🧀 Manchego

Queso Manchego is a Spanish pressed cheese with a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), made from the milk of ewes of the Manchega breed; the specification allows no milk from other species. It is produced in La Mancha, in municipalities of the provinces of Albacete, Ciudad Real, Cuenca and Toledo, and has been registered in the EU since 21 June 1996.

Milk and making. The milk may be raw or pasteurised, and the cheese is made with natural rennet or other authorised coagulation enzymes and salt. A cheese made from raw milk may be labelled 'Artesano'. According to the specification, the sheep graze on the natural pastures of the area all year round and receive concentrated feed, hay and by-products in the fold; the animals are reared, the milk is taken and the cheese is made inside the production area.

Ripening and character. Cheeses weighing up to 1.5 kg are aged for at least 30 days; larger ones for 60 days up to a maximum of two years. The cheese is cylindrical with smooth sides, at most 12 cm high and 22 cm across, and weighs 0.4 to 4 kg. The paste is firm and compact, white to ivory-yellow, with small unevenly distributed eyes (sometimes none); the fat content is at least 50% of dry matter. The aroma is lactic and persistent, the flavour slightly acidic and strong, turning spicy in well-aged cheeses; the texture is buttery and slightly floury, granular when very well aged.

Rind and labelling. The cheese is sold with its rind, which may be washed or coated with paraffin, authorised transparent substances or olive oil, as long as the natural colour and the casein label stay visible. Every cheese carries a numbered casein label on one face, applied at moulding and pressing, and the marketed product bears a numbered secondary label issued by the Regulatory Board Foundation. The label must read 'Denominación de Origen Protegida Queso Manchego'.