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

This publication confers the right to oppose the application pursuant to Article 51 of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 (1).

‘Flönz’ is a blood sausage made using traditional methods. It belongs to the group of cooked sausages and within that the blood sausage group. It is a blood sausage of ‘simple quality’, which means it contains pork, although the pork content is not visible. The sausage meat is packed in natural or synthetic casings. The sausages are between 30 mm and 65 mm in diameter. When presented for sale in natural or synthetic casings, the sausages have a circular cross-section and their shape is a curved cylinder with typical sausage ends. They can also be formed into a ring. The sausage mixture is red-brown in colour interspersed with the white of the pieces of pork fat. The sausage is also red-brown on the outside.

The sausage is soft in consistency, but easy to slice. The product is available either fresh or smoked.

The sausage is marketed in sealed containers, in skins whole or in pieces, and also sliced as a convenience product (vacuum-packed or suchlike). ‘Flönz’ is not available in glass jars, tins or other containers.

‘Flönz’ must contain pieces of pork fat which are clearly visible. The pork fat must not exceed 25 % to 30 % of the weight. The pieces of pork fat are between 5 mm and 10 mm in diameter. The fat content of fresh ‘Flönz’ is between 25 % and 35 %; the value for MPFCP (meat protein free of connective-tissue protein) must not be below 8 %.

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

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

All steps in production must take place in the identified geographical area to ensure the quality of the traditional product.

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

The production area is located in the German Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia, namely the area covered by the city of Cologne, the cities of Leverkusen, Bergisch Gladbach, Rösrath, Wesseling, Brühl, Hürth, Frechen, Pulheim, Bonn, Neuss, Dormagen, Monheim, Ratingen and Düsseldorf and the district of Rhein-Sieg-Kreis.

Cologne is the largest city in the production area and is situated approximately in its geographical centre. Cologne, along with the next largest cities of Düsseldorf and Bonn and almost all the other regional authorities in the region, is located on the Rhine. ‘Flönz’ is an important element of the particularly intensive carnival celebrations throughout the production area. The Cologne and Düsseldorf carnivals are the most famous, but in the other areas, too, the carnival is a focal point of the year and extremely important for every local community. Traditional products are a feature of the festivities. This includes ‘Flönz’, a product which unites even those occasionally light-hearted rivals, Cologne and Düsseldorf, in a shared culinary tradition.

The special reputation of ‘Flönz’ is due to the fact that the name and the food symbolise the identity and uniqueness of the production area. ‘Flönz’ is meant to be eaten as a fresh, soft sausage. In this respect, it differs especially from blood sausages in southern Germany, which are often available in a dried, hard form as a long-life product. For reasons of quality, only fresh or frozen, but not preserved, pig fat can be used. This is because fresh or frozen pig fat makes it more difficult for oxidation to occur which, after a lengthy storage period, produces a rancid odour and flavour. The use of fresh or frozen pork fat is a feature that is objectively typical of the area and also results from the tradition of this type of production in the area.

The special reputation of ‘Flönz’ is based on its production in the geographical area. It is demonstrated by the fact that the name and the food symbolise the identity and uniqueness of the production area. ‘Flönz’ is the main ingredient of one of the traditional dishes, ‘Kölsch Kaviar’ (Cologne caviar), that appears on every brewery menu in Cologne. It is not caviar, but ‘Flönz’ with onion rings. ‘Himmel und Äd’ (‘Heaven and Earth’) is roasted ‘Flönz’ with apple compote and mashed potato. Published works emphasise the importance of ‘Flönz’ in the cuisine of Cologne:

Franz Mathar and Rudolf Spiegel, Kölsche Bier- und Brauhäuser (Cologne Beer Houses and Breweries), Cologne, 1989;

Peter Honnen, Kappes, Knies und Klüngel (Rheinland Regional Dictionary), Cologne, 2003;

Berthold Heizmann, Von Apfelkraut bis Zimtschnecke (The Lexicon of Rheinland Cooking), Cologne, 2011;

Gerard Schmidt and Joachim Römer, Kölsch Kaviar un Ähzezupp (Cologne Recipe Book), Cologne, 1990.

The reputation of ‘Flönz’ and its connection with the geographical area have grown organically throughout its long history. The term ‘Flönz’ was already in use in Cologne at the end of the 19th century (Wrede, Neuer Kölnischer Sprachenschatz, Cologne 1956: 235).

In 1947, the lyricist Jupp Schlösser and the composer Dr Gerhard Jussenhoven made a joke about how hard it was for the migrants to pronounce words properly in the Cologne dialect. They used the example of the ‘O’ sound which made it difficult to say ‘Blotwoosch’ (Blutwurst) (blood sausage) and they suggested the synonym ‘Flönz’. In their song, ‘Sag' ens Blotwoosch’ (‘Just say blood sausage’) it goes:

‘… Just say Blotwoosch (blood sausage).

If the word's too hard.

Just say Flönz…’

Toni Steingass followed in 1980 with his song ‘Bunnefitschmaschinche’ (‘Green Bean Machine’):

‘If in Cologne you wish to tease,

Don't say Blotwoosch, say Flönz,

If this word you cannot say,

Then you must be provincial!’

More recently, Gerd Köster and Frank Hocker's 1996 song, ‘Buure Säu’ (‘Country Folk’):

‘The main thing is the Flönz is good.

Everything else is too complicated.’

In 2011, Peter Millowitsch staged the play titled ‘For a Handful of Flönz’ in his theatre in Cologne and at around the same time — in the 2011/12 carnival season — the Cologne Stunksitzung (radical theatre) chose as its central theme, ‘Kölsch (local beer) only with Flönz. Euro Flönz’.

The term ‘Flönz’ is used in many social settings to emphasise the special connection between an event or association and the Cologne home region: one of Cologne's basketball teams is called ‘Flying Flönz I’. The Cologne Yacht Club competes in the annual ‘Royal Flönz Cup’. The 2012 first vintage car excursion of the Ahl Häre KG (Carnival Society) in Pulheim was called the ‘Tour de Flönz’.