Manchego

PDO requirements

A queso manchego must satisfy these requirements: | access-date = 19 September 2017

• It must be produced within designated parts of the provinces of Albacete, Ciudad Real, Cuenca, and Toledo, all in the La Mancha region.
• It can be made only with the whole milk of sheep of the Manchega breed raised on registered farms within that area.
• It must be aged for a minimum of 60 days (30 days for cheeses weighing up to 1.5 kg) and a maximum of two years.
• It must be produced by pressing in a cylindrical mould that has a maximum height of 12 cm and a maximum diameter of 22 cm.

Manchego cheese can be made from pasteurised or raw milk; if the latter, it may be labelled artesano (artisan). The only permitted additives are natural rennet or another approved coagulating enzyme and salt.

Manufacture and labelling

The moulds in which the cheese is pressed are barrel-shaped. Traditionally, manchego cheese was made by pressing the curd in plaited esparto grass baskets, which left a distinctive zig-zag pattern (known as pleita) on the rind.{{Citation | access-date = 28 April 2010 | archive-date = 30 September 2018 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180930144145/http://www.iberianfoods.co.uk/manchego.htm | url-status = dead

During the maturation process, manchego cheese develops a natural rind. The regulations permit this to be washed, coated in paraffin, dipped in olive oil, or treated with certain approved transparent substances, but require that it must not be removed if the cheese is to be marketed as PDO.

Cheeses that meet the PDO requirements carry a casein tab that is applied when the cheese is in the mould and bear a distinctive label that is issued by the Manchego Cheese Denomination of Origin Regulating Council; this carries the legend queso manchego, a serial number, and artwork depicting Don Quixote de La Mancha.{{Citation | access-date = 28 April 2010 | archive-date = 2 July 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120702173811/http://www.quesomanchego.es/ingles/identifica.htm | url-status = dead

A cheese that is similar to manchego and made in the same region, but from a blend of cows’, goats’, and ewes’ milk, is sold as queso ibérico, or ibérico cheese.

Almost 60% of Spanish cheese with Denomination of Origin is Manchego, which makes it the main reference of Spanish cheese. As most of its production is exported, it is one of the most important ambassadors of Spain’s national gastronomy. La Mancha exported 5.9 million kg of this cheese in 2017, according to the Foundation for Manchego Cheese (Fundación C.R.D.O Queso Manchego).

Varieties

Queso manchego has a variety of different flavours depending on its age:

• Fresco: fresh cheese is aged for 2 weeks. It has a rich but mild flavour, not a true queso manchego due to its lack of ageing. Produced in small quantities, it is rarely found outside Spain.
• Semicurado: semifirm, semicured cheese aged for 3 weeks to 3–4 months, somewhat milder than curado.
• Curado: semifirm cured cheese aged for 3–6 months with a caramel and nutty flavour.
• Viejo: aged for 1–2 years, firm with a sharper flavour the longer it is aged; it has a rich, deep pepperiness to it. It grates well, but can also be eaten on its own or on tapas.

Americas

North America

In Mexico and Spanish-speaking areas of the United States, manchego or queso tipo manchego (manchego-type cheese) is the name given to an industrialized cow's milk cheese similar in taste to Monterey Jack. |access-date=19 September 2017

Central America

In Costa Rica, three companies (Dos Pinos, Los Alpes, and Monteverde) produce a manchego-type cheese (queso tipo manchego), which can come with a drawing of Don Quijote on the labels. One company also makes a manchego-type cheese with basil added. These Costa Rican cheeses can come dipped in paraffin wax, and some have the pleita pattern pressed on the side.

References

References

1. "Manchego Cheese Substitutes".
2. (8 March 2022). "Spanish Club Blog - Manchego Cheese: All About It".
3. Craddock, Kat. "An Introduction to Manchego-Style Cheese".
4. "Manchego".
5. Keenan, Tia. (February 2016). "Manchego: Surviving The Test Of Time".
6. "How Does Manchego Cheese Change With Age?".
7. Spanish-Cheese.co.uk – [http://www.spanish-cheese.co.uk/types_of_spanish_cheese.html Types of Spanish Cheese (Queso)] {{Webarchive. link. (8 January 2012)
8. (January 2025). ["Los Alpes website"](http://www.losalpesquesos.com/productos/maduros.htm }}{{Dead link).
9. "Don Quijote Semi-cured, Wheel 3 kg". Lactalis Iberia Export.