflour (40-60 %, may be up to 80 % if wheat flour is not used);

—	wheat flour (20-30 %), optional and may be replaced by an equal proportion of cornflour;

—	rye flour (20-30 %);

—	edible salt (NaCl), 1,3 % (13 g (average value) of salt per kg of flour mixture);

—	white pepper (Piper nigrum), to taste;

—	cumin (Cuminum cyminum), to taste;

—	1 bay or laurel leaf (Laurus nobilis);

—	1 bunch of parsley (Petroselinum crispum);

—	1 clove of garlic (Allium sativum L.), dried, not germinated, optional;

—	red pepper (Capsicum annuum), to taste, optional;

—	pig’s blood (14 % vol/flour mixture);

—	lard, to taste;

—	water, preferably that used to cook the stomach, the blood puddings or the molhinhos (pork intestine rolls), to taste;

Preparation

Sieve the flours. Scald the sieved flour in a dish or alguidar (bowl, traditionally made of earthenware) with a little hot water or the water in which the blood puddings were cooked. Then all the ingredients (scalded flour, salt, pepper and cumin) are added to the alguidar and kneaded with the pork blood. When the dough eases away from the alguidar, it is shaped by hand into balls or cylinders or rolls on a table top sprinkled with flour. These are then cooked in the water used to cook the blood puddings or the molhinhos or in water with added salt, bay leaves, parsley and/or a pinch of lard.

The belouras are cooked when they rise to the surface. They are then left to cool in an earthenware alguidar, separated by bay leaves. Lastly, they are cut into thin slices and fried in lard.

Chouriça de verde

—	½ kg minced pork caul;

—	2 chopped onions (Allium cepa);

—	200 g chopped parsley (Petroselinum crispum);

—	white pepper (Piper nigrum), to taste, optional;

—	red pepper (Capsicum annuum), to taste, optional;

—	edible salt (NaCl), 1,6 % (16 g (average value) of salt per litre of blood);

—	1 bay or laurel leaf (Laurus nobilis), optional;

—	cumin (Cuminum cyminum), to taste;

—	water, preferably that used to cook the stomach, the blood puddings or the molhinhos;

—	fine pork intestines, fresh;

—	lemon (Citrus limonum), lemon juice to taste, optional;

—	vinegar mixed with traditional vinho verde (white or red or a mixture of the two) from the region, for its characteristic acidity, optional;

—	cornflour, optional;

—	1 l pig’s blood;

—	cooking string (string made from polished flax) for tying the blood pudding;

—

lard.

Preparation

The process of preparing the chouriça de verde begins by washing the fresh fine pork intestines in water with lemon, salt and/or vinegar and a little cornflour, so that the intestines are well scrubbed. The intestines are left to rest for several hours or overnight. After the washing and scrubbing, the intestines are turned inside-out.

Once the intestines have been prepared, the other ingredients are mixed in a bowl or alguidar. The chopped onion, chopped caul, chopped parsley, salt, cumin, pepper (optional), laurel leaves (optional) and pig’s blood are added. Everything is mixed very well and stuffed into the intestines using a funnel. A knot is tied at one end of the intestines, using string made of polished flax. The intestines are only half filled, rather than completely filled.

The chouriça de verde is then boiled in water containing laurel leaves and/or a little lard. The chouriça de verde is pricked with a needle or fork to check that it is properly cooked. If no blood appears, it is cooked. After boiling, the chouriça de verde is fried in lard. After frying, it is cut into individual portions and served straight away while it is still hot, with the rojões and other accompaniments. The chouriça de verde is not smoked.

White intestines

—	flour, which may include 50 to 100 % corn flour, up to 25 % wheat flour, and up to 25 % rye flour, but preferably 100 % corn flour;

—	red pepper (Capsicum annuum), to taste, optional;

—	white pepper (Piper nigrum), to taste;

—	garlic (Allium sativum L.), dried, not germinated, optional;

—	1 bay or laurel leaf (Laurus nobilis);

—	cumin (Cuminum cyminum), to taste;

—	water, preferably that used to cook the stomach or the blood puddings, to taste;

—	2 lemons (Citrus limonum);

—	edible salt (NaCl), 0,7-1,6 % (0,7-1,6 g per 100 g of pork intestines);

—	fresh pork intestines.

Preparation

Wash the intestines thoroughly and leave to soak for a few hours in water with added lemon. Mix the other ingredients together with a little of the water used to cook the stomach; mix them thoroughly and knead the result. Stuff the intestines with the mixture obtained, then boil them in the water in which the stomach was cooked. Once the intestines are cooked, take them out of the pan and slice them (into 3-5 cm long pieces) before frying. Serve immediately.

Rojões

—	1,5 kg pork (leg, preferably from a Bísaro pig or a pig resulting from cross-breeding with this breed);

—	edible salt (NaCl), 0,5-1,5 % (5-15 g of salt per kg of pork);

—	garlic (Allium sativum L.), dried, not germinated, to taste;

—	white pepper (Piper nigrum), to taste;

—	1 bay or laurel leaf (Laurus nobilis);

—	½ l of white vinho verde from the region, for its characteristic acidity;

—	lard, to taste.

Preparation

Cut the leg of pork into pieces and marinate it in white vinho verde, garlic, salt, pepper and bay leaves; Then cook the meat in this infusion of garlic and wine with a little fat, preferably lard.

‘Arroz de Sarrabulho à moda de Ponte de Lima’ can include other ingredients, notably stomach, liver, heart, lungs and boiled and fried blood.

Stomach

—	pig’s stomach;

—	edible salt (NaCl),

—	garlic (Allium sativum L.), dried, not germinated, optional;

—	bay or laurel leaves (Laurus nobilis);

—

water;

—

lard.

Cooking

Simmer the stomach in water seasoned with salt, laurel leaves and garlic. When it is cooked, remove and reserve the cooking water. Slice the stomach into strips and fry them in lard. Serve immediately with the accompanying dishes.

Liver

—	pig’s liver;

—

lard.

Slice the liver into strips, fry them in lard, and add to the other fried ingredients.

Heart and lungs

Cook both in the broth prepared for the rice. When they are cooked, remove them, cut them into pieces, fry them in lard, and add them to the other fried ingredients.

Pig’s blood

—	pig’s blood;

—	edible salt (NaCl),

—	garlic (Allium sativum L.), dried, not germinated, optional;

—	bay or laurel leaves (Laurus nobilis);

—

water;

—

lard.

Cooking

The pig’s blood is cooked in water seasoned with salt, bay leaves and garlic. When cooked, cut into pieces, fry them in lard and add them to the other fried ingredients.

Potatoes/chestnuts

Roasted or fried in fat, preferably lard.

The pork used in any of the components of ‘Arroz de Sarrabulho à moda de Ponte de Lima’ should preferably come from the Bísaro breed (either purebred Bísaro pigs or pigs resulting from cross-breeding with this breed).

4.3.   Description of the key elements establishing the product’s traditional character (Article 7(2) of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 668/2014 of 13 June 2014)

The Alto Minho region has a rich culture and traditions, notably its very particular gastronomic culture and the customs associated with it. ‘Arroz de Sarrabulho à moda de Ponte de Lima’, served with pork rojões, is a tasty speciality with a long tradition and a signature dish from Ponte de Lima cuisine.

There are many historical references to ‘Arroz de Sarrabulho’, in particular to Clara Penha, the cook who ‘led a regiment of women in preparing the dish for the young priest, nobles, clergy and well-to-do of the Vale do Lima. The rice was cooked, the beloura was fried, the rojões were browned. In short, the sarrabulho was prepared, while the young niece, proud in her new clogs, flirted with the leite-creme and the aletria ...’ (reference from ‘Sarrabulho de Ponte de Lima: A Gastronomia da Tradição’. Brito, N. V. & Vale, A. P., 2011. Ed. Município de Ponte de Lima e Associação Concelhia das Feiras Novas).

The great fame of this pioneer of ‘Arroz de Sarrabulho à moda de Ponte de Lima’ was referenced by Maria de Lurdes Modesto in the ‘Acervo da sua Cozinha Tradicional’, where she noted meeting and learning from her in November 1977 in the Casino do Estoril, in a tribute to this woman who shared this traditional recipe. She would also write about the origins of the recipe: ‘What a rich end for a pig is sarrabulho! A never-ending supply of hearty and tasty dishes that bring family and friends together around a linen tablecloth. What a fountain of good food the pig is (if I may say so!).’ (Modesto, M. L., Praça, A., Calvet, N., 1999. Festas e Comeres do Povo Português -Vol. I, Ed. Verbo)

This recipe is noted as dating back to time immemorial, when pigs were raised as the main domestic food source because pig meat was the easiest and most economical to produce. From the noble Bertiandos family, who described in its family archives how ‘Arroz de Sarrabulho’ was prepared, to its relatives, the Condes d’Aurora, who wrote about the nobility, feasts and customs of past times, various references to the dish were made: ‘The arroz de sarrabulho had already arrived, surrounded by ribs and strips of blood pudding. The intestines and the stomach appeared and the plate was cleared.’ ‘Through the open door of the kitchen came a loud clamour and the aroma of fine delicacies ... the nobleman asked for more rojões with liver ...’. (Conde d’Aurora, 1935. O Pinto: infância, paixões e morte de um cacique eleitoral. Livraria Tavares Martins, Porto.)However, with the increase in markets and tascas in Ponte de Lima, as Franclim Castro Sousa described in ‘As Feiras e Tascas de Ponte 1960-2000’ (Ed.

Fundação Caixa Agrícola do Noroeste, 2019), several references appeared regarding the new establishments and the ‘Arroz de Sarrabulho à moda de Ponte de Lima’ appeared, notably through the emergence in 1951 of Casalina, owned by his mother, and which he called ‘a cathedral of good gastronomy in terms of wines and delicacies, which deserves to be remembered’. ‘Arroz de Sarrabulho’ was then advertised in the hospitality sector ‘as a powerful draw in restaurants and taverns, in establishments’, through various local periodicals, particularly in O Anunciador das Feiras Novas from the 1940s and 50s, as Couto Viana would later describe so well (O Anunciador das Feiras Novas, Ponte de Lima, year 17, series 2, number 17, 2000 - pp. 177-179).

‘Arroz de Sarrabulho’ then began to appear in casas de pasto and tascas in the 1930s, on feast-days in Ponte de Lima, as a composite dish with rice served in an earthenware pot, alongside a platter of rojões, fried belouras, chouriça de verde and white intestines accompanied by sautéed potatoes. There are references to ‘Arroz de Sarrabulho’ from the first half of the twentieth century, as one of the specialities of the ‘Pensão Barros’ run by Dores Petiscas. In the words of José Rosa de Araújo: ‘Everyone got their own plate, which contained arroz de sarrabulho with two rojões and a chouriça de verde ’ (Araújo, J. R. Ponte de Lima – Pátria do Sarrabulho, Revista Limiana No 17, 2010, Ed. Ponte de Lima).

‘Arroz de Sarrabulho à moda de Ponte de Lima’ became well known in Ponte de Lima’s restaurants, because of the famous cook Clara Penha and later her niece Belozinda Varela, who inherited her aunt’s knowledge and faithfully perpetuated this unique dish. This family, associated with ‘Arroz de Sarrabulho’ over the generations, has produced numerous chefs who, to this day, continue to prepare ‘Arroz de Sarrabulho à moda de Ponte de Lima’ in their restaurants (Faria. A. (1987). Homenagem a D. Belozinda Varela. Elogio (…) e Segredo das Grandes Cozinheiras Minhotas, in IV Congresso de Gastronomia de Viana do Castelo – ‘A Caça e a Mesa’, 23-25 October 1987, Viana do Castelo.).

This recipe, which became available in the hospitality sector in the early decades of the 20th century, with the emergence of restaurants and guesthouses, retained the characteristic know-how and traditional products, and brought improvements to the recipe through the introduction of shredded meat and offal to accompany the rojões and chestnuts.

As a way of protecting this important recipe, a project called ‘Confraria Gastronómica do Arroz de Sarrabulho à moda de Ponte de Lima’ [Gastronomic Confraternity of ‘Arroz de Sarrabulho à moda de Ponte de Lima’] was launched in March 2004. At the seminar presenting the project, Francisco Sampaio stated that ultimately they were ‘writing the history of “Arroz de Sarrabulho” in Ponte de Lima, as a dish of excellence, well deserving of its elevation to the confraternity, as (i) ethnic cookery (at least from 1860), (ii) household cookery, (iii) home-made cookery and (iv) traditional cookery.’ ‘Arroz de Sarrabulho’ came to fame in Ponte de Lima and its recipe spread, so that it is very well known today.

The raw materials used and the savoir-faire of the regional producers, following a historical tradition passed down from generation to generation, have enabled the quality and the identity of ‘Arroz de Sarrabulho à moda de Ponte de Lima’ and the customs surrounding it to be preserved. Thanks to the skill, experience and taste of each individual cook, together with the care and attention devoted to their craft, ‘Arroz de Sarrabulho à moda de Ponte de Lima’ has spread to wider circles, while maintaining the original and authentic quality of its various components: the meticulous care taken in selecting the meat for the rice dish, the careful preparation of the rice broth containing shredded meat, the quality of the blood (the first drops, ‘straight from the pig’ to the belouras, then the rest for the blood puddings and, finally, for the rice); the skilled use of seasonings; the use of the water used to cook the stomach when preparing the blood puddings and the belouras; the infusion of garlic and wine for the rojões; and the fried ingredients: everything is done with a unique savoir-faire which is learned and perfected. (Sampaio, F., 2003. A Boa Mesa do Alto Minho. Editorial Notícias, 213 pages).

So the composition of ‘Arroz de Sarrabulho à moda de Ponte de Lima’ still, to this day, includes the rice, the beloura (preferably ‘Beloura de Ponte de Lima’), the chouriça de verde (preferably ‘Chouriça de Verde de Ponte de Lima’), white intestines and rojões, to which pig viscera and cooked and fried blood are sometimes added. As a rule, the rice is served in a pan, and the other components in a separate dish. It is now the signature dish of Ponte de Lima’s gastronomy, the real driver for its economy, the ultimate attraction for thousands of people who visit Ponte de Lima each year.

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(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).

(*1)  Values obtained before making the dish