What’s new this month – Cheesemaker Edition
Cheesemakers are back in action
For most of us September marks the end of summer – gone are the long warm evenings and our relaxed frame of mind turns its attention to new challenges, term time and work life – heads down and back to the grindstone! A few of our makers and mongers have managed to squeeze in a break over the summer and the serious business of cheese making and mongering returns with a bang this month and you’ll find some of our regular traders back at the market.
I know you know, but just in case it had passed you by… The Cheese Market team runs the market on a voluntary basis – giving their spare time to bring some of the most exciting cheeses in the world to ‘Cheesewick’. What you might not know is that over the three years we have been going, we have given over £30,000 away to good causes. Partly to our local charity ‘The Upper Room’ and partly funding projects, awards and events in the British Artisan cheese industry.
A couple of years ago I visited Toledo (if you have not been I thoroughly recommend it for a long weekend – less fashionable than some other European city breaks but great food and wine and plenty to see for a few days away). It’s the home of the Don Quixote windmills and of course right in the heart of the Manchego cheese region. So, what exactly is Manchego cheese?
It has a DOP (meaning it can only be made in the designated region following the designated recipes). It is made with whole sheep’s milk and must be from the Manchega breed of sheep. (Yes, Manchego cheese is made from the milk of Manchega sheep!)
The sheep must be raised and milked in the designated region. The moulds used have a distinctive pattern reminiscent of woven baskets that were historically used. The curd is not salted in the vat but instead once the cheese has set in the moulds it is then soaked overnight on a vat of brine. It is then coated in a thin layer of wax that keeps the moisture in.
Image: Grazing Manchega Sheep
It is aged between two weeks and 24 months offering four different styles of Manchego cheese
Fresco – cannot be aged for more than two weeks and is very much a fresh curd cheese. Not really exported so we see it rarely in the UK.
Semicurado – aged for up to four months – semi firm, with air holes. This is the most widely consumed style of Manchego cheese.
Images: Villarejo Semi Cured, Solana Truffle
Curado – three – six months old with a firmer texture, a yellowier colour to the paste and a nuttier flavour. The semi-curado and curado do overlap somewhat in age and flavour profiles.
Viejo – simply meaning ‘aged’ and is anywhere between 12 and 24 months old. Crumblier, deeper yellow distinctly spicier flavour profile.
Images: Sierra La Solana Truffle, Ojos Del Guadiana cured
Interested? Join us on HQ to try three different Manchego cheeses and if you have never tried the stunning Spanish accompaniment of Membrillo you can this Sunday! Big thank you to @finer.things.deli who are supplying the cheese for our free tasting this month.
We are looking forward to seeing you at the market this Sunday but in case you have some spare time this weekend don’t forget that it is Chiswick Book Festival weekend. In celebration of that our recipe of the month is from John Torode and Lisa Faulkner’s new book, ‘John and Lisa’s Kitchen’. Our very own Jo Pratt will be chatting about their book at the festival.
Book tickets here https: chiswickbookfestival.net
My cheese box is empty, my shopping basket is ready and I’m in a Spanish frame of mind for our Manchego tasting. Can’t wait – See you there!