Alheira de Barroso-Montalegre

Alheira de Barroso-Montalegre is a smoked horseshoe-shaped sausage made from Bisaro-breed pig meat and fat, poultry, rabbit, and bread, stuffed into a hog casing. Production and packing are confined to the municipality of Montalegre, with raw materials drawn from the Barroso municipalities of Boticas, Chaves, and Montalegre in the Vila Real district of Portugal.

About this designation

Registered as a PGI on 16 May 2002 under file number PGI-PT-0237 (eAmbrosia identifier EUGI00000013544), Alheira de Barroso-Montalegre is a smoked sausage classified as a meat-based product. The specification requires pig meat and pig fat from the Bisaro breed or from cross-breeds that must be at least 50% Bisaro, combined with poultry meat — chicken, turkey, and/or duck — rabbit, and bread, all stuffed into a hog casing (small intestine). Permitted seasonings are salt, garlic, chilli pepper powder (pimento), red bell pepper powder (pimentão), parsley, onion, and olive oil from the Trás-os-Montes region. The sausage takes a horseshoe shape with a cylindrical section approximately 3 cm in diameter and presents a non-uniform exterior colour ranging from yellow to brown; the cut interior is a uniform yellow-brown with visible meat shreds. Processing and packing are confined to the municipality of Montalegre; raw material sourcing extends to the municipalities of Boticas, Chaves, and Montalegre — the territory collectively identified as Barroso — in the Vila Real district. The product is always placed on the market as a whole, pre-packed sausage and may not be cut or sliced. Each sausage carries a numbered certification mark ensuring traceability to the farm of origin. The inspection body is Tradição e Qualidade — Associação Interprofissional para Produtos Agro-Alimentares de Trás-os-Montes, based in Mirandela. Labelling must include the wording 'Alheira de Barroso-Montalegre — Indicação Geográfica Protegida', the Community logo, the Barroso-Montalegre logo, and the numbered certification mark.

Source: The register document this entry was written from · retrieved August 26, 2026

Distinctive facts

• Registered as a PGI on 16 May 2002 under file number PGI-PT-0237, eAmbrosia identifier EUGI00000013544.
• Pig meat and fat must come from the Bisaro breed or cross-breeds that are at least 50% Bisaro; no other pig breed is permitted.
• The product may not be cut or sliced and must always be sold as a whole, pre-packed sausage from the place of origin.
• Each sausage bears a numbered certification mark enabling traceability to the individual farm of origin.

Tasting notes

Trás-os-Montes alheira variant from Barroso/Montalegre area. Similar profile to Mirandela.

HoReCa use

Same Portuguese tasca applications.

Packaging

• Same as Mirandela