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Raw materials/Variety/Race
The Viande Séchée du Valais IGP is made with pieces of bovine legs, well covered but not too fat. Bovines must be bred in Switzerland.
Method of working/Cultivation/Breeding
The meat pieces are carefully cut and cleared away from fat and nerves. After being soaked with a mixture of herbs and spices, according to the peculiar recipe of each producer, pieces of meat dry in the open air for 5-16 weeks. Meat pieces can be pressed but not smoked. During the curing, a noble mould can develop on the surface area of each piece. This mould gives to the Viande Séchée du Valais IGP its peculiarity. Thanks to the pressing, which opens the pores of the meat, the product can breathe and get a rectangular shape. During the making, the meat loses between 40 and 50 % of its weight.
Aspect and Taste
The Viande Séchée du Valais IGP is a salty and dried beef meat which is consumed raw. The meat piece has a round or rectangular shape and a red-crimson colour. It is exclusively made with Swiss beef meat. It can never be smoked.
Production Zone
The area where the Viande Séchée du Valais IGP is transformed includes the Valais canton which is located in the Alps, in the South-West of Switzerland. The birth, the fattening, the slaughter and the cut of the bovines used to produce the Viande Séchée du Valais IGP must take place in Switzerland.
History
Due to the harsh climate of the Alpine area, the formation of a lasting food stock was very important for the population. Consequently, the salting and the drying of the meat in the Valais area has been handed down from generation to generation. The first documents referring to the existence of the Viande Séchée du Valais IGP date back to 1550. With the progressive decline of the family farms number and with the development of tourism, the Viande Séchée du Valais IGP denomination has been used to indicate a speciality made with the best pieces of bovine legs. The production of Viande Séchée du Valais became a full activity and the know-how of its qualified producers attests to a rich background formed along the centuries.
Gastronomy
Once cut in thin slices, the Viande Séchée du Valais IGP can be savoured accompanied with Pain de Seigle Valaisan AOC and an AOC wine from Valais. The Viande Séchée du Valais IGP can substitute the raw meat for a carpaccio. Sliced very thinly, it can also give a very nice taste to a salad.
Marketing
The product is sold as Viande Séchée du Valais IGP. It is marketed in pieces or in slices put in small containers. The product can be conserved without refrigeration.
Distinctive features
The different flavours of the Viande Séchée du Valais IGP are linked to the mixture of spices which guarantees the expression of each producer's know-how.