Spanish Cheese Types
Cheese from Spain
Spain has about 100 different Spanish cheese types. Every region has its own specialty, covering a full range of cheese types, from fresh to cured, to fermented and blue-veined. One essential characteristic is the type of milk used in the production. Depending on the area, time of the year, climate, or tradition, cheeses are made of cows’, sheep’s, goats’ milk, or of a mixture of two or all three types of milk.
In general cow’s milk cheeses are found in the north, along the Cantabric coast, from Galicia to the Basque Country, and along the northern Cantabric Mountain Range and the Pyrenees. Sheep’s milk cheeses are found inland, from the north, in Cantabria and the Basque Country, down to the flats of Castilla-León, Castilla La Mancha, Aragón and Extremadura. And finally goat’s milk cheeses are found mostly along the regions of the Mediterranean coast, from Cataluña to Andalusia, as well as in Extremadura.
In the islands, both Canary Islands as well as the Balearic, you will find mostly goat milk cheese, although also some cow milk ones, as well as mixed milk cheeses. Mixed milk cheeses are produced across the whole geography, with the predominant milk of each area being more used in the mixes.
Quality cheese production is taken seriously and there are currently 13 types of cheeses with Denominations of Origin in Spain. Spanish eat cheese every day, whether it is by itself, or with bread, as a tapa, or as a dessert. Because of the variations in climate and geography, as well as culture, each region of Spain produces several varieties of cheese.
Each cheese has its own unique characteristics that affect the finished product, such as the type of milk (sheep, goat, cow or a mixture), the production process, the history or traditions and the aging or curing process.
Flavors
Cheese flavors are usually classified as light, medium and strong. Their classification depends on both the type of milk and breed of animal as well as on the curing or aging process. Strong and flavored cheeses are usually made from sheep milk or a mix, and typically have a longer curing process.
Spains D.O Cheese Regions ( Spanish Cheese Types )
Like the wine Spain uses the DO system for its cheese classification, the DO regions of Spain are
CABRALES - Asturias
Web Site: www.quesocabrales.org
This is a blue gourmet cheese of great character. It is handmade on farms in the Picos de Europa mountains of Northern Spain and matured in caves which are aired by cold, damp, and salty winds blowing up from the Bay of Biscay. traditionally this gourmet cheese is made with a mixture of cow, sheep and goat milk; the locals say that cow’s milk acidifies the cheese, goat…
L´ALT URGELL - Lleida
A cheese made with pasteurized cow’s milk from the Catalan Pyrenees mountain region of northern Spain. Cured for only a short period of time, the cheese is produced into a wheel that has a rind infused with yeast brine prior to curing. Semi-soft, creamy and aromatic, the meat of Urgelia cheese is ivory to straw colored and contains many small eyes throughout. It has a robust flavor and is slightly salty from the salt brine curing of this cheese. Urgelia is a good melting cheese that holds its shape well for baking or grilling. It can be served fresh in salads or as a snack with fruit and meats. It goes well with dry burgundies and melots, fruity wines or beer. This cheese may also be referred to as Urgell or queso de l’Alt Urgell.
MAHON - Balearic Islands
Web Site: www.quesomahonmenorca.com
Mahón is a lovely Spanish gourmet cheese. This distinctively fruity cheese is named for the major town of the island of Menorca. Local farmers have been making cheese here for centuries but its reputation rests on the skill of the local experts who collect the young cheeses from the ‘farmers and ripen them in underground cellars for two months to two years.
MARJORERA - Fuertventura
Goats are the principally raised in Valencia, Murcia, Andalucía, Extremadura and the Canary Islands, although goats are raised all over Spain. Goat cheeses, as with all Spanish cheeses come in a variety of flavors and shapes.
MACHEGO - Ciudad Real
Web Site: The Manchego Cheese Council
This is Spain’s best-known ewe’s-milk cheese. It is named for the province where it is made-La Mancha, home of Don Quixote. However, it is not as flamboyant as the old windmill fighter. It remains relatively sweet and mild at any age with a touch of salty nuts. Manchego was originally made to barter at livestock markets and it provided durable food for the shepherds.
MURCIA AL VINO- Murcia
This kind of cheese is produced from Murcian goat’s milk. It is somewhat fatty, the paste is pressed and it is not cooked. It has a cylindrical shape, with a smooth, light rind that is rubbed twice with red wine. The interior is compact, with a creamy and elastic texture. Its taste is pleasantly acidic, not very saline and it has a light aroma.
NATA DE CANTABRIA - Cantabria
Web Site: Food From Cantabria
Cantabria’s Creamy Cheese) comes from the Cantabrian sea coastal region of Cantabria, in Northern Spain (Vizcaya Gulf). Before obtaining the Denomination of Origin it was only known as Queso de Nata. It’s name, crreamy cheese perfectly defines the qualities of this cheese. Soft, it almost melts in your mouth, leaving smooth flavors of cream cheese but with a delicious distincrtive bitter point.
RONCAL - Navarra
Web Site: DO Navarra
comes from the rich sheep’s milk of the legendary Lacha and Aragonesa breeds of oveja sheep. Depending on the season, these herds graze in the high Pyrenees or the Bardena area of Navarra, the province that was the setting for Ernest Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises.” Roncal, made in one of seven villages in the Valle de Roncal, has nutty and piquant flavors with a firm, chewable texture. Somewhat similar to Pecorino Toscano and Manchego, Roncal has its own unique, mouth-watering character and pairs well with many types of wine. try this cheese with Tempranillo.
TETILLA - La Coruña
Tetilla D.O. is an unusual Spanish gourmet cheese. The remarkable thing about this Spanish gourmet cheese is its shape, it looks like a child’s spinning top. This wide conical cheese from Galicia is made from the milk of cows grazed on the lush pastures behind the coastal mountain range. The cheese is made from pasteurized cow’s milk and has a yellow rind with a sl…
ZAMORANO - Zamora
This Spanish gourmet cheese is a hard sheep’s milk cheese. It differs fro the well-known Manchego; it is nuttier and richer in flavour. Zamorano has a slightly sharp bite, is buttery with a nutty aftertaste and a texture that melts in the mouth. You need to pair this cheese with a full-bodied red or white wine….
AFUEGA’L PITU - Asturias
Afuega’l Pitu means fire in the throat because its concentrated paste sometimes give you the sensation as if it sticks to the back of your throat. The young version of this gourmet cheese has a milky flavor and is medium soft is smooth with some granular structures. The older Afuega’l Pitu has a very strong presence and is only recommended for the true cheese connoisseur.
IDIAZABAL - Pamplona, VIctoria y San Sebastian
Originally produced high in the Pyrenees above Pamplona, this rustic ewe’s milk Spanish gourmet cheese was often smoked in the rafters of the shepherds’ huts. Today, it is made all over the Basque country in both factory and farmstead, from unpasteurized milk. The gourmet cheese is produced in small drum shapes in varying sizes. ..
ARZUA-ULLOA - Galicia
Arzúa Ulloa is also called Queso de Ulloa and is made in the Northwestern part of Spain; Galicia. Arzúa Ulloa is a pale, soft and creamy cow´s milk cheese that will becomes stronger in flavour the longer it ripens and matures.
QUESO DE LA SERANA - Extremadura
Queso de la Serena with its local name “Torta del Casar” is a great attraction in a party cheese platter. In Spain this cheese is considered a luxury and is relatively expensive. The cheese is an organic cheese made from the milk of sheep raised in controlled conditions, the ‘Cuajo’ plant and salt. The process also involves maturing the cheese for more than 60 days.
SAN SIMON - Galicia
This is a popular smoked Spanish cheese. It is made from cow’s milk in the region of Galicia in the northwest of the country. The curd is transferred into pear-shaped moulds, after a day, the forms are immersed in hot whey. After two weeks, the cheeses are smoked. The gourmet San Simon cheese has a delicious, creamy buttery texture. The cheese has a thin chestnut-orange…
TORTA DE CASAR - Extremadura
The name Torta del Casar comes from two Spanish terms which keep an intimate relationship with this unique cheese. Torta refers to its shape. In Spanish legends, shepherds who first made the cheese realized that the inside of the cheese remained semi liquid, causing the middle of the cheese to sink. The shepherds used the word ‘atortao’, meaning ‘cake-shaped’.
