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Best Spanish Smoked Cheese Types
San Simón da Costa is a cheese made from raw or pasteurized cow's milk of the Galician blond, Swiss brown, and Friesian breeds in the District of Terra Chá, in the province of Lugo. It is sold in two versions; large, which is aged for a minimum of 45 days, weighing between 0,8 and 1,5 kg, and the smaller Bufón, aged for at least 30 days with a final weight of between 0,4 and 0,8 kg.
This cheese acquires its typical ochre-yellow color and aroma through the smoking process, for which only birch from the local woods is used. It is sometimes immersed in olive oil to inhibit the growth of mold. For an interesting twist, the young and smoky San Simón da Costa is best enjoyed with homebaked bread and sweet caramelized apple marmalade.
Pair with
Ahumado de Pría is a Spanish cheese hailing from Asturias. The cheese is made from a mixture of cow's milk and sheep's milk cream. It's usually left to age from 2 to 6 months, and after 2 months it's smoked over beech and oak. Originally, the cheese was produced in shepherd's huts.
Underneath its natural rind, the texture is dense, smooth, elastic, and creamy. The flavors and aromas are milky and smoky. It's recommended to dip Ahumado de Pría in cinnamon, cumin, and breadcrumbs, then fry it. Pair the cheese with a glass of fruity white wine from Galicia.
Herreño is a Spanish cheese hailing from the Canary Island, specifically the island of El Hierro. The cheese is made from goat's milk and a small amount of cow's and sheeps' milk. The wheels are smoked over wood from trunks of prickly pear cactus and figs.
Herreño's smoked rind (it can also be natural and unsmoked) has decorative burnished lines coming from the racking. When young, it's bright white in color, while the flavors are fresh and acidic, and when smoked, the flavors become more delicate and buttery.
Pair with
Quesucos de Liebana is a semi-hard cheese made with full-fat milk from Tudanca, Swiss Brown and Friesian cows, sometimes combined with goat or sheep milk. It has been traditionally produced the municipalities in the district of Liébana, in Cantabria.
The cheese is packed into self-draining molds, giving the cheese its characteristic wheel shape. It is matured for at least fifteen days, after which it can be smoked using juniper branches to intensify the flavor and give it a deep, smoky aroma. Quesucos de Liebana has a mild, buttery flavor and a characteristic, mellow aroma.
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Best Spanish Smoked Cheeses
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