Claudia Romeo: Manchego cheese is made in a part of Spain
that is called La Mancha, which is just south of Madrid,
and today we're in Campo de Montiel,
which is a region in La Mancha.
We're going to visit La Granja, which is a farm here
that's been doing the cheese for over 200 years.
We're going to learn about its history and making process
and find out why it is Spain's most popular cheese
as well as what makes it different
from other cheeses in the world that bear the same name.
Evidence of cheesemaking in La Mancha region
dates to the Bronze Age.
But cheese is not the only thing this region is known for.
In the 17th century,
novelist Miguel de Cervantes brought the region to fame
narrating the adventures of knight-errant
"Don Quijote de la Mancha,"
which is the second most-translated book in the world,
after the Bible.
Within the region, manchego cheese is made
in the provinces of Toledo, Cuenca,
Ciudad Real, and Albacete.
Claudia: Finca La Granja is a fifth-generation
family farm that's been making the cheese
since the 19th century.
Claudia: The dairy makes about 65 wheels
of manchego cheese per day.
The cheese is made with milk from the previous evening
and morning milk that's fresh.
Claudia: The mold is very important
because it is what actually gives the cheese
its signature pattern.
It's all printed inside.
And then, after being placed into molds,
the cheese is placed into a press...
and it's pressed for about four hours.
And after these four hours,
it's gonna be moved to brines.
Each wheel is labeled with a unique plaque of milk protein.
In the past, manchego cheese
used to be shaped in these baskets
made of esparto grass.
Claudia: After the wheels are taken out of the brines,
they are placed in a drying room.
As you can see behind me,
we have different blocks of cheese.
We have, just here on my right,
the ones that were made just yesterday,
and then, going forward, we have two days ago,
three days ago, four days ago,
up until one month.
Claudia: Manchego cheese matures for at least two months.
Cheese that matures from two to six months
is called semicurado, and it becomes curado
when the maturation exceeds six months.
Claudia: So, next to me is a 5-month-old manchego cheese.
This one is semihard,
semicurado, they say in Spanish.
And we got some slices that Gabriel has got for us.
Smells very nice.
Throughout my cheese journey I learned to become a fan
of raw-milk cheese [laughs],
so I actually have high expectation for this one.
So nice.
It's very good.
I like it. It's got some, like, tangy aftertaste.
I think that is because it's been aged
for more than the two months that is the minimum.
It's very good. You taste the raw milk.
You can taste that this comes from sheep's milk,
and it's not cow's milk,
and it has a different texture as well, in your mouth.
And...
I like it; it's somewhere in between crumbly
and a bit buttery,
so you get both of them, depending on, you know,
when you actually bite into it and when you chew it.
Again, the fact that this one
has matured more than the minimum has made it better.
Despite the fact that the cheese takes its name
from the Spanish region where it originated,
other Spanish-speaking countries
call their cheeses manchego.
So what is the difference?
When the Spanish conquistadors landed in Mexico,
they brought with them the art of cheesemaking,
manchego cheese included.
Today, Mexican manchego shares very little
with its Spanish namesake, as it is made with cow's milk
and is usually matured for a shorter time.
But Spanish cheesemakers are not happy
to share their cheese's name with others.
Within the EU, Spanish manchego cheese
is protected by the Protected Designation of Origin status,
which prevents cheeses not from La Mancha
from being called manchego.
In April 2018, a new trade deal with Mexico
granted the EU exclusive rights for 340 products
with a geographical indication,
but excluded Spanish manchego.
So at this stage, the two cheeses coexist,
and the row is sure to be continued.