You can find this cheese without leaving Madrid
Let's not fool ourselves, as much as we try in Spain the best cheese is made in France . This milk derivative is synonymous with tradition, history, culture, flavor and above all diversity. They are said to have a cheese different for each day of the year and that there are more than a thousand different varieties. All this would not be possible without a strict legislation that has allowed its development and protection, thus we find local varieties that in countries like ours have long since disappeared.
However, in the last ten years the world of dairies has been professionalized in such a way that it is now possible to achieve the best dairy balls on the other side of the Pyrenees . Our most gifted merchants and tuners in the language of Serge Gainsbourg have been responsible. Here are some recommendations.
PONCELET
It is probably the most important cheese shop in Spain . Inaugurated fourteen years ago by Yolanda and Jesus , a marriage with a clear objective: bring to Madrid the best cheeses in the world . The small company, currently made up of some 35 people , was also one of the first to afford to create a cheese bar.
Among the selection of Gallic cheeses they have an average of 150 , many of them authentic showcase jewels. Varieties where quality and craftsmanship prevail over quantity. They highlight a Goat's Milk Banon Chevre, wrapped with cherry leaves, whose optimal season is the current one. another piece of goat cheese , whose milk has been collected in spring, when the pastures are at their best, is the Fromage Cathare.
However, the flagships are still the Comte, the Bries and the Roqueforts. But here very different from what we usually try in other places. The Count receives maturations greater than 25 months, thereby achieving a much more intense and complex punch, due to its maturation caves directed by the tuner Luis Miguel Rueda.
The Brie de Meaux It is creaminess in its purest form, with a taste of butter, cream and vegetables. And finally a Roquefort which is made in the same town of origin, with their own farms that have grazed there. The result? A blue cheese with a touch of salt, spicy, and very spreadable.
_(Address: Calle Argensola, 27, 28004, Madrid. Telephone: 913 08 02 21) _
We can't think of a better gift
BON FROMAGE
It is inside the Chamartin Market , a space with more than six decades of history. The cheese factory in question turns ten years old this November, led from the beginning by the master cheesemaker Salvador Valero.
The variety of French pieces is overwhelming, they currently have 120 cheeses and are on their way to 150. “Now one of the best productions begins, one that takes advantage of summer milk and that lasts until april ”, emphasizes Valero. Among its essentials we find the Mont D'Or of raw cow's milk, made in the Jura region by small producers. “It is eaten like our Casar cake, but its creaminess and fine nuances, wet leaf and forest, are unmatched. It is a spectacular and very versatile cheese”, says the master.
The best sellers are still the Count , which here comes in three different maturations (12, 24 and 36 months) and whose "nuances change completely depending on how old they are, also its texture is much crunchier ”; and the Camembert, that in Bon Fromage becomes a really curious cheese, coated in flour and calvados s, “an apple liqueur that enhances all the fruit flavours”. They also have a wide assortment of raclettes (raw, smoked, truffled milk) and are great tuners of Loire Valley goat cheeses.
_(Chamartín Market. Address: Calle Bolivia, 9, 28016, Madrid. Telephone: 913 44 00 31) _
For the Mont d'Or? Bon Fromage
CULTIVATION CHEESE
Also known as the Conde Duque cheese factory, in less than three years they have achieved extraordinary success in the area. Their forte is Spanish artisan cheeses , but their relationship with France has also made them stand out for a very special offer of worthy delicacies from the hexagon.
Salers may be one of the oldest cheeses in France , its origin dates back more than two thousand years. Its name comes from the Salers breed of cows and the production parameters are very specific: own livestock, seasonal feeding, consumption in the pastures around Cantal and production in a wooden vat, in order to maintain its bacteriology. "The cheese can be matured for 12 and 16 months, but it is still elastic and rubbery," admits Clara Díez, one of the project partners.
She also comments that the Count that they like to distribute is one of low maturations. "We understand that the most interesting profile is developed a little earlier, when the sweetness is more evident," she points out about the great French cheese. Other varieties that abound in the store and that always have some peculiarity are Brie, Camembert, Reblochon, Bleu d'Auvergne, Langres, Roquefort or Camembert.
_(Address: Calle Conde Duque, 15, 28015, Madrid. Telephone: 911 27 31 26) _
OCTAVIO'S CHARCUTERY
Octavian he is the spitting image of a self-made man. He carries in San Anton market since 1970, from what he has seen as the area of Chueca It has changed and evolved to become what it is today. Twenty years ago, just when he closed the offal store next door, that he started with the delicatessen store and little by little he began to introduce French cheeses, until becoming one of the referents.
Next to him is John Gil , the tuner who has worked side by side with him since the reopening of the market seven years ago. “I also have a scout in France who looks for small producers for me. s and I myself go to all the fairs in Europe to look for new and quality things”, says the famous butcher.
What we find are some gentlemen cheeses that in most cases only have them. “We transform the cheeses. The star of the store is a raw milk Brie that we fill with truffle, chocolate and rose petals” , comments Gil, whose determination is to find small cheesemakers and give them due visibility.
Varieties? Langres, Morbier, Mimolette aged 24 months, Mont D'Or, Le Figou, Valencay, Comte aged 18 to 24 months...
_(San Antón Market. Address: Calle Augusto Figeroa, 24, 28004, Madrid. Telephone: 91 330 02 88) _ __(____ Barcelo Market. Address: Calle Barceló, 6, 28004, Madrid. Telephone: 91 593 02 41) __
Mimolette at Octavio's Charcuterie
L'AFFINEUR DE FROMAGE
He is one of the newcomers to the Santa Maria de la Cabeza Market a, although it is already an institution in the Mercado de Maravillas, where he has been for three years. Tomas Asensio, of French origin, is in charge of contacting producer to producer and taking them to his cheese shop.
Recommend for this season Beaufort d’alpage, Reblochon, Camembert bathed in Calvados, Comte aged 18 months… “For Comte we always work with summer milk. He is much more buttery and fruity. Nothing to do with winter milk”, hints Asensio, who had dreamed of running a cheese factory since he was a child.
It currently has more than 80 cheeses , most exclusive, “supplied from the most remote and artisanal places in France”.
Asensio pays special attention to those raw milk cheeses: "Basic principle that guarantees that milk must come from healthy animals and whose diet is sustained by the rich pastures of the French hillsides."
(Mercado de Maravillas. Address: Calle Bravo Murillo, 122, 28020, Madrid).
(Santa Maria de la Cabeza Market. Address: Paseo de Santa Maria de la Cabeza, 41, 28045, Madrid. Telephone: 659 37 03 07)
The Beaufort d'alpage from L'Affineur de Fromage
THE CHEESE
They started 18 years ago in the area of Arguelles and in front is Raul Castaneda , son of a Leonese shepherd who has lived from a very young age what it was like to have a flock of sheep.
The dairy was one of the first shops in Madrid specializing in cheese and have been characterized by having the best cheeses in the world.
Very focused on seasonal product. “ When September arrives you have to go for the Vacherin du Mont D'Or and the Époisses. The cows eat exceptional pastures and produce wonderful cakes. They are perfect in aromas, textures and color”, he indicates about these cheeses that are sent directly to him.
"It is easier for them to send you a cheese from France than from the Canary Islands," he says.
_(Address: Calle de Blasco Garay, 24, 28015, Madrid. Telephone: 915 94 38 56) _
Époisses, one of La Quesería's seasonal products
BLESSED
blessed is the closest thing to punk that we are going to find within this selection of cheesemakers. Opened four years ago in the San Fernando Market or, on the same street as Embajadores, he has specialized in natural wines and raw milk cheeses with very reasonable prices.
Half store, half bar, everything is mixed in a small space where they stand out pairings at the moment.
José, the alma mater and owner of the project, recommends and updates each week the offer that can best suit each one. “A safe 'match' is the Morbier , from the first day always is. I also like to recommend the so-called unity cheeses such as Pauligny , more affordable and accessible”, he insists.
In this regard, another winning combination is the Langres, which has a slit and can be filled with Champagne. “It is integrated with the cheese and then it is spread. It does not fail and on top of that it is cheap”.
_(San Fernando Market. Address: calle de Embajadores, 41, 28012, Madrid. Telephone: 661 75 00 61) _
Morbier, one of the recommended cheeses that you can find in Morbier