Cabrales ( Spanish: ''queso de Cabrales'') is a blue cheese made in the

artisan An artisan (from french: artisan, it, artigiano) is a skilled craft worker who makes or creates material objects partly or entirely by hand. These objects may be functional or strictly decorative, for example furniture, decorative art ...

tradition by rural

dairy A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing (or both) of animal milk – mostly from cows or buffaloes, but also from goats, sheep, horses, or camels – for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on ...

farmers in

Asturias Asturias (, ; ast, Asturies ), officially the Principality of Asturias ( es, Principado de Asturias; ast, Principáu d'Asturies; Galician-Asturian: ''Principao d'Asturias''), is an autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensiv ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

. This cheese can be made from pure, unpasteurized cow’s

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modulat ...

or blended in the traditional manner with

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 ...

and/or

sheep milk Sheep's milk (or ewes' milk) is the milk of domestic sheep. It is commonly used to make cultured dairy products such as cheese. Some of the most popular sheep cheeses include feta (Greece), ricotta (Italy), and Roquefort (France). Sheep breed ...

, which lends the cheese a stronger, spicier flavor.
Official Spanish government regulatory board (in Spanish: see ext. refs for translation) All of the milk used in the production of Cabrales must come exclusively from herds raised in a small zone of production in

, in the mountains of the Picos de Europa.

Production

The milk is first heated and curdled by the addition of

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 an ...

. 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 har ...

is removed from the curds, which are then packed into

cylindrical A cylinder (from ) has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base. A cylinder may also be defined as an in ...

molds called ''arnios'', salted and left to cure and harden. After the initial curing period of around two weeks, the Cabrales is then aged a further two to five months in natural

cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

s in the limestone

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher ...

s of the area. The cheeses are placed on wooden shelves known as ''talameras'', where they are periodically turned and cleaned.

Relative humidity Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation, dew, or fog to be present. Humidity dep ...

in these caves is typically 90% and the

temperature Temperature is a physical quantity that expresses quantitatively the perceptions of hotness and coldness. Temperature is measured with a thermometer. Thermometers are calibrated in various temperature scales that historically have relied o ...

is a cool , conditions favoring the development of

penicillium ''Penicillium'' () is a genus of ascomycetous fungi that is part of the mycobiome of many species and is of major importance in the natural environment, in food spoilage, and in food and drug production. Some members of the genus produce pe ...

mold A mold () or mould () is one of the structures certain fungi can form. The dust-like, colored appearance of molds is due to the formation of spores containing fungal secondary metabolites. The spores are the dispersal units of the fungi. Not ...

s that produce blue-green veins throughout the cheese. Cabrales has a strong flavor, sometimes quite acidic, which can be very complex when made with mixed milks. Like Gorgonzola and

Roquefort Roquefort is a sheep milk cheese from Southern France, and is one of the world's best known blue cheeses. Though similar cheeses are produced elsewhere, EU law dictates that only those cheeses aged in the natural Combalou caves of Roquefort-sur ...

, it is a famous blue cheese whose name is protected by

European law European Union law is a system of rules operating within the member states of the European Union (EU). Since the founding of the European Coal and Steel Community following World War II, the EU has developed the aim to "promote peace, its valu ...

. At the end of its ripening process, the cheese has the following characteristics: * Cylindrical shape, 7 to 15 cm. high, variable diameter and weight. * Soft, thin, creamy rind of gray color with yellow-reddish areas. * Paste of unctuous consistency, with varying degrees of cohesion, compact and without eyes. * Fat content is not less than 45% of the dry matter. * The minimum moisture content of 30%.

Marketing

Traditionally, Cabrales was sold wrapped in the moist leaves of ''

Acer pseudoplatanus ''Acer pseudoplatanus'', known as the sycamore in the British Isles and as the sycamore maple in the United States, is a species of flowering plant in the soapberry and lychee family Sapindaceae. It is a large deciduous, broad-leaved tree, t ...

'' (Sycamore Maple), but nowadays regulations require that commercially produced Cabrales be sold in a dark-green-colored aluminum foil with the registered official stamp of the PDO ''Queso de Cabrales''. Within the production zone it is still possible to encounter Cabrales cheese with the traditional maple leaf wrapping, although it is only ever produced in small batches and not approved for export, as it is ineligible for DO status. The same is true of other Spanish blue cheeses, also traditionally leaf-wrapped, such as Valdeón and

Picón Bejes-Tresviso Picón Bejes-Tresviso is a blue cheese from Cantabria, in the north of Spain. It has been protected under Denominación de Origen (DO) legislation since 1994, prior to which it was traditionally known as ''Picón de Tresviso'' and ''Queso Picó ...

. A 5.78 lb (2.62 kg) cheese from the Valfríu cheese factory set a

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

in August 2018 when it sold for €14,300 at auction. In 2020, the same cheese variety set a new world record as it was sold for €20,500 at auction. In 2019, the last year before supply disruptions due to COVID, it was produced 433,000 kg of Cabrales cheese according to the Consejo Regulador D.O.P. Cabrales (Cabrales Regulatory Council).

References

External links

Translation of official Spanish DO informationCabrales info at cheeses.com
*Cabrales info a
spanishclub.blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cabrales (Cheese) Cheeses with designation of origin protected in the European Union Spanish cheeses Asturian cuisine Cow's-milk cheeses Sheep's-milk cheeses Goat's-milk cheeses Blue cheeses Spanish products with protected designation of origin Picos de Europa

Production

Marketing

See also

References

Further reading

External links