The roast ternasco de Aragón is a typical duck of the community, a reference dish in the Aragonese gastronomy that you can find in many homes and restaurants throughout the territory.
But what is a ternasco? It is a lamb fed with mother’s milk and natural cereals, whose carcass weight ranges between 8 and 12.5 kg.
Currently (January 2022) Aragon has 572 livestock farms in more than 294 municipalities throughout the three provinces, and more than 315,000 sheep of the native Aragonese breeds Ojinegra de Teruel, Roya Bilbilitana, Rasa Aragonesa, Maellana and Ansotana are registered.
How is quality controlled?
Aragon has a law that regulates and guarantees that all the processes related to them meet very demanding standards. This is the Food Quality Law in Aragon, which imposes requirements in terms of raw materials, production or marketing that go beyond those usually requested. If a producer complies with these requirements, he can apply for one of the food quality categories, which gives his product the added value of being considered ‘quality food from Aragon’. In total, there are six categories that we detail below (see article where they are explained in detail in the link).
The ternasco de Aragón is registered in a PGI, Protected Geographical Indications in Aragón. The aging process is regulated since 1989 by the Regulatory Council of the Protected Geographical Indication Ternasco de Aragón, which means the distinction of being the first fresh meat in Spain recognized with a specific Denomination (currently PGI).
The Regulatory Council of the PGI Ternasco de Aragón awarded the prizes for the best roasted Ternasco de Aragón 2022 dishes, and distinguished the restaurants that best made this tasty dish. By province they are:
- In the province of Teruel: Masía La Torre and El Rinconcico in Mora de Rubielos; and Casa Agustín, in Albalate del Arzobispo.
In the province of Huesca: El Origen, in the city of Huesca; Mesón del Vero, in Alquézar; and El Trasiego, in Barbastro.
In the province of Zaragoza: La Rinconada de Lorenzo, Albarracín, El Fuelle, Urola and Palomeque in the capital; Mesón de la Dolores in Calatayud; La Rebotica de Cariñena and Rodi in Fuendejalón.
The Best Roast Ternasco de Teruel 2022 Award went to Casa Agustín, from Albalate del Arzobispo.
The Best Roast Veal of Huesca 2022 Award went to the restaurant El Origen.
The Best Roast Veal of Zaragoza 2022 Award went to the dish from the Urola restaurant.
One award was presented as the main recognition, that given to the one considered by the jury to be the Best Roast Veal of Aragon 2022, which went to Miguel Arlés of the Palomeque restaurant.
