Fumeiro

Fumeiro refers both to the smoke house or chimney space where meats are cured and to the collective smoked products produced within it. In Trás-os-Montes, the fumeiro is typically a designated area above the kitchen fireplace where sausages and hams are hung to cure slowly in the smoke of burning oak, chestnut, or cherry wood over weeks or months.

The fumeiro tradition is intimately connected to the matança do porco (pig slaughter), when an entire pig is processed into a variety of cured products. The town of Vinhais is the undisputed capital of Portuguese fumeiro, with its products holding PGI status. The annual Feira do Fumeiro in Vinhais draws thousands of visitors seeking authentic transmontano smoked meats.