Manchego La Mancha
La Mancha Windmills
The Manchego is produced in the
La Mancha region,
which is also home to Don Quixote.
It is one of the popular cheeses from Spain.
Three European Union schemes of geographical indications and traditional specialties, known as protected designation of origin (PDO), protected geographical indication (PGI), and traditional specialities guaranteed (TSG), promote and protect names of quality agricultural products and foodstuffs.
Manchego cheese D.O. Señorio de Sancho Panza Image
Have a look at their website, Senorio de la Mancha, very interesting facts
Authentic Manchego
The traditional use of grass moulds, leaves a distinctive, characteristic zigzag pattern on the Manchego cheese.
Authentic Manchego is only made from the Manchego sheep's milk. Manchego cheese is made from both pasteurised and unpasteurised milk.
The farmhouse version is produced from unpasteurised milk while the industrial version is produced from pasteurised milk.
image link Castello Cheese, (Danish Cheese Company).
There are specific differences in Manchego cheeses, depending on their aging period.
First, a white, fresh Manchego fresco is aged for less than a week and is not technically considered a true Manchego by cheese aficionados, but is delicious all the same.
Semi Curado - Young Manchego cheese is aged around 3 months and is supple and moist. The flavour is fruity, grass, hay with a tangy note.
Curado - Manchego cheese aged for 6 months acquires a caramel and nutty flavour. It has a distinct acidity.
Viejo - Manchego cheese aged for a year becomes crumbly in texture while the interior of the cheese acquires a butterscotch colour. It has a sweet, lingering taste.
Finally, Manchego Aceite is aged coated in olive oil for 1 year and is the strongest, most developed of any of the stages.
It is very hard, deeply yellow, and its taste is only for the strongest cheese connoisseurs.
Manchego La Mancha
The rind is inedible with a distinctive, traditional herringbone basket weave pattern, pressed on it. A typical ear wheat pattern is pressed onto the top and bottom wheels of the cheese.
Manchego cheeses are best paired with a sherry. Cheeses similar to Manchego are called 'Manchego like cheeses', but the producers cannot legally name the cheese as Manchego.
Most text here Manchego cheese from the excellent
