Spanish cheese and ham recognised on world food stage
It’s not only the population of Spain currently applauding the quality of the county’s cheese and ham produce, as some prize varieties have recently received international recognition from official international organisations. These standard food staples are a main part of traditional Spanish cuisine, and particularly so in a region like Andalucía, where they appear throughout the Mediterranean diet prepared and consumed in the area.
At the World Cheese Awards Spanish cheesemakers found themselves appearing three times in the top 15 out of a total of over 3,500 entries. The event has been bringing together the main players in global cheese production for over three decades and this year the festival was held in Bergen, Norway. A panel of producers, retailers, consumers and industry commentators judged a record breaking number of entries from 29 nations and Spain achieved great success with the following cheeses:
● Majorero PDO – Maxorata Semicurado by Paprika Grupo Ganaderos de Fuerteventura (maxorata.es)
● La Reserva Mixed Milk Cheese Aged by Queserías Entrepinares (entrepinares.es)
● Formatge Madurat by Formatges Mas El Garet (formatgesmaselgaret.com)
Meanwhile, over at the organic food oscars: the Biofach in Nuremberg, Germany, a Spanish ham was recognised as the best ecological product available on the world food market today! The fine quality ham is created from the Manchado of Jabugo pig is also considered to be the most expensive ham in the world, selling at 4,100 euros a leg, and its quality is the result of years of patient and passionate farming practices.
For residents and visitors to Marbella who might not have the opportunity to experience the taste of these award winning items, there is a great variety of quality hams and cheeses to choose from in the province of Málaga alone.
Cheeses and Hams from Málaga—three of the best
● Blanca Serrana: a cheese made from the milk of Málaga goats that live in the Sierra del Villa and feed on wild acorns and grasses in the countryside
● El Pastor del Valle: a soft, pleasant goat’s cheese cured to perfection
● Jamón Ibérico de Bellota: one of the great gourmet foods from the area, derived from acorn-fed Iberian pigs
Below a video of when our team visited Quesos Sierra Crestellina in Casares and learned how to make goat cheese