Porrúa cheese . Porrúa cheese is made in various towns in the Llanes council of the Autonomous Community of the Principality of Asturias , Spain , mainly in the northern foothills of the Sierra del Cuera . This artisanal and homemade cheese was sold in the local markets of the eastern coastal area of Asturias . It is a cheese of simple elaboration but of great quality and freshness.
Summary
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- 1 Elaboration
- 2 Features
- 3 Production area
- 4 Sources
Elaboration
To make Porrúa cheese, pasteurized cow’s or sheep’s milk is heated and rennet is added. Once the curd is obtained, it is cut into small pieces, these resulting grains are placed in a mold where they are left to drain for three days. Once this process has been carried out, they are left to cure and, depending on how you want to eat them, they are left more or less going from being a fresh cheese (one week of maturation) to one already mature (about three weeks of maturation).
features
- This cheese has several variants, the first is the origin of the milk. The milk used throughout the year is from cows but from April to August cheeses are made from sheep’s milk. Due to this reason there are cow and sheep cheeses .
- Another important characteristic is its degree of maturation, those that are eaten fresh are white with an almost non-existent rind, this type of cheese is used for salads. The cheeses that are allowed to mature are cream or yellow in color depending on the degree of maturation. In both cases it is a small cheese, about 300 g, cylindrical in shape.
- The interior aspect is compact, soft, humid, closed with some small “eyes” of mechanical origin , unevenly distributed. Bright white.
- The shape is discoidal, with a slightly or not at all rough, moist and somewhat elastic texture to the touch.
- The texture in the mouth is low firm, not crumbly, high chewiness, somewhat chewy, not at all or slightly sticky, not grainy, high humidity, greasy, not creamy, homogeneous, not melting, and poorly soluble.
- The taste is nothing acidic , something sweet , correct salt .
- With a smooth flavor, it combines well with dry white wines or young reds.
- There is a variety of Porrúa cheeses, literally called Thunder Cheeses , as they are made in times of storm with electric shocks . This atmospheric phenomenon damages milk when it is curdling and therefore alters the process. The resulting pieces have a bitter, musty and even earthy taste . They are not marketed.
Production area
Both cheeses are made in the town of Porrúa , close to Llanes , with a long tradition in sheep .
