(13) Cheeses are many, there is more than cow’s milk.

There is a good many chances that when you think about cheese, you think about a cow’s milk cheese. Brie, Camembert, Stilton, Cheddar, Gruyère, Conté, Parmigiano Reggiano, and all of the more obvious are all made of cow’s milk.

Then you have Roquefort, Idiazabal, Ossau-Iraty, and all of the Pecorini which are made of ewe’s milk (and so many others of course).

Goat’s milk cheeses are abundant; however, you will find that it is with their shape that they express their specialness very well. These can be pyramidal, full or truncated, round or annular, shaped like a log, square, tall, thick and thin, almost any shape imaginable. Their taste is varied as well, from the herbal and floral to the creamier or harder, and to the more piquant or different.

In brief, cheese is varied. And then you have more possibilities than the one above, you can use more a single source for the milk (please read below for Queijo de Azeitao which is a good exemple), or a milk of other origin like buffalo (you know of least one of them), or llama (I was brought some by one of my colleague when I was working in Mayfair, he was from Peru if I remember correctly).

My first cheese trolley in London, as noted by Bob Farrand in his magazine in 1997.

Anyway, considering all of the above, you should be able to explore the world of cheese and find something interesting.

So, explore, give life to your taste buds, and enjoy real cheese.

A few words about Queijo de Azeitao:

There might have been some cheese produced in the general area in ancient time, but the history of this product started when sheep were brought in the late twelfth century and the south of Portugal started to be settled and Christianised. The next factor in the development of the cheese in the area was the arrival of Gaspar Henriques de Paiva, a native of Belmonte, who in the 1930’s vacationed in the area and started to make cheese based on Serra de Estrela as was his specialty. He taught a local shepherd who in his turn communicated to others, creating thus the basis for Queijo de Azeitao. Frederico Franco de Paiva then changed the format making it smaller and easier to sell and market; this trend continued until the actual size was reached, 250 and 100g. This producer became important by presenting some cheese at the Portuguese Industrial Exhibition of 1888, and then another in 1908, where they gained recognition and won medals and awards. This then put the cheese in the mind of the customers and distributors. At first, and up to the beginning of the twentieth century, the cheese was produced near Azeitao, and with success it spread to a homogeneous area from the coast to east of Setubal and the herds of sheep went up in accordance with the production. It gained European PDO status in 1996.

The area of production of Queijo de Azeitao is the Serras da Arrábida and São Luís comprising the municipalities of Palmela, Sesimbra, and Setubal, part of the Setubal district in the center-west of Portugal, south of Lisbon. The area is mountainous near the sea, forming a natural barrier, and is well cultivated with many agricultural fields more inland and a few populated areas on the east side, Setubal being the main town. There is many trees in the area standing on sandy and limestone soil, the flora is diverse with many varieties of grass and wild-flowers, and aromatic shrubs and plants as well. It is a very good area for sheep rearing which benefits from a Mediterranean climate with variation to warm with oceanic influence on the coast, to balance with continental influence behind. It is split in two main periods, one drier in the hot months, the other with the most rain, although it is not really wet it still have a lot of moisture; the best parts of the year for plant growth is still autumn and spring but frost is almost non-existent and temperature do not reach extremes even if drought happen.

The cheese is made from milk obtained from sheep grazing in the geographical area of production. The animals are subject to regulations concerning their welfare and fed on pasture, wet or dry, with possible additions from outside of the area if required due to climatic conditions but up to 49% to the annual total of dry matter and respecting the original elements, and natural nutritional supplements. The milk is used raw as soon as possible, and if kept refrigerated it should be at below 4oc and used within 48 hours of obtention. The milk is matured briefly with indigenous lactic ferments, and brought up to 30 to 32oc with addition of salt first and thistle preparation as coagulating agent. It takes 45 to 60 minutes to coagulate the milk which can be heated up to 40oc with occasional stirring. Once the curd mass has set, it is gathered, and the whey is separated and eliminated. The curd is then pressed manually, it is possible to use a mechanical device at that stage for pressing. The curd is then put on a drying table where manual pressing is continued to evacuate the liquid before moulds are filled and pressed firmly by hand a final time. They stay on the table for 12 to 24 hours on slightly reclined shelves before they are moved to the draining room for 8 to 12 days, 8 to 14oc with relative humidity of 65 to 99% and low aeration. There they are cared for with washing and scrapping of the “reima”, a thick and sticky substance of strong aroma exuded by the cheese. The cheese is then placed in the maturing cellar, 8 to 12 days at 10 to 20oc and 55 to 88% with low ventilation, where they are turned every day, like in the first phase, and constantly checked for conformity with frequent washing, brushing, or scrapping if required. The minimum maturing time, including the two phases, is of 15 days at the end of which the cheese is formed with a clean rind and a homogeneous and semi-soft paste. Two days before packing they are washed and scrapped with cold water, every batch is tested for conformity with visual and gustative control.