Pròsper Puig: "It's ridiculous that school cafeterias in Barcelona don't serve sausages or pork to children."

BarcelonaI interview the butcher Próspero Puig on the day that The ARA newspaper celebrates fifteen years since it published its first issueThe day that the Greek-Swedish writer Theodor Kallifatides She will win the newspaper's first international prize. I also tell her that we've known each other for fifteen years, and even longer. I ask her name, which is lovely, and she tells me it's as old as the writer William Shakespeare, who used it in the play The storm"Did you see Lluís Soler playing Prospero in the production directed by Oriol Broggi at the Library of Catalonia?" I tell him yes, I went to see the play. And then we start talking about Prospero's trade and passion: cured meats and pork. Until last September, he used to come to his own delicatessen, located in the Sant Andreu neighborhood, but he's sold it. In the interview, we focus particularly on a topic he always brings up when he sees me: the school cafeterias in Barcelona, ​​which don't offer cured meats or pork. He also expresses his concern about swine fever.

We are on high alert for swine fever

— We were prepared for this to happen. We've been preparing for it for years, which is why the response has been so immediate and efficient. However, we are concerned, of course, because pork exports, especially to Asia, are very important. And this weekend, the city of Taiwan has already suspended exports from the state. We are working quickly, and we expect everything to be under control very soon.

Are sausages more fashionable than ever?

— We have stopped criminalizing them, yes. The study conducted by the Americans, based on their customs as a countryIt caused harm, but now everything has been put back in place.

Sausages are processed foods.

— They are, but artisanal sausage is processed with pork, salt, and pepper. If we replace artisanal sausage with a non-meat product, a manufactured one, then we only need to look at the label: they're loaded with additives. In other words, artisanal sausage has nothing to do with processed meat as we normally understand it, because the latter contains every imaginable additive.

So, does artisanal sausage have a short shelf life?

— Yes. Let me give you some examples. Raw sausage; butchers make it every day and it should be eaten right away. It's also true that butchers also make cured sausages, and then the expiration date isn't immediate.

When we talk about expiration dates and the preservation of cured meats we buy from a delicatessen, I'm asking about refrigeration. Should we keep salami and whipped sausage in the refrigerator?

— Never. Cured meats should never be refrigerated. They should be kept out of the refrigerator. All that will happen is that they'll dry out, but that's it. So, ham, chorizo, and other cured meats should stay out of the refrigerator. Cooked meats are a different story: sweet ham, Catalan sausage, white sausage, black sausage, mortadella, and frankfurters. These should be refrigerated.

You talk about artisan charcuterie makers, but I would say that currently the food industry is the one that produces the most sausages and whips.

— Yes, it does, but it's not the same. On the labels of a sausage or an industrial whipped cream, you'll find ingredients like lactose. I should also say that the words artisan and craft They've prostituted themselves. I think we need to develop a new narrative to explain what we do and how it differs from the industry. I've already explained this idea to the Minister of Agriculture. The problem isn't that the food industry has added lactose to sausages, because that's allowed, but that they produce large quantities and that those sausages have a very long shelf life.

Why has the industry dived headfirst into processed meats?

— It's our fault, the fault of the artisan charcuterie makers. We have to take responsibility. mea culpaBecause we stopped making cooked ham, and the industry has taken over. If the former give up production for whatever reason, the latter jump right in. And all of this is linked to two issues: on the one hand, the lack of training in the trade, and on the other, the extremely high bureaucratic burden applied to small producers. They face such a heavy regulatory load that it represents an unsustainable cost and makes their businesses unviable. And this happens to delicatessens, cheesemakers, and any small-scale producer alike. It's unacceptable that the government applies the same regulatory requirements to a large industry as it does to a delicatessen owner with one or two shops.

Why do you think chefs have opted for making their own sausages? Rafa Peña has just opened Provisiones Gresca, But there are many others, such as Joan Juncà from Ca Enric, who has also been making his own sausages for some time..

— They've opted for this because they're reviving traditions. We're at a point where chefs are championing Catalan cuisine and, therefore, bringing back recipes. Today, tradition is innovation, and in this field, we're unbeatable. Think about it: pork was the lifeline of the Catalan farmhouses, because a single pig could sustain a family for an entire year. Families knew how to extend the shelf life of the protein pork provided, using techniques like tupí, a preservation method involving maceration in lard.

Has vegetarianism and veganism, which excludes animal protein from one's diet, affected your sales?

— No. Furthermore, we had a visit from Dutch delicatessens and butchers who told us that in their country, 6% of the population was vegan or vegetarian, and that it didn't affect them either, because their sales were stable. Their perspective was helpful because it's what happened to us. People know that the important thing is to eat a balanced diet. They know that you can't eat everything every day, but eliminating it from their diet forever is an extreme. There's an average, which is what our grandparents ate. What did they eat? Potatoes, vegetables, a piece of bacon. They ate a cut of meat, but only occasionally, and not at every meal.

At what stage are negotiations with the Barcelona City Council to allow school cafeterias to offer sausages and pork in their weekly menus?

— We've spoken with the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health in bilateral meetings between the City Council and the Catalan Government, and we're looking for a solution. More than five years ago, the Barcelona City Council drew up specifications stipulating that companies wishing to bid to prepare school meals could not include these foods. It's ridiculous that Barcelona school cafeterias don't serve sausages or pork to children when Catalonia is the second largest producer of these products in Europe. After years of this situation, I now believe that, sooner rather than later, this condition will be reversed. I'm constantly speaking with all the relevant authorities to get this regulation revoked. And I hope that at the next City Council meeting, the conditions for companies to bid to provide school meals will change, and then pork and sausages will be allowed.

I understand that the Barcelona City Council made this decision when the World Health Organization study was published, which advocated for low consumption of red meat, of which pork is red meat. Or was it for the sake of inclusivity? Excluding one of our traditions to be inclusive of other cultures?

— It makes no sense that children who eat lunch at school can't have sausages. I'm going back to talking about a balanced diet. And, furthermore, it must be said—and studies confirm this—that there are children who only eat animal protein at school. Moreover, children like this protein: the City Council's initiative to connect businesses and schools takes children to delicatessens, and we see that they enjoy it. And there's yet another compelling reason: cured meats, pork, are part of our cultural identity. We can't eliminate them.

Finally, Prospero, I ask you about the state of health of the only Protected Geographical Indication for sausages that we have in Catalonia, the salchichón.

— It's stabilized with seven producers. There are more outsiders than insiders. There's been a problem since the PGI's inception because small producers felt excluded, as it entailed expenses and production requirements they couldn't meet. Over time, it hasn't been about money anymore, but rather that small producers don't want to join because they have their own production methods. Everyone has their reasons; I understand them all. The fact is, if you're not part of the PGI, you can't say "Vic sausage," because only members can use that term. That's why Casa Sendra lost the legal battle when they used the words "Genuine Vic sausage"He lost the case and had to backtrack. By the way, Casa Sendra is now part of the Vic Salchichón PGI because Can Duran, which was previously part of it, has taken over. In fact, they are the president of the PGI."

When I go to Vic, I buy sausage at the delicatessens I find in the main square: Can ViladaLa Teresona, Charcutería Solà. None of them are within the PGI.

— We'd like them to be there. When you go, ask them why they don't go in.

Perhaps they don't find it important.

— You're right. I often speak with the Minister of Agriculture about this as well. Society doesn't value either Protected Geographical Indications (PGIs) or Protected Designations of Origin (PDOs). There's more social value in winning a competition, like the Catalan sausage competition we hold at the Orígenes de Olot Fair, than in being included in a classification of this kind.

Since it's been mentioned, let's address it. What's happened to Catalan sausage, which seems to have fallen into oblivion?

— We're bringing it back, and I think we'll pull through. The same thing happened with egg sausage back in the day because it was associated with Carnival, and during the Franco regime, since the festival was banned, its consumption declined. With democracy, we reclaimed it, and now we've managed to get it consumed year-round. With Catalan sausage, there's also been a regulatory issue. Europe legislated that cooked products couldn't contain nitrified salt. Catalan sausage contains it, which is why only a small amount is needed. If it's not used, then Catalan sausage doesn't have that pink color; it just has the color of boiled meat. If we accept that it has to be this way, then we'll comply with the regulations eliminating nitrified salt, which is a preservative and what gives the sausage its pinkish color.