Patacabra
PHOTO: FRANCESCO SAPIENZA
La Peral
PHOTO:
FOREVER
CHEESE
FALL 2021 27
Malvarosa: A remarkably beautiful
sheep cheese from the Valencia area,
the four-pound Malvarosa is shaped in
a cheesecloth bag, giving it a rounded,
domelike top with furrows from the cloth.
A modern creation developed to use the
milk of the endangered Guirra breed, the
cheese resembles Manchego but with a
more handmade appearance and a sweeter,
more buttery flavor. The interior smells
like brown butter and lemon cheesecake
with a hint of caramel, and the sweet-and-
salty finish lures tasters back for another
bite. A real crowd pleaser.
Patacabra: This washed-curd goat cheese
from the region of Aragón can be a head
turner in prime condition, with that
room-filling gym-socks aroma. Imagine
a goat Taleggio made in the shape of a
flattened five-pound log, with a semisoft,
pudgy interior. Patacabra is maddeningly
inconsistent, but it's rarely as funky as a
ripe Taleggio, with more of a lemon and
crème fraîche scent. The handsome reddish
rind is thin and crunchy, with streaks of
gray mold. The name Patacabra (literally,
goat's hoof) is a whimsical reference to the
cheese's unusual shape.
La Peral: Spain's best-known blue
cheeses—Cabrales, Picón and Valdeón—
come from the Asturias region and are
notably robust, to put it mildly. La Peral,
also from Asturias, is much more gentle,
a cow's milk blue with a dollop of sheep
cream to mellow it. Moist, even weepy, the
two-pound wheel has a bacon-like scent
and a melting texture, with none of the
pepperiness that turns some people away
from blue cheese. Still made by a single
producer, La Peral was created about a
century ago by an Asturian gentleman who
lived to 106. Perhaps this lovely cheese
confers benefits beyond flavor.
3g
Fiber
52%
Legume
Flour
5
g
Plant-Based
Protein
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Janet Fletcher writes the email newsletter
Planet Cheese and is the author of
Cheese & Wine and Cheese & Beer.
