Galician Cheeses
There are many great Galician cheeses:
We will try to list some of the best known amongst them:
Arzúa – Ulloa Cheese:
Possibly the best known in Galicia where it is very popular. But not outside of Galicia. It is produced within 24 municipalities. It is so popular that two festivals per year are held with it. Made exclusively from cow’s milk.
Tetilla:
Impossible to confuse with others due to its shape, similar to a womans breast. Possibly the most popular Galician cheese with over 40 producers. Its flavour is milky with a very slight salty taste and its texture is suave and creamy. Only from cows milk.
San Simon da Costa:
Similar to the tetilla, with a smoky taste. It has received many international prizes. Only from cows milk.
Cebreiro:
It is Galician fresh cheese also made from cows’ milk. But the least like the other three already named. Its interior is grainy and its aroma is similar to cow yogurt.
Touza Vella:
From the area of the Ribeira Sacra it is made from semi cured goat’s milk. Very distinctive taste and natural aroma matured for two months.
It has gained prizes in the WCA (World Cheese Awards) Bronze and Silver
O Rexo:
Very buttery taste from Allariz from sheep’s milk, The sheep pasture all year round alongside the river Arnoia. The cheeses are changed position every 24 hours. The makers have an ecospace.
Marianne:
Marianne is a cheese made from fresh cow’s milk matured in hay and rennet for three months, very similar to Swiss Emental. Completely very elastic feel and intensive aroma.
Galmesano:
El queso Galmesano is a cheese made from a cooked paste elaborated from pasteurized cow’s milk, With a brittle feeling when cut similar to the traditional Italian cheeses.
Xiros:
With a strong aroma and taste, also done with fresh cow’s milk and with a mouldy crust. It is made with cow’s milk from animals that are out in the pasture all year round.
The dairy is next door to the farm itself. And everything is done by hand.
As said before there are well over 100 commercial cheeses in Galicia and at the same time many farms make small quantities for sale at local markets. So the number is incalculable.
