Michael Coy
BRITISH people have a tendency to be what Americans call “risk-averse,” but which we would call “cautious.”
Spanish cheese may not sound all that appealing to you at first, especially when you learn that it comes from sheep’s milk. But if you don’t try the cheese of La Mancha (‘queso manchego’), you’re really missing out. It’s available everywhere, and it’s delicious – and cheap – as a ‘tapa.’
First, let’s talk about La Mancha. This is the land-locked region just north of Andalucía, centred around the towns of Ciudad Real and Manzanares. Its claims to fame are that it’s where Don Quijote was from, it has some ancient windmills, and – of course – it produces cheese. (When you’re looking at cheese in the supermarket, don’t forget that ‘oveja’ means it’s from sheep, and ‘cabra’ means goat.)
“Don Quijote,” the book, is often regarded as something of a puzzle by British readers. There’s something about it that we don’t get. “A founding work of western literature” and “the first-ever novel” are terms we hear used. The first part came out in 1605, when Shakespeare was at the height of his powers in London, and was followed ten years later by Part II.
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Cervantes, the author, set it in La Mancha because the region is a bit of a joke to the Spanish: a central, boring kind of place (just like English people who want to ‘blank’ someone will ‘send him to Coventry’). Don Quijote is a feeble old gent who has read too many knightly legends, and now believes, in his senility, that he is a noble hero. In the book’s most famous passage, he tries to attack the windmills because he imagines that they are evil giants.
The fair maiden that he tries to protect is, in reality, a muscular peasant girl who sweats as she carries buckets of water. If you attempt to read it (and you should – it’s really quite amusing in places), it’s as well to bear in mind that Quijote represents the idealistic ‘dreamer’ side of Spanish (indeed, human) nature, while his servant Sancho Panza stands for our crafty, practical traits.
But let’s get back to the cheese.
By law, ‘queso manchego’ has to mature for a minimum of 60 days, but two years is more normal. Some bars and restaurants refer to it as ‘queso viejo’ (old cheese), which is not very appetising, but attests simply to its maturity.
“Manchego has a firm and compact consistency and a buttery texture, often containing small, unevenly distributed air pockets. The colour of the cheese varies from white to ivory-yellow, and the inedible rind from yellow to brownish-beige. The cheese has a distinctive flavour, well developed but not too strong, creamy with a slight piquancy, and leaves an aftertaste that is characteristic of sheep’s milk.” So now you know.
The next thing is “D.O.” These letters, after the cheese’s title, are important: they signify that it’s genuinely from La Mancha. “Denominación de Origen” works like the French ‘appellation contrôlée,’ guaranteeing that it comes from where it claims to come from.
As you can imagine, the enormous commercial success of the cheese of La Mancha means that other regions will try to cash in. But when you see “D.O.,” you know it’s the real McCoy. To qualify, a cheese must come from the La Mancha area (obviously), and it must be made with the milk of the local breed of sheep, who live on a La Mancha farm. And (odd one, this) it must be pressed in a cylindrical mould.
There are four varieties of queso Manchego: ‘fresco’ is recently-made, and purists don’t regard it as true Manchego because it hasn’t aged; ‘semicurado’ (half-cured) is a mild cheese which lacks the tang of the real stuff; ‘curado’ is young but firm; and ‘viejo’ is the fully-ripe version with the sharper flavour.
Beware of restaurants that try to fob you off with “queso ibérico.” It’s perfectly edible, but it’s not pure Manchego – it has been blended with the milk of cows and goats. The majority of Spanish cheese bearing the “D.O.” label is from La Mancha, and the region exports six million kilograms annually – so they’re doing something right!
