Farm Animals and Traditional Products of the Carpathian Mountains

Abstract

AbstractThe traditional native breeds of animals and seem to be rich sources of valuable, basic nutritional components. The ecological way of breeding supports land and landscape preservation. Understanding the interactions of humans and domesticated animals is vital for understanding cultural heritage and specific region developmental potential. The breeding of animals, grazing, and the traditional products of the Carpathian Mountains are the results of the so-called Wallachs colonization. The Wallach shepherds pastured sheep, goats, less often cattle customized for hard mountain conditions. The typical mountain sheep stayed almost unchanged in their genotype till today and the meat—“Jagnięcina Podhalańska”—obtained from Polish Mountain Sheep and Zakiel from October 11, 2012 has been registered as PGO (Protected Geographical Origin) by EU Regulations. The meat itself is rather fatty and contains less protein than similar “old genotype” sheep, but the animals still stay adapted to difficult climate conditions. Traditional rennet cheese—“Oszczypek” obtained from that sheep milk also is registered as a PGO (February 2, 2007) product and still is a popular staple food in the Polish part of the Carpathian Mountains. The Carpathian sheep are accompanied by Carpathian goats and Polish Red Cattle, whereas goat herds are rather small and disappearing in the Polish mountains; Red Cattle herds are renowned and appreciated for very tasty, fatty milk. Also, there is an attempt to crossbreed such cattle to better their muscle—meat potential. Some of the traditional products obtained from above-described animal breeds are finally processed with traditional smoking (especially cheeses), and there exist doubts about PAH (Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons) formation. In all examined product types, the smoked meat products did not meet the standards for PAH levels.KeywordsCarpathian sheepCarpathian goatPolish Red cattleHeritageTraditionPAHs