Mountain Cheeses
No other productis able to reflect in a more expressive way the landscape of its origin like the cheese. The mountains of Portugal, with their fresh and nutritious pastures, produce goat and sheep milk cheese of selected varieties which defy the most exquisite of tastes.
The cheeses from Serra da Estrela, from Serpa or Azeitao, of sheep’s milk, curdled with cardoon flowers from the mountains, creamy and melting, make for an extraordinary experience in the world of cheese.
Terrincho, Rabaçal, Évoraor Niza are other designations of origin of sheep’s milk cheeses, already in an advanced stage of ripeness. They are slighty dried and ment to be savoured with a piece of bread, some olives and a drop of olive oil. It is the ultimate bliss!
Goat’s milk cheeses are little gastronomic treasures both in its dry or fresh form. Of an unmistakable flavor, they are the perfect apettizer for a meal accompanied by a salad, or if you prefer, to end the meal in a marvelous way, while finishing the wine. The Requeijão is a distinct and gratifying experience. Made from sheep’s milk serum, it is buttery and peachy, soft and profound in flavor. Accompanied with a slice of good bread and a ride in the pepper mill, it will take us to heaven. An unique and unmissable pleasure.
The production of the Azorean cheeses is made from raw cow’s milk and it goes back to the XVIth century. The DOP São Jorge, without a doubt the most famed one, is a sun-dried cheese, of firm consistency with a hard or semi-hard yellow curd. Its intense and spicy flavor, which becomes stronger as it ages, makes these crumbly cheeses the finest companions to the best of breads. However, this delicious strength and perseverance turns the cheese’s splinters into a great seasoning for salads and so many other recipes, either simple or elaborate ones. Although we can not consider them mountain cheeses, they are surely one of Portugal’s best cheeses.
Taste Portugal.
