This Month's Featured Cheeses

July 2008

(Although we will make every attempt to ship the products below, occasionally they may need to be substituted with equally outstanding cheeses. The product descriptions below are excerpts from our monthly newsletter. Click here to view it in its entirety.)

Three Ways to Say "Great Cheese" in Spanish!

Manchego: A Gustatory Legend from the Heartland of Spain

It is said that Manchego is to Spain what cheddar is to England: A legend in its own land and a treasure for the rest of the world. This month, it is a special privilege to present this tasty, piquant and nutty milk cheese to our loyal readers and club members. It is a cheese with both a unique, pleasing taste and a full, rich history. We are delighted to introduce you to Spain's most popular cheese and one of that nation's prized exports.

Manchego derives its name from the central Spanish region of La Mancha, which was also the home of the legendary Don Quixote. Manchego has a distinctive flavor and an equally distinctive look. It can be recognized by a unique, zigzag or crosshatch pattern in its black-gray or buff-colored rind (created by the rippled surface of the press used to make it). The rind itself is inedible. Inside, you'll discover an ivory-colored interior and several small holes. Most Manchego fans are pleasantly surprised at their first taste of this hard cheese. It has an intense, zesty taste and a crumbly texture that's rich, full and slightly salty at the finish. Even its aroma has been described as special, suggesting lanolin to some and roast lamb to others. The cheese is marketed at various stages of maturity from "cured" at 13 weeks to "aged" at more than three months. The aging period must be a minimum of 60 days.

Idiazabal: Brought to You by Basque Shepherds

Idiazabal is a classic, delicious, robust cheese recognized primarily by its rich, smoky flavor – a tradition launched centuries ago when the cheeses were stored near the night fires of the field shepherds because their mountain huts in the Spanish Pyrenees lacked chimneys. The cheeses were made only during the summertime in rural dwellings on top of the mountains.

Living conditions in the Basque region of Spain where this cheese was born have vastly improved, and so has the market for this exceptional cheese. Thankfully, some of the old traditions die hard. Idiazabal retains its standing as "the quintessential shepherds' cheese" and is considered a delicacy among cheese purists. It is a treat sure to delight the palate all year 'round, but especially well suited for the outdoor cooking of summer months.

The smoking process occurs at the end of the aging process using the various tree woods. The intensity of the smoked taste depends upon the intensity and length of the process, as well as the woods used. Typically, the cheese is smoked with cherry wood, hawthorn or beech wood. There is also an un-smoked version derived in lower elevations where there was no tradition of smoking food products.

Mahon: A Mediterranean Island's Gift to Cheese Lovers

Dairy farming to produce cheese follows only tourism as the leading industry of Menorca, the northernmost Balearic Island in the picturesque Mediterranean Sea. One taste of Mahon, a smooth, supple hard cheese named for the capital (and port city) of Menorca, will prove to any skeptic why cheese production here has become world renowned.

A cheese produced completely from cow's milk, Mahon has a sweet and fruity aroma and a rich, bold flavor. (It's highly unique and certainly not for those who prefer bland cheeses.) It comes with a yellowish rind that reveals a spicy and somewhat salty cheese flavor.

Although Menorca is a small rocky island, it produces enough cheese to rank Mahon in second place among Spanish cheeses, behind Manchego. Locals have been producing this exotic cheese for more than 700 years, and it has become a true island tradition handed down for generations. More than 600 different farms dominate the small island, producing the milk and the cheese and benefiting from the mild climate, high humidity and heavy rainfall. Professional cheese curers also inhabit the island. They purchase the farm-made cheeses on a weekly basis and dry them naturally. Such a tried-and-true ritual may seem quaint in today's highly mechanized world, but there is little doubt that the long-established and painstaking production process has worked to the benefit of modern-day cheese lovers.