{"id":292,"date":"2008-04-17T23:19:38","date_gmt":"2008-04-17T13:19:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.travelsignposts.com\/wordpress\/?p=292"},"modified":"2008-04-17T23:19:38","modified_gmt":"2008-04-17T13:19:38","slug":"spanish-cheeses-la-mancha-spain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.travelsignposts.com\/wordpress\/spain\/spanish-cheeses-la-mancha-spain","title":{"rendered":"Spanish Cheeses &#8211; La Mancha, Spain"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"float: right\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\"><!--\r\ngoogle_ad_client = \"pub-1009507070974015\";\r\ngoogle_alternate_ad_url = \"http:\/\/www.travelsignposts.com\/google_adsense_script.html\";\r\ngoogle_ad_width = 300;\r\ngoogle_ad_height = 250;\r\ngoogle_ad_format = \"300x250_as\";\r\ngoogle_ad_type = \"text_image\";\r\n\/\/2007-06-30: TSBlog 300x250\r\ngoogle_ad_channel = \"2928184950\";\r\ngoogle_color_border = \"FFFFFF\";\r\ngoogle_color_bg = \"FFFFFF\";\r\ngoogle_color_link = \"FF6600\";\r\ngoogle_color_text = \"000000\";\r\ngoogle_color_url = \"339933\";\r\n\/\/-->\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\"\r\n  src=\"http:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/show_ads.js\">\r\n<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Spanish cheeses varieties are not as large as those available in France, and neither are they as well known. However one that I know well, as a taste sensation, is Manchego, which also happens to be Spain&#8217;s most <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" style=\"float: right; border: 0; margin: 5px;\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.travelsignposts.com\/Destination\/d\/24329-2\/spain_124.jpg?resize=110%2C85\" alt=\"El Torro, La Mancha, Spain\" width=\"110\" height=\"85\" \/>famous cheese. Manchega features on our regular Friday night cheese platter, however, until recently, I wasn&#8217;t aware that a true Manchego cheese is made only from whole milk of the Manchega sheep. When we travelled through La Mancha, we of course heard a lot about the legend of Don Quixote, however nothing was mentioned at all about the Manchego cheese.\u00a0 It would have been great to have tasted some over there.\u00a0 Whilst we only have one variety available at our specialty cheese shop, the shop assistant tells me that back home there are so many different brand names and prices.<\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" style=\"float: left; border: 0; margin: 5px;\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.travelsignposts.com\/Destination\/d\/24347-2\/spain_137.jpg?resize=110%2C85\" alt=\"Windmills of La Mancha, Spain\" width=\"110\" height=\"85\" \/>The Manchega sheep is raised in the &#8220;La Mancha&#8221; region and grazes on shrubs and grasses of the Dahesa.\u00a0 They produce a thick, aromatic milk which gives Manchego its unique and distinctive character.\u00a0 &#8220;La Mancha&#8221; region is a vast high plateau of more than 600 meters above sea level.\u00a0 It adjoins the provinces of Toledo, Cuenca, Ciudad Real and Albacete, all in the Castile-La Mancha Region southeast of Madrid. Originally the rinds of the Manchego bore the impressions of the plaited esparto grass baskets into which the shepherd&#8217;s hand pressed the curds and of the flowers that were placed on top. Nowadays the same patterns are formed by the moulds in which the cheeses are pressed.<\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" style=\"float: right; border: 0; margin: 5px;\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.travelsignposts.com\/Destination\/d\/24337-2\/spain_128.jpg?resize=85%2C110\" alt=\"Dpn Quixote, La Mancha, Spain\" width=\"85\" height=\"110\" \/>Manchego is an aged cheese, from semi-cured to cured, and unpasteurised or pasteurised milk. The base milk has to have a minimum of 6% fat. The milk coagulates at 28\u00baC to 32\u00baC after adding animal curd. The ageing process must be done in fresh areas, with a humidity level of 75 &#8211; 85%, for at least 60 days. Air-drying in caves is a ageing process.\u00a0 The rind is closed, clean well engraved, of a yellow to a brownish beige colour. The interior is firm and compact, closed, with a few small air pockets unevenly spread. The color is ivory to pale yellow. The taste is very characteristic, well developed, but not too strong, buttery and slightly piquant, with an sheep milk aftertaste. Shaped cylindrically and with flat top and bottom surfaces, they are typically engraved with the &#8220;flower&#8221; left by the wooden presses. The sides also display a zigzag pattern which is produced by the mat-weed (esparto) of the moulds.\u00a0 Today, even\u00a0with industrial production of the cheeses,\u00a0they have the same engraving, predesigned in the new industrial moulds.<\/p>\n<p>Helen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Spanish cheeses varieties are not as large as those available in France, and neither are they as well known. However one that I know well, as a taste sensation, is Manchego, which also happens to be Spain&#8217;s most famous cheese. Manchega features on our regular Friday night cheese platter, however, until recently, I wasn&#8217;t aware [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[1094,2389,1769,1783,1784],"class_list":["post-292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spain","tag-la-mancha-spain","tag-spain","tag-spain-europe","tag-spanish-cheeses","tag-spanish-foods"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - 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