Tiroler Speck g.g.A *

Traditionally produced Speck produced according to the specification as Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) pursuant to EC Regulation 1065/97 OJ. L156/6/97.   
 
Record number: 12
 
Disclosure date
23 July 1573, the setting of prices for a pound of speck, together with pork sausages
  
Title
Tiroler Speck g.g.A
(Tyrolean speck bacon PGI) 
 
Abstract or claim
Over many generations the production of Tiroler Speck became a traditional method of processing meat in the large rural, mountainous region of Tyrol where there was no possibility of cooling fresh meat. The dry curing in pure mountain air, an essential part of the process, and the careful smoking using special spice mixtures and beech or ash wood give Tiroler Speck its typical characteristics.
Recipes for the spice mixtures and the method of producing Tiroler Speck were handed down from the farmers to their children. This individual handed- down tradition developed into a general business practice for the commercial production of Tiroler Speck that exists today.
Traditionally produced speck produced according to the specification as Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) pursuant to EC Regulation 1065/97 OJ. L 156/6/97. 
 
Name of product, product class
speck, meat-products
 
Name of  region
Tyrol, Austria
 
Field of search
Food and Agriculture
 
Name(s) of information provider
Euro Info Centre der Wirtschaftskammer Tirol/Die Produzenten und Verarbeiter von Tiroler Speck
Meinhardstrasse, 14
6020 Innsbruck
 
Names of applicant for title 
Euro Info Centre der Wirtschaftskammer Tirol/Die Produzenten und Verarbeiter von Tiroler Speck
Meinhardstrasse, 14
6020 Innsbruck
 
Holder of knowledge or associated resources
regional producers
 
Grantee(s), holder(s), assignee(s) or owner(s) of title, if any 
Euro Info Centre der Wirtschaftskammer Tirol/Die Produzenten und Verarbeiter von Tiroler Speck
Meinhardstrasse, 14
6020 Innsbruck 
 
Descriptors
In Tyrol speck has been an essential ingredient in local rural cuisine for hundreds of years.
The age-old tradition of speck in Tyrol is documented. One of things mentioned by Nikolaus Grass and Hermann Holzmann in their book “Geschichte des Tiroler Metzgerhandwerks und der Fleischversorgung des Landes” (History of the butcher' s art in Tyrol) (Universitätsverlag Wagner 1982) is the setting of prices for a pound of speck, together with pork sausages, on 23 July 1573. Other parts of the book provide further evidence of the importance of speck in Tyrolean culinary tradition.
 
The prime material for Tiroler Speck PGI derives from the followed deboned and trimmed cuts of pork:
- leg
- loin and best end of neck
- shoulder
- belly and
- neck
 
Tiroler Speck is lightly salted, spiced with a special mixture in line with local customs and traditions, stored in special rooms at between 18° and 20°C and exposed to aromatic smoke.
 
The outer colour is smoky brown; when cut the speck is reddish in colour with a white layer of back fat. Its odour is lightly aromatic with a clearly distinguishable hint of smoke. The taste is spicy, characterized by the special mixtures and a particular smoking process, and only slightly salty.
 
Physiochemical and microbiological properties:
- Water: protein ratio of maximum 1.5 (tolerance 0.2),
- Sodium chloride maximum 5%,
- Sodium nitrite calculated as sodium nitrite (NaNO2) 5 mg/100 g       
  (50mg/kg),
- Potassium nitrate calculated as sodium nitrite (NaNO2) 25 mg/100g 
  (250 mg/kg),
- Mesophilic total colony units (including lactic acid bacteria) CFU/g
  ≤ 1 x 10 ⁷  
  
Tiroler Speck PGI may only be produced by authorised commercial and agricultural producers or processors in the Austrian Federal State of Tyrol.
 
The following criteria must be observed when processing the cuts:
- All cuts being processed into Tiroler Speck must be trimmed in the 
  traditional manner;
- The meat must be dry-salted (a mixture of salt and spices must be rubbed
  into it dry) and cured;
- Smoking and the concomitant drying process is to take place at a maximum
  smoke and room temperature of 20°C;
- Air curing and maturing must be done at a room temperature of between
  10°C and 15°C and a relative humidity of 60% to 80%. Adequate air
  circulation must be ensured;
- Drying and maturing must be uniform so as to prevent the forming of a dry
  rind;
- The products must be kept free of parasites and noxious organisms;
- The cuts mentioned must not be injection cured or tumbled;
- Quality is tested by means of the testing procedure;
 
The description of the specification for the registration as PGI is to be found in the Austrian Patent Office. (National application No: 1188-GR/95)
 
Key words
Food and Agriculture, Traditional Knowledge, Austria, Tyrol, region, meat, speck, Tiroler Speck 
 
Bibliography /References
Council Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92. Application for Registration: Art 17, PGI. (National application No: 1188-GR/95)
N. Graff, H. Holzmann. Geschichte des Tiroler Metzgerhandwerkes. Universitätsverlag Wagner 1982
 
Language code
German
 
Product of www.genuss-region.at  
no
 
Regional contact 
----
 
Authors: Mag. Eva Sommer, Dr. Erhard Höbaus
 
* revised version in preparation
 

18.05.2011, Lebensministerium III/4