Pairing cheese and wine

Everytime we taste a cheese think of a situable wine to accompany (at least in Spain). Nothing is so linked to tradition of cheese as wine and Spanish Ham. And seems obvious that cheese tastes better with wine. Years ago in Spain, when you went to buy a bottle of wine, was common to buy a cheese in the same store.

We’re going to propose different combinations of cheese and wine, depending on its composition, texture, age and obviously, flavour.

Normally we tend to think that a strong cured cheese goes well together with a strong and potent wine. Not true! A general rule we can follow (contrary to popular belief) is always offset a sharp cheese with sweet or aromatic wine. As well, is really good to pair acid and fresh wines with fatty cheeses.

Here we go!

• Sharp cheese (old Gouda, Parmeggiano, ‘Bajoragon’ aged cheese): Syrah and Zinfandel red, strong bouquet and sometimes smoked.

• Aged or cured sheep cheese (Zamorano ‘Pago Los Vivales’ Curado): Oporto Tawny, if we want a white, Gewurztraminer, low acidity and extremely aromatic. Regarding reds, Syrah or maybe Merlot, very aromatic.

• Mild sheep cheese (‘Don Luis’ rosemary): Pinot Noir, no tannin and aromatic. With really smooth cheeses, even a Riesling, a bit of acidity and very aromatic. You can choose Gramona Riesling.

• Semi-hard cheeses or not excessively strong (Brie, Tetilla, Idiazabal, Emmental, Semi-hard ‘Rubielos’): Tempranillo, as Pago de los Capellanes 2007.

• Fresh cheese (Arla Avarti): Champange, Spanish cava or Riesling, a bit of acidity and aromatic, as Gramona Brut Imperial.

• Goat cheese (Puro de Cabra ‘La Cabrita’): Sauvignon Blanc, aromatic and acidity, as Gramona Gessami.

• To all kind of cheese: if we want a grape that goes relatively well with any cheese, you can choose the Viogner, medium acidity and a great bouquet range.

That’s all! Hope to help you to enjoy this ancient tradition of pairing cheese and wine. In Spain, we always add our superb Spanish Ham, especially with our loved Jamón fromTeruel.

Bon appetit!

via @Vinnum

How to cut cheese: ways, types and tools

Cheese is one of the products we love, because is the perfect partner for the Spanish Ham (but red wine as well). As you know, there are so many varieties and sometimes is difficult to know how cut and serve each one properly.

First of all, a bit of History about cheese:

Cheese is one of the oldest foods of mankind. The ancient Greeks believed it had healing properties. Attila ate cheese made from mare’s milk. And the Romans, great cheese manufacturers, extended its consume and tradition around the Empire.

Throughout History, man had devises several ways to make cheese, different tastes and textures. Nowadays, many cheeses are made using traditional methods, but the process has been improved thanks to technical developments.

Cheese is only the remaining solid matter when you remove milk serum, by pressure or cooking. All cheeses are made from milk, whether cow, goat, sheep (really good in Spain) even donkey. You know that famous Cleopatra’s story, don’t you?

Well, and how to cut cheese?

Cheeses have different shapes and sizes, and it’s not easy to know how to cut each type. To avoid unnecessary waste and make each piece more appetizing, it’s interesting to use a proper technique for each one.

-    Soft cheeses (round or square), and the moldy, have to be cut into small pieces.

-    Cylindrical cheeses are cut in two parts.

-    Those roll or bar-shaped have to be cut into individual slices (thicker or thinner, depending on the guests).

-    If it’s a ball, first split in half, then cut a hexagonal piece, and from this you can make slices.

Ok! It seems easy. But, what about tools for cut cheese?

All cheeses can be cut with a knife (obviously), but according to their consistency and texture is more appropriate to use a special cutting tool.

-    The extra hard cheeses can’t be cut into sliced, it’s better to break them. Is necessary a small short knife. The tip should be applied to the cheese and as a lever to cut it down.

-    For cutting large cheeses is used a strand wire. First crust is marked for strand wire slides easily.

-    Moldy semi-rigid, which normally are brittle, are also cut with a strand wire. Tip: cut it right out of the fridge (the hotter, the softer).

-    To slice moldy rigid, cream or roll cheese, use the bow. In this case, the strand wire is fixed in a carrier.

-    Hard cheeses can be cut with a palette knife. But they are small normally, so if is a large cheese, use a big knife with a wide blade.

-    There are special knifes with two tips, for small pieces and soft cheeses. With this tool you can serve directly to the plate. Tip: normally dull knives cut better than the sharp. If heated slightly (eg by soaking in hot water) the blade will slide by the cheese as it was butter.

-    The ‘girolle’ is a tool with a wood round base and a blade attached to a shaft at its top, which allows to make rosette-shape pieces.

-     Graters are useful for skim hard and extra hard cheeses. For rigid is better to use small holes graters, to make thin strips. For semi-rigid is more appropriate to use large holes graters, resulting larger cheese strips. To grate cheese, electric grinders can also be used.

 We hope have helped you to know more about cheese. We recommend one of the best Spanish cheeses: Pago LosVivales. Cheeses of sheep milk, from tender to very cured, they are a tasty and really high quality delicacy. Remember: you can eat just cheese, or with Spanish Ham and a good red wine. 

Serrano Ham with Crusty Tomato Bread

This is one of the most typical tapas in Spain. Sweet tomato with a little bit of garlic, all spread on bread is perfect for some slices of Spanish Jamon. Let's see how to prepare it, it´s so easy! 

INGREDIENTS (for 12 servings)

• 12 plum tomatoes (they are called 'plum' beacuse this type of tomato is smaller and has less water. Kind of dry. But you can use any type of tomato)
• 2 teaspoons oregano
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 spoons garlic oil (oil has been infused with fresh garlic)
• 1 whole-grain baguette (cut in 24 slices)
• 6 ounces thin sliced Spanish Ham (for expample: Jamon from Teruel, really fantastic!)

PREPARATION

Preheat oven to 150ºC and coat a large rimmed baking sheet with oil. Cut tomatoes in half lengthwise and place on the baking sheet. Sprinkle all with oil (extra virgin olive oil is quite better), some oregano and salt. Roast for 1 hour. When finish with the oven, coarsely chop the tomatoes and transfer to a bowl to serve (all juices included).

To serve in tapas: preheat oven to 180ºC. Place bread slices on a baking sheet and brush with garlic oil. Bake 3 minutes (maybe 4) per side. Let cool slightly. To serve, arrange bread and ham in a big plate and the bowl of tomato for spreading. Also, you can chop some garlic and spread on the tomato mixture.   

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That's all! Enjoy this delicious tapa with the best Spanish Jamon.

Types of Spanish Iberico and Serrano Ham

Jamon (Spanish for ham) Iberico or Serrano is in addition to caviar,foie and black truffles, the fourth finest and valued flavour in the world, as ensuring the best chefs and experts. The exclusivity of this food, only made in some regions of Spain, perfect because of its climate, tradition and know-how, makes it one of the most sought after and asked for. A truly gourmet delight.

But, what do we know about the different kinds of Jamon? What is exactly a Jamon Iberico or a Jamon Serrano? Well, the biggest difference is in the feeding of the animals, and the types of pigs.

Mainly we can find two breeds of pigs in Spain:

Black Iberian: This legendary and select race has many qualities, including a great capacity to accumulate fat under its skin and between the muscular fibres. This is what produces the typical white streaks that make it special. It’s the only breed used to makeIberico ham. Only in some cases, pigs grow and live freely in the dehesa (meadow), where they can run and do exercise, what is perfect for the hams.

White pig: is a cross between Large White and Landrace (mother side) and Duroc breed (father side). These races allow to obtaining quality hams with low levels of dietary cholesterol (high in unsaturated fats and low in saturated fat). It’s used to make Serrano ham.

So, from the back leg of a Black Iberian pig we can make:

-        Jamon Iberico de Bellota(Spanish for acorn): is the top grade of Spanish ham. Bellota means that the pig has been fed exclusively on a diet of acorns and herbs. This feeding gives the hams a very rich flavour and smooth texture. These hams need to be cured for at least 24 months. The world most famous brand is Joselito.

-        Jamon Iberico de Recebo: the pig has been fed a mixed diet including both acorns and compound feed (cereals mainly). The hams take some flavour of the acorn, but with less intensity.

-        Jamon Iberico de Cebo: pigs raised in a compound feed diet. Anyway, the breed makes an excellent ham even without the acorn diet, with a very smooth texture and good flavour.  

And from the back leg of a White Spanish pig we can make:

-          Jamon Serrano: this indicates that the pig has grown (and the ham has been made) in a mountain range, so is used to indicate a wide range of hams. The salting and curing process is the same as for the Iberico ham, but usually for less time. Flavours range from mild and full flavoured, excellent as well. Jamon Serrano is the staple of most Spanish families and restaurants and accounts for 90% of ham production in Spain.

-          Jamon from Teruel: this refers to a PDO (Protected Designation of Origin by EU Authorities) type of ham made exclusively in Teruel, a region with perfect conditions, including climate, for raising pigs and curing process. Jamon from this area has an special flavour, highly valued and appreciated by top Spanish chefs, who often use it in their recipes and restaurants. PDO Council lays down rules that ensure the high quality of this ham. There are really strict rules for growth and feeding pigs, for the curing process, even for the altitude (800 m.a.s.l.) and the geographical area at which the hams are to be made. There are many brands and small companies of Jamon from Teruel, but undoubtedly, the most recognized for its quality and special flavour is Antonio Mata.

And what is a Paleta? Simple: a Jamon is made from the back leg of a pig. The Paleta or Paletilla is made from the front leg (shoulder cut). Obviously the Jamon has more meat than the Paleta because the size difference, as it’s smaller (but less expensive).

We hope helped to tell the different types of Jamon and its qualities for your next purchase. 

Spanish foods: Cheese from Zamora

Spain has a long tradition of producing cheese. Many cheeses are made in Spain, some of them are internationally renowned, and also there are many PDO. Throughout the entire country there is a wide variety of cheeses made from the milk of cows, goats and sheep. Some of them are manufactured from single types of milk of sheep, goat or cow and a few are mixtures of different milks.

There is a huge variation in the presentation of the cheeses, from the hard, dark-skinned, to the soft, small and tender. The cheeses are made in a wide variety of styles including fresh, matured, semi-matured, and from different types of milk such as pasteurised, unpasteurised or creamy. Therefore, some of them are inoculated with moulds to make blue varieties.

We are going to analyze and describe some characteristics of each producing area in different posts, but today we want to talk about Cheese from Castilla y Leon, the largest region of Spain.

Castilla y Leon is one of the oldest regions of Spain, as it was from where it started the Spanish reconquest in the Middle Ages. Many products are made on the traditional way. Its cuisine is based on roast and cooked meats, most notably roast lamb, black pudding (morcilla), legumes, the humble and great garlic soup, and red, rosé, claret and white PDO wines.

But definitely, there are two notably foods in this area: Jamon and Cheese. Specifically cheese from Zamora, a province of Castilla y Leon, is really known. This is a hard cheese which is typically aged about alt least 6 months. The cheeses are turned often and rubbed with olive oil, giving the cheese its characteristic dark colour. The secret of its flavour is the breed of sheep, the ‘Churra’: small, scruffy and predominant Castilian sheep.

The cheese is hard and nutty, but creamy, sweet and savory flavour. Some of them are a bit spicy. So similar to the famous Manchego cheese, its shape is cylindrical with a distinctive zig zag pattern.

Chesees from Zamora are protected and controlled by its PDO (Protected Designation of Origin by the EU) which specifies its production, ingredients, and maturation.

One of the best brands ofcheese from Zamorais Pago Los Vivales. The make 4 different types of cheese:

Blue Label – Fresh: short maturation, milk-white colour.

Green Label – Semi-matured: melting in the mouth. From 3 to 5 months of curing process.

Black Label – Matured: thick and bit dry, but pleasant flavour, its colour is ivory-white. The curing process takes from 7 to 9 months.

Burgundy label – Aged or Reserva: honey colour, stong and aromatic, reminiscent of sheeps flavour. More than 11 months of maturation.

Cheese in Spain is served sliced as a tapa, usually together with Jamon, sausages and other cold meats. But it’s quite ordinary to see a group of friends sitting at the table and tasting different kids of cheese. The Spanish are really good cheese producers, one of our greatest treasures indeed. But above all, we are excellent tasters not only of Spanish cheese, but of the whole world.

In the coming weeks, we will continue talking about cheeses from other parts of Spain, as Manchego, Spanish most valued cheese.