The Association of Traditional Producers, Artisans and Craftsmen of Vilča has started the process of registering the product “Traditional Sausages from Vilča” in the Register of Protected Geographical Indications of the European Union, the documentation and specification are submitted from March 12, 2024 to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MADR), notes Agerpres.

“After submitting the documentation to the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, the procedure for assessing the compliance of the registration case follows, and if additions are required, they will be submitted within a maximum of 30 days. The file will be published on the Ministry’s website during a national opposition period of 60 days, after which the product “Cârnaţi din topor din Vâlcea” automatically becomes protected on the national territory until it is registered at the European level. Later, Romania will submit an application to the European Commission (EC) for protection of the protected geographical indication (PGI) quality system, which will be registered in the “eAmbrosia” system. This is followed by a new assessment at the level of the Commission, then a 90-day European withdrawal period, followed by registration and publication in the EU Official Journal,” said Jonuts Diakoneasa, advisor to the Ministry of Agriculture.

“Wilce Ax Sausages” are traditionally made according to centuries-old recipes, with raw materials and ingredients from a geographically demarcated area that includes seven municipalities in the county of Vilce: Mihesti, Ocnele Mari, Francesti, Popesti, Resti, Lapusata and Pomodora. The product is traditionally MADR certified under the brand “Ca Altădătă” by the manufacturer Avi-Giis from Vilcea, which is part of the group of applicants.

Why are they called “axe” sausages

Why these sausages are called “from the ax” and what is the peculiarity of this product, explained the president of the Valcan association, Florin-Felix Gigirtu.

“Preserving the tradition of cooking pork is an ancient one for our area, and a traditional product requires a lot of work and knowledge, because many processes are done manually. For “axe” sausages, it is very important to pick the meat and chop it with an ax into large pieces. The ax, block and cleaver were local tools that were often used in the household. And nowadays, meat is still chopped by hand, with a cleaver, more a modern tool, but it’s still like an axe. The idea is that if you chop in a different way or with something else, the taste of the meat changes,” said the president of the association.

He emphasized that other specific characteristics of this product, preserved from ancient times, are the salt used to make the sausages, which comes only from the Ocnele Mari saltworks, and the cold and hot smoking only with beech wood.

“We only use salt from Ocnele Mari to make sausages. During the time of our grandparents we used carts to collect salt in Oknele Mari, it was necessary to collect 10-20 carts to form a group because we passed through an area with forests and Kotoshman forest was known for thieves and robbers To Oknele Mari the day went on, and they often had to wait another day if the salt was not taken away. And now we only use salt from Ocnele Mari for the “axe” sausages, because it has different properties compared to the salt we find in the trade. It contains several additional minerals and we have submitted analyzes to prove this. Another feature is the smoking part, which is made only of beech wood, indeed, the whole area is rich in beech forests, but beech also gives the best taste. For example, oak smokes very badly and gives it a sharp taste. There are practically two types of smoking, one cold and one hot, and this also arose out of necessity, but the tradition has survived to this day. Practically, when our grandfathers and grandmothers made sausages, they hung them over a larger oven and left them to drain there, slowly, they took their time in this sense and only at the end, when they needed to be finished, they gave them a stronger fire,” explained the representative of the association.

Also, several all-natural spices are used in the preparation of sausages, namely: garlic, thyme and pepper, in addition to salt from Ocnele Mari.

The product is recognized at the national level

The product is recognized at the national level, especially in the southern part of Romania, including in the capital, the manufacturer is present with it at fairs, in supermarkets, restaurants and even on the Internet, but it has also crossed the borders of the country, participating in major international fairs. profile.

Another traditional product certified by MADR, also under the trademark “Ca Altădata”, which the association intends to submit to the Ministry for European registration in the near future, is “Smoked meat with a side dish from Vilce”.

“Smoked meat with side dish from Vilch” is meat that was produced in peasant farms after slaughtering a pig. The main goal was to preserve the meat, because it was impossible to eat everything and it was necessary to strengthen preservation. they are processed until spring, even until summer, because many times when they went to the spit, they took meat as a side dish, sausages from the ax are also put on a side dish, but also the back, leg, pork chop, cut into pieces. and smoked, after which they fry in lard, put everything together on a side dish in the lard in which they were fried,” he explained.

The producer of the brand “Ca Altădata” has 13 products traditionally certified by the Minister of Agriculture, specific and representative products for the area of ​​Oltenia under the mountain and especially for the area of ​​Vilca.

Hundreds of MADR certified traditional products

Currently, there are 765 MADR-certified traditional products nationally, most of them are meat and meat products (309), milk and dairy products (140), vegetables and fruits (124), bread, dairy products, bakery and confectionery (120), fish (30), but also certified beverages (35).

At the European level, Romania has recognized and protected 13 products, of which 11 are protected geographical indications (PGI): Topoloveni plum magiun, Sibiu salami, smoked Novac from Ţara Bârsei, smoked crumb from Danube, Telemea from Sibiu, sausages from Pleșcoi, Săveni cheese, pike roe salad from Tulcea, Dobruja pie, Pecica pie, Turda saltines, one with Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), respectively Telemea from Ibăneşti and another product with Traditional Specialty Guaranteed (STG) – traditional salad with carp caviar.

Other products identified for possible registration at European level: respectively Telemea de Vaideeni, bran cheese, rhubarb jam, Gulianca cheese, Hunedoara virşli, Nădlac salami, Copălău garlic, Pericei onion, Transylvanian ham, Toboliu cabbage, German beer, Cobza with smoked trout from Valea Putnei, muscle pretzel, smoked plums from Sambureşti, Oltene sausages, Voineşti apples, etc.

Among the 1,760 food products from member countries registered in the European quality systems, only 13 are Romanian food products. (photo source Dreamstime)