Turrialba cheese is a cow's milk cheese originally from

Turrialba Turrialba may refer to: Places * Turrialba Volcano * Turrialba Volcano National Park, created around Turrialba Volcano. * Turrialba (canton), located in Cartago Province * Turrialba (district), located in Turrialba canton. Other * Turrialba cheese ...

canton, in the

Cartago Province Cartago (), which means Carthage in Spanish, is a province of central Costa Rica. It is one of the smallest provinces, however probably the richest of the Spanish Colonial era sites and traditions. Geography It is located in the central part ...

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

, it is origin protected since 2012.

History

Production started in the 1870s when a Spanish family headed by Lucas Vargas came from

La Mancha La Mancha () is a natural and historical region located in the Spanish provinces of Albacete, Cuenca, Ciudad Real, and Toledo. La Mancha is an arid but fertile plateau (610 m or 2000 ft) that stretches from the mountains of Toledo to the ...

and settled in the region of Santa Cruz, in Turrialba, to start producing cheese with the recipes they brought from their homeland. In the 1890s

rail transportation Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

between Turrialba and the capital of San José became possible, and the Vargas family started to ship their product to San José and Cartago in wooden crates. In 1930 Florentino Castro, a coffee producer, acquired the Hacienda El Volcán. This was the first time in the country when cheese, butter and sour cream were produced and packaged with labels for further distribution throughout the country. In the 1950s, the cheese was exported for the first time to

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, along with coffee.

References

{{cheese-stub Cow's-milk cheeses