Flavours of the Air and Fire (2nd Group)

Set of stamps

Souvenir sheet

Flavours of the Air and Fire

Alentejo Our trip through the country now takes us to the Alentejo, where our view extends over the endless expanses of cork and holm oaks: the “montado” without which the Alentejo pig would not exist. Its rustic nature allows it to survive in extreme weather conditions, while in the mountain range its meat gains flavour from the Acorn. This is the raw material that is the basis of the undisputed quality of the blood sausages, bagged sausages and smoked hams of the Alentejo.

Presunto de Barrancos DOP

(Barrancos PDO smoked ham)

Origin: Alentejo breed of pigs, except boars and breeding sows;

Shape: elongated cut, with hide tapered to a narrow tip (traditional); with the hoof and the mark of the Cross of Avis;

Ingredients: leg of pork, salt; salted and air-cured;

When cut: pink to ruby red from the meat, contrasting with the pearly tone of the infiltrated fat and exterior fat;

Taste: delicate flavour, slightly salty, slightly sweet; unctuous texture that almost melts in your mouth;

Processing area: Barrancos County.

Presunto de Santana da Serra IGP

(Santana da Serra PGI Smoked ham)

Origin: Alentejo breed of pigs, except breeding ones;

Shape: rounded cut with external hide tapered to a narrow tip; with the hoof and mark of the Cross of Santiago;

Ingredients: leg of pork, salt; salted and air-cured;

When cut: dark-red-marbled meat contrasting with the pearly white of the fat; the general appearance is bright;

Taste: intense flavour of “montanheira”, but slightly salty; soft texture and slightly fibrous;

Processing area: parishes of Santana da Serra, Garvão, Ourique, Panóias, Santa Luzia and Conceição, of the county of Ourique.

Paio ou lombo enguitado de Portalegre IGP

(Portalegre PGI “Paio” sausage or tied loin)

Origin: Alentejo breed of pigs, except boars and breeding sows;

Shape: straight and cylindrical with a maximum length of 50 cm; it is wrapped in the skins of lard and tied with double cotton twine;

Ingredients: fresh loin without superficial fat, salt, garlic and red pepper paste, white wine (optional);

When cut: mild flavour, slightly salty, very lightly smoked, sometimes slightly spicy; smooth texture;

Taste: intense flavour of “montanheira”, but slightly salty; soft texture and slightly fibrous;

Processing area: Alter do Chão, Arronches, Avis, Campo Maior, Castelo de Vide, Crato, Elvas, Fronteira, Gavião, Marvão, Monforte, Nisa, Ponte de Sor, Portalegre and Sousel, of the Portalegre district.

Paio ou lombo branco de Portalegre IGP

(Portalegre PGI “Paio” sausage or white loin)

Origin: Alentejo breed of pigs, except boars and breeding sows;

Shape: cylindrical and straight; it is bagged in the gut of the cecum or wrapped in the skins of the lard;

Ingredients: fresh whole loin without superficial fat, salt, garlic and white wine; very slight smoked or just air-cured;

When cut: very light pink on the inside, a very thin layer of fat around the meat and some infiltrated fat, barely visible;

Taste: mild flavour, slightly salty, sometimes slightly spicy; very soft texture;

Processing area: Alter do Chão, Arronches, Avis, Campo Maior, Castelo de Vide, Crato, Elvas, Fronteira, Gavião, Marvão, Monforte, Nisa, Ponte de Sor, Portalegre and Sousel, of the Portalegre district.

Chouriço de carne de Estremoz e Borba IGP

Estremoz and Borba PGI sausage meat)

Origin: Alentejo breed of pigs, except boars and breeding sows;

Shape: Horseshoe of a dark-red colour, punctuated by the white of the fat;

Ingredients: meat and fat (flank, shoulder and neck) seasoned with salt, garlic, red pepper paste and water, slight smoked in cold;

When cut: inhomogeneous mass with chequered pearlescent white and red, very well ground;

Taste: mild flavour, very pleasant and balanced, slightly smoked, smooth texture;

Processing area: countries of Estremoz, Borba, Vila Viçosa and Alandroal.

Chouriço mouro de Portalegre IGP (Portalegre PGI moor chorizo)

Origin: Alentejo breed of pigs, except boars and breeding sows;

Shape: Horseshoe of a dark-red colour, almost black;

Ingredients: bloody meat, fat and offal, salt, garlic, paprika and red pepper paste, optionally white wine and cumin; When cut: mass of a dark-red colour, well ground but not very compact, in which the fats and meats are visible;

Taste: mild flavour, slightly spicy and with a soft and slightly spongy texture;

Processing area: Alter do Chão, Arronches, Avis, Campo Maior, Castelo de Vide, Crato, Elvas, Fronteira, Gavião, Marvão, Monforte, Nisa, Ponte de Sor, Portalegre and Sousel, of the Portalegre district.

Farinheira de Estremoz e Borba IGP

(Estremoz and Borba PGI flour sausage)

Origin: Alentejo breed of pigs, except boars and breeding sows;

Shape: Horseshoe of a yellow-orange colour, with the ends tightened with cotton thread;

Ingredients: chopped fats, wheat flour, salt, garlic, red pepper paste, water; lightly smoked; When cut: yellow-orange mass, with indistinct, well ground and dull ingredients;

Taste: very soft texture of the soft paste, gentle alliaceous taste with light sweet aftertaste and almost no smoke flavour;

Processing area: countries of Estremoz, Borba, Vila Viçosa and Alandroal.

Algarve Several mountain ranges separate the Alentejo from the Algarve, namely the luxuriant Monchique one, which hide blood sausages that are real treasures, like this one that comes wrapped in a cloth sheet: the flour sausage or the flour black pudding. Previously made with a sub-breed of the Alentejo, the Algarve pig, it is a well-seasoned blood sausage with an unmistakable flavour.

Farinheira de Monchique ou morcela de farinha

(Monchique flour sausage or flour black pudding)

Origin: Alentejo breed of pigs or others;

Shape: straight and cylindrical with a maximum length of 30 cm, it is bagged in a white cloth sheet, sewn with cotton thread;

Ingredients: Corn flour, blood, lean meats, fats, salt, garlic, pepper, cumin, cloves, bay leaves and cinnamon; When cut: a non-uniform dark colour, with some whitish spots of fat;

Taste: very pleasant flavour, rich in spices but mild,

highlighting the cinnamon; soft texture;

Processing area: the entire county of Monchique.

Beiras The “other Beiras” – Beira does not live of snowy peaks alone. More downward and to the West, a place where the Alto Ribatejo and Alto Alentejo already lurk, the landscape changes from the fertile valleys nestled between ridges, for the great Interior Pine Forest of the South, the geodesic centre of Portugal.

At these stops, the aristocratic sheep gives way, little by little, to its more frugal and proletarian cousin, the goat. It was there that – some say by necessity of the peoples, tight with hunger resulting from the Napoleonic wars – one of the most original and characteristic of our country sausages emerged: the “maranhos”.

Maranhos da Sertã

Origin: small bellow (when the maw is full size) or 'little pads';

Shape: yellowish white envelope, allowing to tenuously see the filling;

Ingredients: goat or mutton maw, lamb or goat meat (leg), smoked ham, blood sausage and bacon, rice, garlic, salt, pepper, mint, olive oil, white wine and water;

When cut: slices dotted by the redness of the blood sausage, the white from the rice, the brown from the meat and the green from the mint;

Taste: rich flavour of the meat complemented by the intense freshness of the mint.

The Azores Although a land of cattle, the Azores islands never disdained the pig. Each island has a different tradition, sometimes influenced by the peoples that colonized them, but in all of them the sausages are enriched with various spices. The blood sausage of the island of São Miguel includes freshly-ground pepper, cloves and cinnamon, but the taste remains smooth and very special.

Morcela de São Miguel

(São Miguel Blood Sausage)

Shape: Horseshoe with a black and very glossy colour; very smooth tripe;

Ingredients: blood, Ricol fats, chopped onion, cooked rice and/or rice flour (optionally, wheat flour), parsley, garlic, salt, vinegar and/or white wine, pepper, freshly-ground pepper, cloves, cinnamon;

When cut: pasty and very dark compact mass, pervaded by reddish tinge;

Taste: sweetish aftertaste, with very slight flavour of spices.

Technical Details

Date of Issue: 15 March 2013

Values: two stamps for Inland mail, two stamps for Inland express mail, two stamps Europe 20g and two stamps for International mail 20g.

Special sheet with two stamps of 1,00€

Designer: AF Atelier

Photos:

Printer: INCM

Process: Offset

Size: 40 x 30,6 mm

Size special sheet: 125 x 95 mm

Perforation: Cross of Christ 13 x 13

Paper: FSC 110 g./m2

Watermark:

Sheet: with 50 stamps