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PGI — Franche-Comté
Without this pig, slowly reared on Comtois farms, neither Saucisse de Morteau nor Saucisse de Montbéliard would exist — Porc de Franche-Comté is the sovereign raw material behind all of the region's smoked charcuterie.
Pork from Franche-Comté, PGI (IGP) since 2010.
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Porc de Franche-Comté is neither a cheese nor a ham: it is a raw material, whose PGI specification was approved on 10 November 2008 before receiving European recognition in 2010 (EU Regulation No 979/2010), under INAO reference IG/24/95. This recognition stems from a distinctive terroir logic that inextricably links pig farming to the great Comtois cheese dairies producing Comté, Morbier, Mont d'Or, Bleu de Gex and Gruyère. Unlike other regions where pork and cheese are two separate sectors, Franche-Comté has built a circular economy model: the pigs are fed whey, a precious by-product of the local cheese dairies (the fruitières), whose manure in turn fertilises the pastures of dairy cows. This synergy gives Porc de Franche-Comté a distinctive meat quality; its traditional outlets are the two flagship PGIs of Comtois smoked charcuterie, Saucisse de Morteau and Saucisse de Montbéliard.
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The production area covers four départements of the former Franche-Comté region: Doubs (25), Jura (39), Haute-Saône (70) and Territoire de Belfort (90). This territory stretches between the plains crossed by the Saône and the Doubs and the plateaux that join the Jura mountain range, a region where agriculture is predominantly geared towards dairy cattle farming. The local cheese dairies, known as fruitières, turn this milk into AOC cheeses (Comté, Morbier, Mont d'Or, Bleu de Gex, Gruyère); their small size encourages the use of whey on site, without transport or cooling, to the benefit of neighbouring pig farms. This ancestral organisation provides ecological and economic harmony: the whey, a co-product of cheese-making, is consumed by the pigs, whose manure in turn fertilises the pastures that feed the dairy cows.
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PGI Porc de Franche-Comté offers meat with a firm, low-exudate texture, with firm white fat — qualities directly sought after for the curing of smoked sausages. Local pig production has regional outlets both as fresh meat and in the form of cured meats; indeed, the region's cured-meat producers organised themselves to obtain PGI recognition for the sector's two traditional outlets, Saucisse de Morteau and Saucisse de Montbéliard. This specialisation creates collective pride: it is Comtois pork that makes Comtois charcuterie.
Appearance
Carcass with a minimum warm weight of 75 kg (with no upper limit set). Firm, white cover fat; soft and oily fats are eliminated during sorting, and linoleic acid in the ration is capped at 1.7% (dry matter) to limit lipid unsaturation. Homogeneous, pinkish meat colour.
Aroma
Fresh and distinctive — only castrated males and females are accepted in the sector, which rules out the risk of the unpleasant odour typical of entire males.
Taste
Significantly more tender and juicier meat than standard pork; once processed, it yields hams with a clean, highly flavourful aroma.
Texture
Firm, low-exudate texture, without exudate when cut; upon cooking, tender chops and hams with a firm, smooth texture.
More than breed, two genes determine admission into the sector: exclusion of animals homozygous for the halothane sensitivity gene (hal) and the RN- allele (fewer than 3% carriers tolerated)
Females and castrated males only; entire males, young boars, monorchids, cryptorchids, hermaphrodites and cull sows are excluded from the scheme
Sold in fresh, chilled form: carcasses, primal cuts, secondary cuts, packaged or unpackaged
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Porc de Franche-Comté is not tasted directly, but in the form of processed charcuterie. See the Saucisse de Morteau and Saucisse de Montbéliard entries for pairing suggestions. Fresh meat is well suited to roasts, chops and escalopes — to be cooked in regional Bourguignon or Comtois dishes.
Since: 2010
Area covered: Doubs (25), Jura (39), Haute-Saône (70), Territoire de Belfort (90)
Key requirements: Birth, rearing and slaughter in the PGI (IGP) area; mandatory whey (15–35% of the ration) + cereals; exclusion of carriers of the halothane gene and the RN- allele; slaughter age ≥ 182 days, warm carcass weight ≥ 75 kg; pH and carcass colour checks
Specification approved on 10/11/2008.
No producer is listed for this product yet.
