1.3.2013

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 60/11

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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

2013/C 60/06

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

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 510/2006

on the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs  (2)

‘QUESO LOS BEYOS’

EC No: ES-PGI-0005-0806-22.04.2010

PGI ( X ) PDO ( )

1.   Name:

‘Queso Los Beyos’

2.   Member State or Third Country:

Spain

3.   Description of the agricultural product or foodstuff:

3.1.   Type of product:

Class 1.3.

Cheese

3.2.   Description of product to which the name in (1) applies:

The Protected Geographical Indication ‘Queso Los Beyos’ covers cheese made from raw or pasteurised cow’s, sheep’s or goat’s milk, without mixing them together, using lactic coagulation; it is matured for a minimum period of 20 days, or 60 if it is made from raw milk, and it must meet the product specifications and demonstrate all the characteristics listed below.

Physical characteristics

Shape: cylindrical, with flat faces or slightly concave.

Size: between 6 cm and 9 cm high, with a diameter of 9 cm to 10 cm.

Weight: from 250 g to 500 g.

Chemical characteristics

Dry matter: minimum 50 %

Fat content of the dry matter: minimum 45 %

Protein content of the dry matter: minimum 30 %

Organoleptic characteristics

Thin, coarse rind, varying in colour from creamy yellow to pale yellow or light brown, depending on the origin of the milk used, i.e. whether it is cow’s, goat’s or sheep's milk.

Hard to semi-hard paste, closed, no holes caused by fermentation and not many holes of mechanical origin, friable or crumbly when cut; white in colour for cheese made from goat’s milk, marble or pale yellow in colour for cheese made from cow’s or sheep’s milk.

Firm texture, zero or very slight elasticity, medium to high friability.

Slight odour or mild aroma for cheese made from cow’s milk, stronger odour or aroma for sheep’s and goat’s cheese which is mildly reminiscent of the species it originates from.

Mild flavour, which can be more intense in cheese made from sheep’s milk, with light hints of sheep or goat in the respective cheese; slightly salty and lightly acidic, pleasant and well-balanced, with a fresh, milky aftertaste for cheese made from cow’s milk and a more intense, long-lasting aftertaste for cheese made from sheep’s and goat’s milk.

3.3.   Raw materials (for processed products only):

Cow’s, sheep’s or goat’s milk; lactic ferments, calcium chloride, rennet and salt. These are the ingredients which were used in traditional cheese-making and are still used today.

3.4.   Feed (for products of animal origin only):

—

3.5.   Specific steps in production that must take place in the defined geographical area:

All the cheese-making stages, including maturing, take place in the defined geographical area.

3.6.   Specific rules concerning slicing, grating, packaging, etc.:

—

3.7.   Specific rules concerning labelling:

Cheese which meets the requirements for marketing under the PGI label must also bear both the label of the cheese-maker in question (commercial label) and a numbered label as a guarantee of the product’s identity; the numbered label must bear the words ‘Indicación Geográfica Protegida’ and ‘Queso Los Beyos’, as well as the PGI logo. The commercial label must indicate in capital letters the species of animal from which the milk used to make the cheese originates; the aim is to avoid misleading the consumer.

4.   Concise definition of the geographical area:

The defined geographical area for the making and maturing of cheese under the PGI ‘Queso Los Beyos’ label consists of the municipalities of Oseja de Sajambre, Amieva and Ponga; Oseja de Sajambre is administratively part of the Autonomous Community of Castile-Leon and Ponga and Amieva are part of Asturias.

5.   Link with the geographical area:

5.1.   Specificity of the geographical area:

The geographical area has natural borders on all sides made up by mountains: the Cantabrian Mountains to the south; the foothills of the western massif of the Picos de Europa to the east; the Fontecha mountain range to the north and the Ponga hills to the west. These mountains have made the development of transport links with the area difficult as it is necessary to cross high mountain passes with difficult access.

However, within the area itself, although the rugged terrain is not without its difficulties, various paths and tracks have facilitated links between villages and allowed access to shared herds or flocks, which has resulted in an area with similar customs developing in an area with shared features, regardless of the administrative boundaries.

Approximately a third of the land is used for pastures which can be grazed throughout most of the year.

In general, there are different types of terrain which can be found in all three municipalities; first, at high altitudes, uneven rocky peaks with mountain pastureland (passes) interspersed between the rocks; second, at mid-altitudes, woodland, with a scattering of green pastureland; third, at low altitudes, hay meadows with clumps of trees.

The terrain in this area has undoubtedly played a vital role in the development of this unique type of cheese through the exploitation of surplus milk products resulting from a way of life with few alternatives for the local inhabitants. As already mentioned above, the great difficulties faced in the development of external transport links, even though the internal links between municipalities in the defined area were good, were instrumental in fostering close relations between local inhabitants who, for a certain period of every year, lived together with their flocks or herds in the passes, sharing a physical area and a way of life. This led to a common way of exploiting the resources available and thus to the production of Queso Los Beyos.

The characteristics of the land have also been essential in encouraging traditional production and flock or herd management based on (extensive) highly seasonal wood-pastureland activities, depending on the altitude and type of pastureland. A system of milk and meat exploitation led to two main activities: the breeding of young from each animal species and the making of cheese from surplus milk once the suckling young had been weaned.

Historically, flocks or herds became very specific in species, depending on the type of terrain, even within each municipality, which tended to favour one species over another; shepherds would thus keep flocks of sheep or herds of goats or cows but would rarely mix them and, consequently, the product obtained would be cheese made from cow’s, sheep’s or goat’s milk but rarely from a mix of all three. This was one of the main factors in the development of this type of cheese.

The specificities of this area were indeed crucial in the development of the type of cheese; moreover, the cheese-making methods used by the local inhabitants of these villages, due to the specificities of the area, have also left their mark on the final product.

5.2.   Specificity of the product:

The specificity of this product is immediately obvious in its external appearance, which is completely different from all the other types of cheese produced locally. ‘Queso Los Beyos’ is recognisable because it is a small cheese whose height is slightly less than its diameter. Its small size is not an accident: its size means that it can be drained and dried more quickly. This is an important factor as the whey has always been removed primarily during the mould stage; during this stage, the curd dries through gravity and is compressed by its own weight (self-compression). It is a method that is still used today to give the paste its specific texture and appearance. The special characteristics of this paste, i.e. closed and friable or crumbly when cut, are what makes this product unique. The flavour of the cheese made from cow’s milk is mild, although it becomes more intense for the cheese made from sheep’s or goat’s milk, which is reminiscent of the species it originates from. They are all slightly acidic due to the cheese-making process, in particular the type of lactic coagulation used, which stops the flavour from becoming too strong.

There are several texts which highlight the traditional nature of this cheese made from cow’s, sheep’s or goat's milk, for example: in Los quesos artesanales de Asturias (Traditional Asturian Cheese, 1985), we are told that ‘Queso Los Beyos can be made from cow’s, sheep’s or goat’s milk but local tradition dictates that they cannot be mixed together’; José A. Fidalgo Sánchez, in Asturias, parada y fonda (Places to Stay in Asturias, 1988), says much the same thing; Enric Canut et al agree in Quesos (Cheese, 1992); in Manual de quesos, queseros y quesómanos (Manual for Cheese, Cheese-making and Cheese Connoisseurs), Canut states again that ‘full-cream cow’s, sheep’s or goat’s milk is used, but the different types are never mixed together’.

5.3.   Causal link between the geographical area and the quality or characteristics of the product (for PDO) or a specific quality, the reputation or other characteristic of the product (for PGI):

The cheese owes its name to the Los Beyos gorge, which was gouged out of limestone by the river Sella which runs through the municipalities that make up the defined area, and traditionally enjoys great prestige in relation to its place of origin.

The main link between the geographical area and the cheese is its reputation. There is much proof of this. In Miñano’s dictionary (1827), an explicit reference is made to the quality of the cheese, although there are bibliographic references to it before this date in the land registry of the Marquess of La Ensenada (1752) and in the municipal by-laws of the municipalities in this area (starting in 1779). Later, many books and texts mention the cheese or turn it into a feature, even going as far as calling it the ‘jewel of the east’ or ‘son of the gorges’, as Juan Gabriel Pallarés does in his Guía de productos de la tierra (Guide to Local Products, 1998).

The prestige of this cheese can also be seen in the many books on gastronomy which refer to it: Guía del buen comer español (Guide to Good Eating in Spain, 1929), which praises ‘the excellent flavour of the cheese’; Lecciones de cocina regional (Lessons in Regional Cooking, 1962), in which this cheese is referred to as ‘having a very good flavour’; Comer en Asturias (Eating in Asturias, 1980), which claims it is a very important Asturian cheese; a similar reference is made to it in Cocina práctica de los quesos de España (Practical Cooking Guide for Spanish Cheese, 1983). Moreover, it is mentioned in El Gran libro de la cocina asturiana (The Great Asturian Cookery Book, 1986).

Although this cheese began its life as a cheese for family consumption or as payment for rent, it later became, in a limited fashion, something to give as a present or a form of payment or exchange and, by using surplus milk, a source of direct income. These transactions were initially limited to local trade and then spread further through markets as they became established in neighbouring municipalities, such as the market at Cangas de Onís. There are those who believe that it was actually at this market that the cheese received its name, as it came from the Los Beyos gorge.

It was in this municipality that the cheese took part in a contest and exhibition of cheese from the Picos de Europa, which dates back to the Autumn Fair of 1942. There is evidence in the town hall of its participation in this contest in which it continued to compete for top position with other types of local cheese. Queso Los Beyos also held its own contest. The Asturian newspaper La Nueva España reported on 10 December 1984 that ‘since yesterday, Ponga has its own Los Beyos cheese contest’. In other articles from the same year, we find: ‘Los Beyos cheese is good for the economy’ and ‘the reputation of El Beyos cheese is growing’. On 28 May 2004, La Voz de Asturias announced the first Los Beyos cheese gastronomic days which it said were planned to coincide with the XXIst contest for this cheese. The municipality of Amieva has held a similar contest since 1992. Information can be found in the town halls on the list of participants, the members of the jury, the prizes awarded and the list of winners.

Today, these contests are still in the news, with cheese-makers from all three municipalities in the area taking part and a wide public following.

Reference to publication of the specification:

(Article 5(7) of Regulation (EC) No 510/2006 (3))

http://www.magrama.gob.es/es/alimentacion/temas/calidad-agroalimentaria/pliego_queso_los_beyos_versi%C3%B3n_7.6.2012_tcm7-211510.pdf

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(1)  OJ L 343, 14.12.2012, p. 1.

(2)  OJ L 93, 31.3.2006, p. 12. Replaced by Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 November 2012 on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs.

(3)  See footnote 2.

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