Cabrales cheese with a strong smell and powerful flavor, semi-hard, with streaks of greenish blue; with a soft, unctuous, brown or dark rind. Its paste is soft, creamy, white-yellowish with blue streaks.
Summary
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- 1 Elaboration
- 2 Conservation
- 3 flavor
- 4 Packaging
- 5 Sources
Elaboration
It is made from raw cow’s milk that is mixed with sheep’s and goat’s milk obtaining a cheese of excellent quality. All the milk used in the production comes exclusively from farms established in the production area and controlled by the Regulatory Council.
Its maturation lasts from two to five months in natural caves in the Cabrales environment, in which a fungus of the Penicillium genus is produced spontaneously .
After mixing and heating the milk , the rennet is added, mix well and set until the next day. The curd is kept in the mold for 24 hours and it is turned every two or three hours. Once it has reached consistency, it is removed from the mold, salted by hand on both sides and air-dried for several days at a moderate temperature until most of the “viria” or whey is released.
Conservation
Once the cheese is made, it goes to natural caves in the mountains where the humidity is around 90% and a temperature of between 8-12ºC, where it stays for two to four months. These conditions favor the development of molds of the penicillium type in the cheese during maturation, which gives it the blue-green areas and streaks.
Flavor
- It is slightly spicy, even more pronounced when it is made with pure or mixed goat and sheep milk.
Packaging
It is completed with the manufacturer’s label and the Regulatory Council back label, made up of a red band flanked by two green bands and the Regulatory Council logo with the corresponding numbering.
- The vast majority of Asturian restaurants have Cabrales cheese on their menu, often as an integral part of a local cheese board.
