🧀 Queso de l'Alt Urgell y la Cerdanya

Queso de l'Alt Urgell y la Cerdanya is a Spanish cheese with a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) from the central eastern Catalan Pyrenees. It is made from pasteurised full-fat milk of Friesian cows registered with the Consejo Regulador, which graze in or are fed from the valleys of the area.

Making. After homogenisation and pasteurisation the milk is curdled for 30 minutes at 30–33 °C, the curd is cut and the whey drained. The curd is put in moulds, pressed and kept in brine at 10–15 °C until salty enough, then drained and aired. Curing takes place in cellars at 11–14 °C and 90–96 % relative humidity and lasts at least 45 days. Aromatic ferments are sprinkled on the rind near the start of the process.

Appearance. A cylinder 195–200 mm across weighing about 2.5 kg, with a natural, slightly moist light-brown crust. The paste is cream-coloured or marble-white, with numerous small, uneven, mechanically made holes. The consistency is soft and creamy, the aroma sweet and penetrating, the taste soft and clear.

Labelling. The cheese is sold with a numbered label issued by the Consejo Regulador, printed with the PDO name and logo.

Area. The municipalities of Alt Urgell and Cerdanya in the provinces of Lleida and Girona. According to the specification, the cheese sold well in Barcelona and elsewhere in Catalonia in the 1940s and 1950s.