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Fermentation Atlas

Meat from Bulgaria

Lukanka Panagyurska TSGЛуканка Панагюрска

Beef (or buffalo) and pork are ground with salt, nitrate, sugar, black pepper and cumin, stuffed into 50 mm casing and dried for 20–30 days. Pressed two or three times in wooden presses, it takes a flat, elliptic shape and grows a white noble mould. Made in 6 steps over 2.5 days – 4 days. The longest step, dry and drain, takes 2–3 days (Application for registration of a TSG 'Лукaнк…) and runs at 8–24 °C (Application for registration of a TSG 'Лукaнк…). Salt is 2.3 % (Application for registration of a TSG 'Лукaнк…). Lactobacillus plantarum, L. brevis and L. sakei does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step2–3 daysSet[tsg2014]Dry and drain
Temperature8–24 °CSet[tsg2014]Dry and drain
Salt2.3 %Set[tsg2014]Grind meat with seasoning and curing salts
Fully documentedMeat2.5 days – 4 daysTSG, Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 837/2014More meatMore from Bulgaria

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceRecipe for 100 kg of sausage filling from the TSG specification, unchanged since Technical Standard 37-83 of 1983.
60 kgFresh beef (or buffalo), up to 10 % fat[tsg2014]
20 kgLean pork, up to 5 % fat[tsg2014]
20 kgPork belly, up to 50 % fat[tsg2014]
2.3 kgCooking salt[tsg2014]
300 gBlack or white pepper[tsg2014]
300 gCumin[tsg2014]
300 gSugar[tsg2014]
100 gPotassium nitrate (or 85 g sodium nitrate)[tsg2014]
50 gAscorbic acid (E300)[tsg2014]
Starter cultures (allowed)[tsg2014]
Starterspontaneous or defined culture (starters allowed)

Total time across the recorded steps: 2.5 days – 4 days

Start
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What changes: Beef and pork are ground with salt, nitrate, pepper and cumin

Step 1 of 6
Grind meat with seasoning and curing salts
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
2.3 %
Set
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Moulds

Output: seasoned sausage mix.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

What makes this one different

Lukanka Panagyurska mixes beef (or buffalo) with pork, is seasoned with cumin and pepper, and is pressed flat two or three times, giving an elliptic slice and a white mould bloom.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Smyadovska lukankaAbout 70:30 pork to beef, with cardamom and garlic (Bulgarian Wikipedia, unsourced).
  • Karlovska lukankaAbout 70:30 pork to beef, with cumin, pepper and paprika (Bulgarian Wikipedia).

Safety

The specification ends drying at 35 % water or less and sets a minimum pH of 5.4. It allows potassium or sodium nitrate at fixed doses.

Hazards the sources name: Listeria monocytogenes (target of the bacteriocins some lukanka isolates make).

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

The name comes from the Bulgarian word "luk" (onion), which was once in the recipe. The recipe and quality standards were set in Bulgarian State Standard 2589-58 in 1958 and in Technical Standard 37-83 in 1983. The EU registered it as a TSG in July 2014.

  1. [tsg2014] Application for registration of a TSG 'Лукaнка Панагюрска' (Lukanka Panagyurska), EC No BG-TSG-0007-01099, Official Journal of the European Union C 89, 28.3.2014, p. 57spec
  2. [reg837] Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 837/2014 of 31 July 2014 entering Lukanka Panagyurska in the register of traditional specialities guaranteed, OJ L 230, 1.8.2014spec
  3. [todorov2017] Todorov S.D. et al. 2017, Technology and safety assessment for lactic acid bacteria isolated from traditional Bulgarian fermented meat product "lukanka", Brazilian Journal of Microbiology 48:576–586paper
  4. [wp-bg] Bulgarian Wikipedia, Луканка (variants only; unsourced banner)wiki