MINORCAN CHEESE

The charm of Minorca lies in its rough grass and woodland, and its abrupt cliffs. This land is hardly suited to intensive agriculture, but has been known since ancient times for its cattle. The Greek seafarers called it Melaussrz, “the cattle•rearing land.” In the 18th century, the British engineer john Armstrong wrote the first history and geography of the island, which was for a short time under British rule. According to Armstrong, in 1741 there were 60,000 sheep, 20,000 goats, 6000 head of cattle, and 4000 pigs here. He proudly stated that the Italians even preferred the island`s cheese to their own Parmesan.

In the 19th century, the British encouraged the keeping of cows and the production of cow’s milk cheese. There are still a few dozen cows of the local Minorcan variety, but it is now mainly the highly productive Friesians that have spread on this, the second largest of the Balearic islands. Their milk is used to produce the famous Mahón cheese, which now officially bears the name Quesa Mahón-Menorca. Until a couple of decades ago, this cheese was made entirely by hand. Between September and June, the women on the fincas, the farms, worked to process the milk twice a day. Instead of the rennin used today, they used herbs, and the cheeses were shaped in cotton cloths. A week later, the fresh, slightly sour cheese (queso fresco or tierno) was ready to eat, or to use in baking, for example as a filling for cakes.

Modernization and the hygiene requirements of the European Union have brought great changes to traditional cheesemaking. Unpasteurized fresh (curd) cheese is forbidden. However, a cooperative is successfully trying to maintain tradition. Raw milk cheese of the highest quality is being made under conditions of strict hygiene. The cheese has retained its traditional shape, square with rounded edges, as it is still wrapped in cloth for pressing.

Queso Mahón-Menorca exists in a semi-matured variety (semicurado, matured for at least two months) and as a fully mature cheese (curado, matured for six to ten months). Finally, there is the thoroughly hardened añejo, which spends a whole year developing its deep, tart flavour.

Some of the cheeses are rubbed over, when one month old, with butter or olive oil and powdered paprika as an additional means of preserving them. Mahón cheese made with pasteurized milk may however be sold following a short maturation period ranging from 20 to 60 days maximum.

Recipes with Bill & Sheila

_____________________________________________________________________
If you require a high quality printout of this article, just click on the printer symbol next to ’Share and enjoy’, and we will do the rest. This site is hosted by (click on the graphic for more information)

Return from cheese to Home Page

If you want to increase your site popularity and gain thousands of visitors – check out these sites THEY ARE FREE. Spanishchef more than doubled its ‘New Visitors’ last month simply by signing up to these sites:




Follow spanishchef.net on TWITTER