Alpujarras cheese is a Spanish cheese from the eastern region of

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...

, which includes the provinces of

Granada Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...

Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of the same name. It lies on southeastern Iberia on the Mediterranean Sea. Caliph Abd al-Rahman III founded the city in 955. The city gr ...

and the Penibética mountain chain. The cheese takes its name from La

Alpujarra The Alpujarra (, Arabic: ''al-bussarat'') is a natural and historical region in Andalusia, Spain, on the south slopes of the Sierra Nevada and the adjacent valley. The average elevation is above sea level. It extends over two provinces, ...

(or Las Alpujarras), a mountainous region which occupies a part of southern Granada province and western Almeria province. This area has a long history and tradition of goatherding. Alpujarras cheese is made from the milk of the White Andalusian domesticated

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...

. The cheese is made as a fresh or matured variety and is classified as fatty to extra fatty. The presentation of the mature cheese is in the form of cylinders, rather wider than they are high. The rind faces are usually marked with patterns of flowers and the sides with lines, which are intended to simulate the imprint of rushes, including the authorising mark of the protected designation of origin P.D.O. The cheese is sold in pieces of between . if fresh, and up to if cured.

Manufacturing process

Made from fresh milk which is aromatic and high in fats, the milk is pasteurised if used for fresh cheese but left raw if used for cured cheese. The milk is curdled with

rennet Rennet () is a complex set of enzymes produced in the stomachs of ruminant mammals. Chymosin, its key component, is a protease enzyme that curdles the casein in milk. In addition to chymosin, rennet contains other enzymes, such as pepsin and a ...

from young goats which gives the best result and gives the final cheese the best possible qualities. The milk is heated to 30-32 °C and the rennet is added. The coagulation takes between 30 and 45 minutes but can sometimes take up to two hours. The curd is then cut with a so-called

lyre The lyre () is a stringed musical instrument that is classified by Hornbostel–Sachs as a member of the lute-family of instruments. In organology, a lyre is considered a yoke lute, since it is a lute in which the strings are attached to a yoke ...

into pieces about the size of a pea or bean to facilitate the draining of the

whey Whey is the liquid remaining after milk has been curdled and strained. It is a byproduct of the manufacturing of cheese or casein and has several commercial uses. Sweet whey is a byproduct resulting from the manufacture of rennet types of hard ...

. It is left to rest for a few minutes before the moulding process where the curd is put into baskets, in old times made of rushes but nowadays made of more hygienic plastic. These baskets have, on their inner surface, the imprints that will show on the rind of the cheese. After 48 hours of pressing they are salted by being placed in an 18% brine at a temperature of 12-14 °C for about 24 hours. The cheeses are then placed in ventilated, high-humidity rooms at 10-12 °C to mature. The fresh cheese can be eaten within 60 days but the mature cheese must remain for at least 60 days and sometimes may be left for up to 4 months.

Characteristics

This is a cheese with a strong flavour, it has a lacteal base, slightly salty and a little peppery. It is buttery to the palate from the high level of fat it contains. The flavour may vary a little depending on the time of year it was made. The fresh cheese is a little sweeter and more milky. It is not recommended that this cheese is eaten after about 9 months due to the degradation of the fats and the release of caproic fatty acids that will affect the flavour.

Texture

The mature cheese has a firm, non-elastic texture, typical of the way this kind of cheese is made and there are often little cavities evenly spaced throughout the cheese. The color is a matte, ivory-white. The fresh cheese is soft and a shiny white.

Rind

The rind is normally natural, clean and a yellowy straw colour. It may be oiled with olive oil. After maturation the rind can turn dark brownish with possibly some green flecks caused by moulds growing on the surface. Fresh cheese has no appreciable rind.

Uses

It is recommended that Alpujarra cheese is eaten with white wine of the

Jumilla Jumilla () is a town and a municipality in southeastern Spain. It is located in the north east of the Region of Murcia, close to the towns of Cieza and Yecla. According to the 2018 census, the town population was 25,547. Geography The municipa ...

or Cariñena variety, it also goes well with

Amontillado Amontillado () is a variety of sherry wine characterised by being darker than fino but lighter than oloroso. It is named after the Montilla region of Spain, where the style originated in the 18th century, although the name "Amontillado" is somet ...

and

fino Fino ("refined" in Spanish) is the driest and palest of the traditional varieties of sherry and Montilla-Moriles fortified wine. They are consumed comparatively young and, unlike the sweeter varieties, should be consumed soon after the bottle ...

sherry. It can be enjoyed as an accompaniment to a range of dishes and is also enjoyable to eat with dried fruit and nuts. Fresh cheese is commonly eaten sliced and grilled as a starter.

References