The Salón Gourmets has held its 36th edition at Ifema Madrid and has hosted the thirteenth edition of GourmetQuesos, the Championship of the Best Cheeses of Spain 2023. The jury, made up of cheese makers, store managers, bloggers, gastronomic journalists, chefs, department store purchase managers and room managers, was lucky enough to try varieties of Burgos, Cabrales, Casar torta, tetilla and Mahón. and so on up to the 820 cheeses that have participated. The best is that can be purchased through online stores.
The objective was to find the best cheese in Spain taking into account not only the taste and smell, but also the texture, rind or color, among some characteristics, in each of the 20 established categories. There were 3 finalists from each of them, that is, a total of 60. Lugo was the most represented province, followed by Toledo, Badajoz and Albacete.
How to buy the best cheeses in Spain
- Young Cow: Dajosefa. Galician ferments (Lugo). Made with Ratina cow’s milk, with a high fat content and a very soft texture. Intense and persistent flavor, lactic notes of yogurt and butter. The entire process is manual, it is cut and shaped by hand, and the cheeses are turned daily until they reach their optimal point of ripeness. from 8 euros.
- Cured Cow: Saull. La Xiquella Formatges and Rural Tourism (Girona). It is a fatty matured cheese, made with raw milk from pasture cows and brown breeds. Minimum maturation of 7 months. From 7.50 euros.
- Young Goat Raw Milk: Washed Moss. Aligarma (Avila). It is made with raw goat’s milk. Its washed rind gives it a peculiarity and a different creaminess indoors. From 9.20 euros.
- Young Goat Pasteurized Milk: Garrotxa Sant Gil d’Albió, (Tarragona). Semi-matured goat cheese with natural flowery rind. Made with pasteurized goat’s milk. Creamy and compact texture in the cut. Taste of medium intensity, balanced, at the right point of salt and slightly acid. From 14.50 euros.
- Cured Goat Raw Milk: Natural Reserve with Paprika, Association of Cattlemen of the Montes de Málaga. Enzymatic coagulation made with raw goat’s milk matured in extra virgin olive oil of the Verdial variety from the Los Montes Natural Park, with paprika. From 12 euro.
- Cured Goat Pasteurized Milk: Julián Díaz PDO Majorero, Arquema (Tuineje, Fuerteventura) It is made with the Majorera goat that has become one of the treasures of Fuerteventura (it is not sold online).
- Semi-cured mix: Semi-cured mix Los Cameros, Lácteos Martínez (La Rioja). Made with a balanced mixture of cow’s, sheep’s and goat’s milk. They are high-quality milks, which are subjected to curdled care and the pampering of our master cheesemaker. From 54.62 euros.
- Cured Mixture: Cured Goat and Sheep Cheese wrapped in rosemary, payoyo cheese (Cádiz). Smeared with a mixture of aromatic rosemary and melted Iberian pork lard, remaining in the cellar for another 90 days. Slight smell of rosemary although the flavor of cheese prevails and its spicy touch and aroma are well balanced. From 32 euro.
- Soft Pasta Moldy Rind: Conde, La Quesería de María (Ávila). Goat milk soft cheese through slow pasteurization. One month of maturation. Moldy rind with penicillium. Creamy texture and slightly lactic tendency (not sold online).
- Soft Pasta Washed Rind: Tou Del Mujal Cabra Eco, Formatgeria Cal Music (Barcelona). A piece visually similar to the French Brique, it has a paste slightly washed with water and salt from the Cambrils saline, in Solsonès. Elegant, milky and at the same time firm but creamy on the palate. From 11 euros.
- Soft Pasta with Vegetable Coagulant: Creamy Zújar, Arteserena (Badajoz). Made with milk from their own Merino sheep that graze freely extensively. Its intense flavor and nuances are achieved through maturing on tables, with a bandage to avoid deformations with continuous turning for more than 60 days, achieving a thin, homogeneous and resistant rind. Smooth and creamy texture. From €14.77.
- Semi-cured Sheep Raw Milk: Gaztañaditxulo PDO Idiazábal, Ander Barandiarán (Gipuzkoa) This farmhouse is located in the town of Goierri, in a natural environment made up of forests and meadows. The cheese is made with raw milk from Latxa or Carranzana sheep. From €18.50/kg.
- Semi-cured Sheep Pasteurized Milk: 1949 Matured Sheep, Feijoo Cheeses (Ourense). Intense flavor in the mouth and texture somewhere between buttery and dry. Its interior is compact, straw-colored and with the fine “partridge eye” so characteristic of sheep cheese. A minimum of 6 months in the cellar. from 35 euros.
- Cured Sheep Raw Milk: Cheese Farm La Cruz, Aldonza (Madrid). Cured for six months, it is a product with an indisputable flavor, perfect to accompany a good wine and to present as an aperitif or accompaniment (it is not sold online).
- Sheep Cured Pasteurized Milk: The Old Cured García Fernández Juan David Cheese Factory (Toledo). Very nice texture and intense flavor. Minimum of six months of healing. Made with 100% pasteurized sheep’s milk from La Mancha (not sold online).
- Aged Sheep: Cheese Farm La Cruz, Aldonza (Madrid). Gran Reserva, made with raw sheep’s milk, is cured for a minimum of 14 months, which gives it a spectacular flavor for lovers of strong cheese. From €59.99.
- Lactic-acid coagulation refinements: Moluengo, La Rueda del Cabriel cheeses (Albacete). Made with raw goat’s milk, from the Murcian-Granada breed. It is a tender and smooth cheese made by hand. From €12.90.
- Azules (Internal Mold): Picos de Europa IGP Valdeón Cheese, Picos de Europa Cheese Factory (León). Made with cow and goat milk. Long maturation, until reaching the point between semi-cured and cured. The paste has a soft texture and a pale yellow color, full of small cavities where a white and blue-green mold is concentrated. From 7.48 euros.
- Smoked: La Vasco Navarra smoked DOP Idiazábal, Quesos La Vasco Navarra (Navarra). Smoked cheese with fine wood and aged for at least two months of maturation. Made from raw sheep’s milk and with the Idiazabal Protected Designation of Origin. Intense flavor and compact texture. From €11.50.
- With Seasonings Inside: Quigo Fig Jam, Rodolfo Del Río Lameyer (Seville). Made with selected fruits. Figs are very digestive and beneficial for intestinal transit (not sold online).
