Culinary Personality

 

Manchego cheese is the product of a harsh, extreme climate that favours the growth of very tough plants, the diet for a curious ancestral race of sheep that is raised under very strict standards of breeding and health. The result is a cheese unlike any other.

Milk is removed from the udders of manchega ewes by manual or mechanical means and filtered for subsequent cooling until it reaches a temperature of 4°C.

The milk is transferred to vats where it is curdled using rennet or other coagulating enzymes. For this process, the milk is heated to 30°C and kept at that temperature for 45 minutes. The compact curd obtained is subjected to successive cuts until small grains similar to grains of rice are obtained.

In the draining phase, the mass is shaken and then slowly heated to a maximum temperature of 40°C to easily remove the liquid or whey

The curd obtained is put into cylindrical moulds that are embossed to print the "flower" on the flat sides of the cheese and the "plait" on the side.

Each cheese is individually identified through a serial number on the casein label.

Once the curd is in the moulds, it is pressed to facilitate the removal of whey from the inside of the mass.

After a period of time in the press, the curd is removed from the mould (it will be a cylindrical shape) and, after reversing the position of the flat sides of the cylinder, it is again inserted in the cylinder to submit it to a new pressing process.

We then move on to the salting stage by placing the cheese in a curing machine for 24 to 48 hours to strip it of water and help its rind to form for better protection.

During the drying process, excess water is removed by keeping it in areas with a humidity of 80% over 60 days. We then continue with maturing the cheese by placing it in chambers with a temperature ranging between 10 and 12°C.

Its weight can vary between 2 and 3 1/2 kilos and its mash is firm and compact; it is an ivory colour with a few holes that are unevenly distributed. The rind of this cheese is hard and is a colour between yellow and dark brown and the impressions of the mould or plaits should be made on the side surface and the flower on the flat sides.