Artisan cheeses coming of age. Spain has always been a land of livestock farmers, and where there have been goats, cheese has been worked as a way to take advantage of sheep’s milk.
Artisan cheeses coming of age. Part 2
Marimorena: Field Cheese
This cheese factory is the result of a dream, by Juan Luis Calvo Ramírez who started with 40 goats in 2012.
This exciting adventure that this Cadiz lover of goat cheese undertook almost a decade ago on his farm and that, step by step, they have been covering, molding, to put on our tables, and in gourmet stores specialized in this product.
A different cheese, made with great care. That when you take a bite, it reminds you and suggests the ancient artisan elaborations that have written the history with capital letters of the cheese and that is a unique experience. Stimulating, for the great cheese lovers; those who seek to surprise their palates with flavors and pure textures, with personality.
The nuances
Nothing is by chance and its cheeses, either. The universe of nuances, aromas, flavors and textures that surround them and that lead you to discover is the result of that magic triangle that one day we imagine. They tell us their owners, and that we have managed to create so that, in the end, the magic arises.
Its elaboration
One hundred percent handmade production, breeding and selection of a breed, Florida. Ideal for the production of excellent milk and a 100% natural diet.
They draw the essence of these cheeses, which originate from the blanco white gold ’of their livestock. With nearly 400 heads of the Florida goat that have been hoarding, cradling, over the years through a careful selection process.
It is the autochthonous breed of the Lower Valle del Guadalquivir, with great vigor, strength and femininity.
Its milk contains a high content of fat and protein, characteristics that have allowed it to make cheeses of great character.
Among the different types of cheese they make with milk from their own goats, I wanted to highlight four of them, in my opinion.
Andana
It is a Cheese with Pedro Ximénez de Jerez and raw goat milk. Matured for at least 60 days. Perfect harmony of intense flavor that awakens its maturation in one of the great wines of Marco de Jerez, Pedro Ximénez. ‘Pairing’ that, for two months, gives it a pleasant sweet taste and a velvety and creamy texture.
Vanua
Cheese with oriental flavor of raw goat milk matured for at least 60 days. A maturation, for a period of two months, in a selection of oriental species gives it endless surprising nuances.
Undoubtedly, a unique and suggestive cheese, which does not leave anyone who tastes it indifferent.
Spinola
Cheese of raw goat’s milk and shallots matured for a minimum of 60 days. Matured over two months by the shallot impregnated in the rind of the cheese. It is characterized by its unique and special flavor, a bite that constitutes an authentic discovery.
Buleria
We make fully handmade mature goat cheese with raw goat milk, rennet, lactic ferments and salt. With a maturation time of two to three months, it gives us typical and intense flavors and smells from the fields of southern Andalusia. It surrounds us with the rich and unique nuances of the Florida goat breed.
Valluco: Natural and artisan from Cantabria
For 35 years, Yolanda González Sevilla has been dedicated, body and soul, to making artisan cheeses.
In its cheese factory located in Ruerrero, belonging to the Valderredible municipality (Cantabria), this place has a unique climate. She tells us “my cheeses only have four ingredients; lactic ferments, sheep’s milk, natural rennet and salt requiring a maturation of at least two months ”.
The result points us “is an artisan cheese, made with raw milk (unpasteurized). Fat and cylindrical in shape with two flat faces. Its bark is soft and thin, grayish beige and its interior is compact and aromatic.
Valluco features
It gives off a strong smell that characterizes it, being buttery on the palate with an intense aftertaste that makes it a cheese of excellent quality ”.
This artisan cheese factory produces sheep and goat cheeses, made with raw milk without preservatives or additives since 1985.
My cheeses added to us are “one hundred percent sheep and one hundred percent goat. Like when I started, more than thirty years ago.
Currently, sheep cheese in its various cures is endorsed by the Food Control Office (ODECA), distinguishing it with its CC seal of controlled quality ”.
Goat and sheep cheeses
These cheeses are made from the raw milk of their sheep and goats that have grazed in this land in northern Spain, and to which are added lactic ferments, rennet and salt.
Once the pasta is made, it is manually inserted into the round molds.
After a brief press period, they are salted manually, to then go on to the oreo and maturation phases, which vary between 2, 6, 8 or 12 months with their natural molds.
These cheeses with the naked eye are attractive due to their grayish color due.
Inside, we see a compact cheese with a homogeneous color. And when we smell it, we detect intense aromas.
It is smooth and creamy at the outset, and leaves a long memory on the palate upon departure.
These cheeses obtained the Bronze medal at the World Cheese Awards 2016.
They are the Artisan Cheeses with majority of age.