Flor de Guía cheese is a Spanish cheese ( es, Queso de Flor de guía) made on the island of
Gran Canaria
Gran Canaria (, ; ), also Grand Canary Island, is the third-largest and second-most-populous island of the Canary Islands, an archipelago off the Atlantic coast of Northwest Africa which is part of Spain. the island had a population of that co ...
in the
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Mo ...
. It has
Denomination of Origin
Denomination may refer to:
* Religious denomination, such as a:
** Christian denomination
** Jewish denomination
** Islamic denomination
** Hindu denominations
** Buddhist denomination
* Denomination (currency)
* Denomination (postage stamp ...
protection. The cheese is classified as fatty or semi-fatty and made from the milk from Canarian sheep, with milk from Canarian cows and/or goats. The milk from the sheep must constitute at least 60% and cows’ milk content must never exceed 40%. Goat milk must never exceed 10% of the mixture. The cheese is presented in flat cylindrical cheeses which normally measure 4–8 cm (1.5-3 inches) high and 20–30 cm (8-12 inches) across and weighing between 2 and 5 kg (4.5-11 pounds). The cheese gets its name from an area in northern Gran Canaria called Santa María de Guía, where the cheese is made, and ‘flor’ from the fact that juice from the flowerheads of a species of
cardoon
The cardoon, ''Cynara cardunculus'' (), also called the artichoke thistle, is a thistle in the family Asteraceae. It is a naturally occurring species that also has many cultivated forms, including the globe artichoke. It is native to the west ...
and
globe artichoke
The globe artichoke (''Cynara cardunculus'' var. ''scolymus'' ),Rottenberg, A., and D. Zohary, 1996: "The wild ancestry of the cultivated artichoke." Genet. Res. Crop Evol. 43, 53–58. also known by the names French artichoke and green articho ...
are used to
curdle
Curdling is the breaking of an emulsion or colloid into large parts of different composition through the physio-chemical processes of flocculation, creaming, and coalescence. Curdling is purposeful in the production of cheese curd and tofu; un ...
the milk.
Manufacture
The cheese is made in three varieties:
*“Flor de Guía”, which uses only the juice of the flowerheads of the cardoon in the coagulation.
*“Half Flor de Guía” (Sp: ''media Flor de guía'') which uses 50% cardoon juice and 50% globe artichoke flower juice to