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Meat from Bulgaria

Gornooryahovski sudzhuk PGIГорнооряховски суджук

Gornooryahovski sudzhuk is a raw, dried beef sausage from the Bulgarian town of Gorna Oryahovitsa, shaped into a flattened horseshoe. It ripens for about 48 hours at 22–25 °C, then dries for 10–20 days at 15–18 °C under a white coat of Penicillium and Aspergillus moulds, and is pressed flat once or twice.

Fully documentedMeat12 days – 22 days

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe specification sets the beef, the process and the finished limits, not the recipe amounts.
Fresh beefFrom cattle over 12 months; prepared to about 10 % connective tissue and up to 30 % fat[eu-sudzhuk-2014]
Black pepper, cumin and savouryA traditional mixture whose amounts are not given[eu-sudzhuk-2014]
Salt and saltpetreSalt at most 4.5 % and nitrite at most 50 mg/kg in the finished sausage[eu-sudzhuk-2014]
Natural gutRinsed of salt and soaked until elastic[eu-sudzhuk-2014]
Starterspontaneous (moulds come from the drying rooms and the wooden boards)

Total time across the recorded steps: 12 days – 22 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
up to -5 °C

What changes: Frozen beef is ground through grids to about 4 mm pieces

Step 1 of 5
Grind the frozen beef
Time
Not documented
Temperature
up to -5 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Moulds
Penicillium
Aspergillus
Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Gornooryahovski sudzhuk is a raw, dried beef sausage from the Bulgarian town of Gorna Oryahovitsa, shaped into a flattened horseshoe. It ripens for about 48 hours at 22–25 °C, then dries for 10–20 days at 15–18 °C under a white coat of Penicillium and Aspergillus moulds, and is pressed flat once or twice. Made in 5 steps over 12 days – 22 days. The longest step, dry and press, takes 10–20 days (European Commission 2014) and runs at 15–18 °C (European Commission 2014). Salt is up to 4.5 % (European Commission 2014). White powdery surface mould, a local mix of Penicillium and Aspergillus species and Denitrifying micro-organisms that turn the saltpetre into nitrite and nitric oxide during warm maturing do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step10–20 daysSet[eu-sudzhuk-2014][eu-sudzhuk-2010]Dry and press
Temperature15–18 °CSet[eu-sudzhuk-2014][eu-sudzhuk-2010]Dry and press
Saltup to 4.5 %Set[eu-sudzhuk-2014]Finished sudzhuk
AciditypH 5.1–6Set[eu-sudzhuk-2014]Finished sudzhuk

What makes this one different

Unlike Turkish sucuk, Gornooryahovski sudzhuk is pressed flat during drying and must carry a white Penicillium and Aspergillus coat that grows from the rooms. Its warm maturing lasts only about 48 hours before 10–20 days of drying.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Traditional heap maturingIn the past the sausages were heaped and covered with rugs to warm them; ventilated warm rooms do this now.

Safety

The specification limits the finished sausage to water activity 0.88 or lower, pH 5.1–6, salt at most 4.5 % and nitrite at most 50 mg/kg. The makers judge when to end the warm stage so that harmful substances do not form. This is raw beef, held warm for about 48 hours and never cooked. In a US study of fermented dry sausage, E. coli O157:H7 added to the batter survived fermentation, drying and two months of chilled storage, with or without a starter culture, so the authors stress starting with clean beef. CDC tells people who are pregnant, 65 or older or have a weakened immune system to avoid unheated fermented or dry sausages, or to heat them until steaming hot.

Hazards the sources name: In a commercial US fermented dry sausage batter (not this sausage), E. coli O157:H7 added at about 4.8 × 10^4 CFU/g survived fermentation, drying and two months at 4 °C, falling about 2 log; not tested in this sausage.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

In 1538 Suleiman I granted the Rustem Pasha Foundation taxes from sudzhuk making in Rahoviche (now Gorna Oryahovitsa). A local maker's sudzhuk won a medal at a fair in Italy in 1861. The name was entered in the EU register as a PGI by Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1370/2011 of 21 December 2011, and Implementing Regulation (EU) No 839/2014 of 31 July 2014 approved non-minor amendments to the specification.

  1. [glass1992] Glass K.A., Loeffelholz J.M., Ford J.P., Doyle M.P. 1992, Fate of Escherichia coli O157:H7 as affected by pH or sodium chloride and in fermented, dry sausage, Applied and Environmental Microbiology 58(8):2513-2516 (abstract)paper
  2. [cdc-listeria] US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Preventing Listeria Infectiongov
  3. [eu-sudzhuk-2014] European Commission 2014, Publication of an amendment application, Gornooryahovski sudzhuk PGI (BG-PGI-0105-01108), with the amended single document, Official Journal C 75, 14.3.2014, p. 9 (CELEX 52014XC0314(01)), read via the EU Publications Office cellar; the amendments were later approved by Implementing Regulation (EU) No 839/2014spec
  4. [eu-sudzhuk-2010] European Commission 2010, Publication of an application, Gornooryahovski sudzhuk PGI, single document, Official Journal C 77, 26.3.2010 (CELEX 52010XC0326(02)), read via the EU Publications Office cellarspec
  5. [eu-reg-1370-2011] European Commission 2011, Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1370/2011 of 21 December 2011 entering a name in the register of protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications (Gornooryahovski sudzhuk (PGI)), Official Journal L 341, 22.12.2011, p. 39 (CELEX 32011R1370)spec
  6. [eu-reg-839-2014] European Commission 2014, Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 839/2014 of 31 July 2014 approving non-minor amendments to the specification for a name entered in the register of protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications (Gornooryahovski Sudzhuk (PGI)), Official Journal L 231, 2.8.2014, p. 1 (CELEX 32014R0839)spec