Manchego - a new cheese plate favourite

Last week when a friend put out a request over Facebook for a cheese suggestion to bring to a wine and cheese party, I quickly chimed and suggested Manchego. Turns out, I wasn’t the only one to suggest it, in fact, two other people made the same recommendation.

I have to say I was pleased to see the surgence in popularity for this Spanish cheese that I discovered during a visit to one of my favourite cheese places in Toronto. Maybe it’s the growing popularity of tapas in the city, where Manchego is served up with a ‘dulce de membrillo’ (a quince paste, another Spanish delicacy), that has made this cheese climb the culinary social ladder.

Regardless, it’s one you’ll want to get familiar with, and not just so that when it makes an appearance on a cheese plate you can wow your friends with your knowledge of international dairy products. It is a tasty nutty flavoured hard, ripened cheese that makes a tasty addition to a Spanish inspired antipasto plate-- try pairing it with some Serrano ham and almonds-- or is just great on its own, with a light drizzle of honey, or a side of fruit.

True Manchego is only made in ‘La Mancha’ region of Spain, from the milk of sheep pastured on the plateau that sits 600 metres above sea level. Like many European products, it is a protected appelation, meaning that only cheese created in that specific region, made in the same traditional fashion can be called Manchego. It is distinctive in that the outside rind is quite dark, almost black, and bears a crisscross pattern, as defined by the grass molds that are used to hold the cheese in the ripening process. The history of this cheese is rich, and is recorded, even in popular culture as early as the early 1600s. Dubbed the cheese of Don Quixote, the cheese is mentioned by name in the classic Spanish novel by Miguel Cervantes Don Quixote de la Mancha. The area has demarquated a “Don Quixote Trail” that traces the travel of this knight in the novel, along the way, you’ll see a tribute to some of the areas other agricultural contributions in the form of ancient windmills—a nod to the cereal that is grown in this grassy land.

Now, if you’re fortunate enough to be in Spain, you’ll want to try Manchego the way the locals like it, with Miel de la Alcarria, another protected designation but this time for honey made from bees that feed on the flowers of rosemary or lavender, or a combination of both. Top it all off with a glass of Riojas wine, and well, you’ve got a reason to hop on the next flight to Madrid. If you go, don’t forget to bring me back some honey, and tuck one of the area's most sought after spices—safron—in your luggage for the journey home.

Photos from top to bottom: Manchego cheese, with its trademark crisscross pattern; windmills in the La Mancha region of Spain.