The difference is not in the location. It’s in the certification.
Most of the mussels cultivated in Spain come from Galicia. This is not a disputed fact. But “mussel from Galicia” – without more – does not mean the same as “mussel from Galicia PDO”.
The Protected Designation of Origin Mejillón de Galicia is, according to the Regulatory Council itself, the only European seal that guarantees by means of a certificate that the mussels have been cultivated, processed and elaborated in Galicia, and that they have complied with a control process throughout the entire chain.
Only a limited number of companies are accredited by the Regulatory Council to use the seal. The rest of the Galician mussels – and this is most of the mussels that reach the market – are marketed without it, and therefore without the formal guarantee that it implies.
Distinction matters. References such as “from the Galician estuaries” or “produced in Galicia” are free statements if they are not accompanied by the official PDO logo. The seal, not the geographical origin, is the proof.
The first PDO of the sea in Europe
Galician mussels obtained the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) in 2007. It was the first seafood product to do so in Europe, and remains the only seafood product with PDO in Spain.
The PDO is not a promotional label. It is a regulated European classification, exclusively for products whose quality and characteristics are inseparably linked to a geographical location, its natural factors and the human know-how developed there.
What the seal really guarantees
The Regulatory Council of the Mejillón de Galicia PDO is accredited by ENAC as a product certification body. This public body supervises the entire chain:
- In cultivation: audits at the troughs and supervision of each phase.
- At unloading: control units at authorized docks to verify the size and meat yield of each consignment.
- In preparation: audit of the chain of custody in certified companies.
- In the market: random inspections at points of sale.
Companies that also operate with mussels not covered by the PDO are obliged by regulation to scrupulously separate their batches to avoid cross-contamination with certified mussels. This requirement is a measure of the seriousness of the system.
The mexilla: where it all begins
Before the seal, before the control, before the can, there is the mexilla.
The mexilla is the offspring of the mussel. Larvae that, after fertilization in the open sea, are attached to the rocks of the Atlantic coast by means of filaments called byssus – a fiber that the mussel itself secretes and that hardens in contact with salt water.
Between December and April, the bateeiros jump to the most beaten rocks of the Atlantic, with scrapers, to separate by hand each calf from the stone. A traditional and physical job.
There is also a system using collecting ropes suspended from the trays during the spawning season, between March and June. Both forms – manual collection and directed collection – are regulated by the Administration.
Stringing: an inherited craft
Once the mexilla is picked up, it is taken to the punt. Stringing begins.
The process consists of wrapping the mussel on the rope inside a fine biodegradable rayon mesh, which holds it in place until the mussel itself attaches itself to the rope with its byssus. The mesh then dissolves in the sea.
Ten to fifteen kilos of seed are placed on each string. It can be done by machine, with stringers, or by hand. Smaller fleets continue to do it largely by hand.
It is a job that is learned by observing and mastered over the years.
La batea: the sea as a slow stove
A multitude of ropes hang from each pan. Each rope holds growing mussels, feeding on the phytoplankton that the Galician estuaries – among the most productive in Europe due to their particular mix of fresh and salt water – generate in abundance.
Four to six months after stringing, when the mussel has grown large enough for the weight to threaten the rope, comes the unfurling. The original rope is taken aboard the ship, the mussel is divided into two or three new ropes with lower density, and returned to the sea.
Thereafter, between eight and fourteen more months, depending on the area, until commercial size is reached.
In total, from breeding on the rocks to the moment the mussel is taken on board the ship, it can take more than a year, sometimes almost two. What grows slowly tastes different.
From the estuary to the Bongarth can
Bongarth works exclusively with mussels certified under the PDO Mejillón de Galicia.
The raw material enters production after passing port controls. The final selection is made at the cannery, one by one: size, flesh color, yield. Only those specimens that meet internal criteria above the PDO requirements are canned.
The preparation of the marinade is done over a slow fire, with olive oil, vinegar, spices and salt. No additives, no coloring, no shortcuts. Each mussel enters its can by hand, one by one.
Each can is numbered. Production is limited edition and there is no second run in this campaign.
In a nutshell
Galician mussels are, by waters and by trade, the best possible starting point for a canned product. But only the PDO seal of the Regulatory Council formally certifies that this mussel meets – and has met at every stage – the standards of origin, traceability and quality that the name promises.
Bongarth is based on this guarantee. And it adds a selection and elaboration process that takes care of what is already exceptional.
Official sources:
- Regulatory Council of the PDO Mejillón de Galicia – mexillondegalicia.org
- Regulation of the Protected Designation of Origin Mexillón de Galicia and its Regulatory Council (DOG 68, April 8, 2019).
- National Accreditation Entity (ENAC)
- Consellería do Mar – Xunta de Galicia
