Manchego cheese

It’s a Spanish cheese made with sheep milk protected by a designation of origin in La Mancha.

It’s a hard cheese made with milk from manchega sheep, with a minimum curation of 30 days for cheeses with a weight of 1’5kg or less (more) and 60 days for the rest (other cheese and) a maximum of 2 years.

About its organoleptic characteristics, we can highlight its hard, yellow or dark green rind. The paste that makes the cheese must have a homogeneous aspect, with a variable colour range from white to yellowish white.

The cut must have small and randomly placed holes all over its surface, which sometimes may be lacking. The texture has low elasticity, with a greasy and a bit floury sensation,  and it can be granulated in older cheeses. It emanates a lactic smell, intensely acid and persistent that turns into more spicy tones in the most cured cheeses.

The waxy rind must have marked on its lateral the classical zigzag from the traditional “cincho de esparto”; the colour of the wax indicates the age of the cheese. The paste must be ivory coloured, with small and randomly placed holes.