The best cheeses in Spain
I think that this false modesty that harms us so much is already tiring: some of the best cheeses in the world are made in Spain (let them go!) but it seems that it is difficult for us to boast of excellence.
Today we are not going to hide. Because in this Spain of ours _(people of words / and of bitter skin) _ we have more than 150 cheeses , since small artisan dairies even big brands; shepherds and shepherdesses, tuners, shopkeepers or room managers in charge of those wonderful cheese carts.
This "gift from the gods" (as they defined it in Ancient Greece) has one of its trenches in Spain and perhaps it is because here it is much more than just a simple food: it is anchored in our DNA, our memory and even our way of seeing the world.
Cheese accompanies eternal after-meals, sleepless nights (this I can assure you) and so many popular markets. He said Robert Cavalli that "excess is success" and precisely for this reason, I think, cheese is so identitarian for us; because here we have come to play and not to count calories.
The cheese that gives us life
difficult (impossible) choose a cheese in such a vast cupboard divided between more than **32 Protected Designations of Origin (PDO) ** and **Protected Geographical Indications (PGI) ** , what we can do is travel the Iberian Peninsula in search of some of the jewels, perhaps not so known for the ordinary cheesemaker and do it through each type of livestock, climate and orography.
In green Spain (area of the Cantabrian coast) cheeses are made mainly with Cow milk ; the Basque Country and Navarra are the ideal natural environment for menhaden sheep while in the Catalan Pyrenees they are popular goat cheeses.
The coastline, from Cap de Creus to Punta de Tarifa, is dominated mainly by the goat while the center of the peninsula is the fiefdom of the sheep (with its various races) . However, in its peripheral and central mountains, there is also the production of goat milk to a greater extent than that of sheep.
In Extremadura and western Andalusia, the predominant sheep and goats while in the Canary archipelago each island has a different cheese, the majority made with canarian goat milk (although it is also used cow and sheep ) .
Cabrales cheese
So let's go with the bag, the backpack and the knife for this tour of towns and their cheeses, many of them finalists in the championship of The Best Cheeses of Spain of the Gourmet Hall.
It is essential, if you are crazy about fermented milk, to follow the route they are doing weekly in It's Cheese , the project that from InLac (the interprofessional organization that encompasses the entire dairy sector in Spain) values the culture and infinite variety of our cheese heritage.
CABRALES, GAMONÉU, PICÓN, QUESUCOS DE LIÉBANA IN ASTURIAS, CANTABRIA AND LEÓN
the well-known Cabrales cheese is a blue cheese originating in Asturias, its production is concentrated in the council of Cabrales and in the nearby towns of Cáraves, Oceño and Rozagás.
This creamy, somewhat spicy, strong, ivory-colored cheese with blue and green notes is known for its smell penetrating and its pungent flavor at the same time irresistible.
Cabrales is an example of the cheese exuberance of the Picos de Europa, territory in which the Los Beyos IDP Cheese and the Valdeón IDP Cheese are also made, in León. This cheese is intense, slightly spicy, salty and very fatty.
With the Gamonéu Cheese we find ourselves before another Asturian blue cheese , which stands out for its slightly smoky flavor and fatty texture. Gamonéu is made in villages of the councils of Onís , but it is not the last cheese that comes from the Picos de Europa, since if we move to Cantabria we can taste the Picón Bejes-Tresviso , a blue cheese typical of the Liébana region, and the Quesucos de Liébana , semi-hard cheeses from mild flavor made in the valley of the same name.
Gamoneu cheese
Some cheeses and dairies
Picon Bejes Tresviso
Cheese from Los Beyos (Asturias and León)
Ilas Reny Picot Azul Siero (Asturias)
La Peral Cheeses Peralzola Illas (Asturias)
Cheeses La Peral Estrella La Peral Illas (Asturias)
Los Payuelos Cheese Factory: Blue Ybleu Benavides de Órbigo (León)
C.A.P.S.A. Vidiago. The Master Cheese Maker Siero (Asturias)
Ernesto Wood López (King Silo Blanco Pravia, Asturias)
Ernesto Madera López (Massimo Del Rey Silo Tuned with Magaya Pravia, Asturias)
-C.A.P.S.A. The Master Cheese PDO Afuega'l Pitu Oviedo (Asturias)
- Ernesto Wood López (Rey Silo Rojo Pravia, Asturias)
Picon Bejes-Tresviso
GALICIA, THE LAND OF THE TETITLLA CHEESE, THE ARZÚA-ULLOSA, THE SAN SIMÓN DA COSTA AND THE CEBREIRO
Our next stop on this trip is Galicia, an Autonomous Community that has up to four cheeses with the distinctive Appellation of origin . The first Galician cheese to obtain the seal was Nipple . This cheese, so famous inside and outside Galicia, is made with cow's milk , its paste is soft, very creamy and slightly acidic. Its conical shape makes it easily recognizable.
Arzúa-Ulloa Cheese has a similar flavor to that of Tetilla, a product made with cow's milk that, depending on its curing time, will be creamy or harder and spicy.
In Terra Chá is the parish of San Simon da Costa , population known for the crafts with which they make the San Simon cheese , a cow's milk cheese with a touch of smoke achieved thanks to the effect of birch wood smoke. These cheeses have long maturation process that gives them a solid texture and the recognizable yellow color.
Original like few others, the Cebreiro cheese , a native of the area of O Cebreiro-Pedrafrita , draws attention for its unique recipe and its flavor so appreciated by ancient kings and queens. Inside its mushroom shape, a fresh cheese awaits us. soft, white and grainy paste , made with cow's milk.
tetilla cheese
Some cheeses in Galicia:
Queinaga Queinaga PDO Tetilla Curtis (A Coruña)
Queixeria Crisanto Don Crisanto PDO Tetilla Vilalba (Lugo)
Three Travelers of Dairylac
Queinaga Queinaga PDO Arzúa
-Ulloa Curtis (A Coruña)
Galmesano Galmesano Arzúa (A Coruña)
Crisanto Sat Don Crisanto PDO San Simón da Costa Vilalba (Lugo)
Queixeria Casleiras Casleiras PDO San Simón da Costa Vilalba (Lugo)
Carlos Reija Fernandez Sto. Andre PDO Cebreiro Castroverde (Lugo)
Courts of Muar Mimosa Silleda (Pontevedra)
Airas Moniz Savel Chantada (Lugo)
Queixería Prestes (Lara & Sara Vilalba, Lugo)
Eume cheese factory (Smoked Eume As Pontes, A Coruña)
Arzúa-Ulloa cheese
MANCHEGO CHEESE
Probably the most recognized Spanish cheese outside our borders. The cheeses found under the Denomination of Origin of Manchego Cheese are known for their excellent quality, achieved thanks to the milk from sheep of the Manchego breed.
They have a firm and compact consistency and a deeply milky smell. Depending on the maturation, the flavor varies profoundly, becoming spicy in very mature cheeses.
Production abounds in this DO, thanks to which you can get a variety of cheeses from interesting nuances.
Some manchego cheeses:
Master Curado de García Baquero (Without PDO Manchego)
García Baquero Reserve 12 months (Without PDO Manchego)
-Food Industry Martal Tobar Del Oso Semicured PDO Manchego El Toboso (Ciudad Real)
- Corcuera Corcuera Semi-cured PDO Manchego Cheeses La Puebla de Montalbán (Toledo)
-Vineyards and Bodegas Perez Arquero Pérez Arquero Cured PDO Manchego Artisan Ocaña (Toledo)
Cheeses La Casota Marantona Cured PDO Manchego Artisan La Solana (Ciudad Real)
Corcuera Cheese Corcuera Cured PDO Manchego Cheese La Puebla de Montalbán (Toledo)
Manchego cheese
Agricola La Merced Cured Chisquero PDO Manchego Artisan Villanueva de Los Infantes (Ciudad Real)
Cheeses Lominchar Montecusa Viejo PDO Manchego Lominchar (Toledo)
Cheese Lominchar Ariscado Viejo PDO Manchego Artisan Lominchar (Toledo)
Agricola La Merced Chisquero in Olive Oil PDO Manchego Artisan Villanueva de Los Infantes (Ciudad Real)
Industrial Cheese Cuquerella Maese Miguel Añejo PDO Manchego Malagón (Ciudad Real)
- Valdehornos Cheese Factory (Valdehornos Cured Horcajo de la Sierra, Ciudad Real)
-Children of Miguel Romero Grandmother Paz Ocaña (Toledo)
- Campollano Cheeses / Manchego Food Campollano Smoked Poblete (Ciudad Real)
-José Luis Abellán Fernández Truffled Hail Villamalea (Albacete)
Luapel Nº 7993 Don Apolonio Añejo in Oil Malagón (Ciudad Real)
Luis Abellán Fernandez Moluengo Villamalea (Albacete)
IDIAZÁBAL AND RONCAL: TWO CHEESES FROM THE NORTH
The sheep's milk latx breeds and carranzana is the basic product to elaborate the excellent Idiazabal cheese , a product of the Basque Country and Navarra. The flavor that impregnates its hard and compact texture is, at times, smoky and always balanced, clean and intense. Of medium salinity, its taste persists once tasted.
In the Roncal valley, in Navarra, the homonymous cheese is born. Roncal Cheese It has a hard paste and moldy rind, with a deep flavor of sheep's milk and a defined character.
In 1981, Roncal Cheese was designated with the brand of Denomination of Origin of Cheeses, being the first cheese to receive it.
Some cheeses:
-La Leze La Leze Smoked PDO Idiazabal Ilarduia (Álava)
-Joseba Insausti Otatza Mendiko Gazta PDO Idiazabal Ordizia (Guipuzcoa)
-Olano Eginoko Artzaia PDO Idiazabal Egino (Álava)
-Patricia Tornero Pittika Erratzu (Navarra)
menhaden sheep
** EXTREMADURA, THE COMMUNITY OF CREAMY CHEESES WITH A SPIRIT**
Extremadura is the land of Casar cake, the ** Ibores cheese ** and the Serena Cheese . The first cheese is one of the most recognized cheeses in Extremadura.
From the union of the raw milk of entrefina sheep and the vegetable rennet of the wild thistle was born the wedding cake , a creamy cheese, ideal for spreading on bread and with a strong smell.
The La Serena Cheese It is made with merino sheep's milk. This cheese is soft, almost liquid, and very creamy when it does not exceed a certain maturation period. Once this time has passed, it loses its cake condition and hardens, resembling the texture of cured cheese.
In the territory of Villuercas, Ibores, La Jara and Trujillo is traditionally made Ibores cheese, a goat cheese that originates from an excellent raw milk. The spirit of passion for crafts lives in its flavors. It is somewhat acid and spicy, rather salty and very pleasant on the palate.
Some cheeses:
- Casar Cheese Gran Casar PDO Casar Cake Casar de Cáceres (Cáceres)
- Finca Buena Vista Young Solocabra Natural Bark Ribera Del Fresno (Badajoz)
-Carrasco Carrasco Tender Goat Cheese Shop Zorita (Cáceres)
Mother Goat Mother Goat Ecological Bodonal de la Sierra (Badajoz)
Pascualete Retorta Farm Mini Trujillo (Cáceres)
Pascualete Farm Retorta Grande Trujillo (Cáceres) Pascualete Farm
Dairy products from Granadilla Carbonero Granadilla (Cáceres)
-Arteserena Cremositos del Zújar Smoked Paprika Campanario (Badajoz)
CHEESE ISLANDS
In the island of minorca, we can taste the PDO Mahón-Menorca Cheese, a cheese made with cow's milk. It presents an uncooked pressed paste, whose flavor evolves according to the degree of maturation, going from being soft and slightly salty to more penetrating and advanced.
The Canary archipelago has three Denominations of Origin , that of Queso Palmero , that of Guia Flower Cheese , made with vegetable rennet, and that of Majorero cheese . This trio of D.O.P reminds us of the importance of livestock and living tradition in the Canary Islands.
In Canarian cheeses we find the cultural heritage of the local cheese masters. The Majorero cheese It was the first goat cheese in the entire country to achieve Protected Designation of Origin.
This, and other Canarian cheeses, are made with milk from native animals of Canarian breeds, characterized by their high quality and original organoleptic characteristics.
Some cheeses:
Sa Naveta de Coinga
Son Vives Son Vives Cured PDO Mahón
Menorca Artisan Ferreries (Menorca)
Binigarba Cheeses (Cured Binigarba PDO Mahón-Menorca Artisan Ciutadela, Menorca)
-Son Mercer de Baix Son Mercer de Baix Family Reserve PDO Mahón
-Menorca Artisan Ferreries (Menorca)
Livestock Group of Fuerteventura Selectum Cured Paprika Puerto del Rosario (Fuerteventura)
Livestock Group of Fuerteventura Maxorata cured with Paprika PDO Majorero Puerto del Rosario (Fuerteventura)
Cheese of the herd (Palmero cheese)
Farms Tinache Tinache Cured Tinajo - El Faro Cheese Factory El Faro Tender Smoked Teguise (Lanzarote)
And long live the cheese!
Mahon cheese