Our Manchego is different
Oveja Negra Organic Manchego
This is a classic Queso Manchego aged minimum 3 months; this Organic Manchego is made from milk produced by heritage breed black ewes that graze the certified-Organic Parra Family vineyard in La Mancha, central Spain. The cheese is semi-Firm, with exceptionally high moisture content giving it a creamy mouth feel despite its slightly crumbly profile. The cheese has a zesty, buttery, lanolin scent. Its flavor is nutty, herbaceous, sweet and savory with a slight saltiness. La Oveja Negra is moister, more complex, sweeter and less salty than factory-made Manchegos.
Ingredients:
Organic thermised Manchega sheep’s milk; milk enzymes; rennet; calcium; salt.
Applications:
Slice it for an appetizer. Serve with Membrillo (quince paste) or honey for dessert. The cheese can also be melted into a variety of recipes from pastas to roasted lamb.
Queso Manchego in general
Queso Manchego, or Manchego Cheese, is made La Mancha, a windswept region in the center of Spain. The milk must come from sheep of the Manchega breed. Officially recognized Spanish Manchego can be aged from 60 days to two years. Manchego cheese has an immediately recognizable flavor, which is delicate but developed, creamy yet firm in texture, with a distinct lanolin aftertaste characteristic of all sheep cheeses. The cheese is white when young and turns a rich yellow when older. The rind is natural, but not edible and can be almost white, to darkened with mold. By law the rind is allowed to be washed, coated in paraffin, dipped in olive oil, or treated with certain approved transparent substances.
Queso Manchego is a protected agricultural product under Spain’s Denominación de Origen (DO) regulatory system. This means that under Spanish and European law, only cheese made in a certain way, from the milk of Manchego sheep in La Mancha, may be designated Queso Manchego and meet certain requirements.
It must have been produced within the designated regions of La Mancha, which are Albacete, Ciudad Real, Cuenca and Toledo. It must be made from the whole milk of sheep of the Manchega breed raised on registered farms within the area. It must be aged a minimum of 60 days and a maximum of two years. It must be pressed into a cylindrical mold, with the distinctive zig-zag pattern. It may be made from either thermised or raw milk. The only permitted additives are natural rennet or another approved coagulating enzyme, and salt.