Christmas Cheese Balls

This Christmas time we offer you a recipe to prepare a cold-snack dish with cheese that everyone will love.

The cheese ball is traditional for this time of the year and it´s also very easy to make.

Source: Chris Buecheler in Flickr

INGREDIENTS

• 2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened.
• 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded sharp cheese, Golden Label (Gold Medall of World Cheese Awards 2010)
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped onion.
• 1 tablespoon diced Green peppers.
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce.
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice.
• Chopped toasted pecans (as much as you want).
• Chopped toasted almonds (ídem).
• Finely chopped dehydrated pineapple or apricot.
• Assorted crackers.

DIRECTIONS

In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients but the pecans, almonds and fruits. Shape into three balls. If you see them too little you can just shape them into two or add more quantity of all the ingredients.

Once everything is well mixed, roll each ball in the pecans, almonds or fruits. Make sure the cheese ball is well covered and let it chill.

Whenever you want to serve the balls, we suggest you to remove them from the refrigerator 15 minutes before.

Serve with crackers and enjoy!

On Christmas time we don´t forget about you and would like you to don´t forget about us. Let´s share the same table and have us with you. It´s easy through our online store or web.

MERRY CHEESEMAS!

WORLD CHEESE AWARDS 2012

Source: BBC Good Foof Show

For the first time in history a cheese from Aragon, Spain has been selected as one of the TOP 16 Best Cheeses in the World. That happened in the annual and international contest celebrated in Birmingham (UK) the last November 28th.

More tan 3000 cheeses from 33 different countries have come to this last edition of 2012.

Joaquin Alpuente and Alberto Asensio pose with the winner cheeses.

One more year, we come back home with more prizes and recognitions to our job. It makes us really happy to know that our daily effort is reflected on the quality of what we produce, which is appreciated by the best cheese experts in the world.

This way we want to let all the people know that any time they tasted or bought one of our cheeses, they were bringing the best quality to their homes. This fact fulfil us with joy and we can´t do another thing other than celebrating and sharing our happiness with you.

The kinds of cheese awarded this year were:

• One SuperGold medal for the soft Blue Label Cheese. It was in the TOP 16 previously mentioned.

Under the category Ewes Milk 51

• One Gold medal for our delicious Wine Cheese.

We present here the sign of the Super Golds Top 16 that´s on the website of the WORLD CHEESE AWARDS.

Cheeses Sierra de Albarracín keeps on celebrating awards, but what´s most important, we celebrate a constant increasing of the sales since 2 years ago, when we won the first  gold medal in the WCA 2010.

Twelve hardworking people make this dream possible in spite of the Spanish crisis and we grow together with our clients needs.

Our sales forecast for 2013 tells us that we will reach our break even point. That is a production of 70.000 Kilos (155.000 lb) from which a 20% goes to foreign markets: United Kingdom, Japan, Holland, etc.

Thank you very much for being there and specially for sharing our happiness.

We are waiting for you in Albarracín and also in our website.

Cooper´s Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake Festival

Source: Wikipedia

As cheese lovers, we can´t let pass the chance to talk about a festival that occurs in UK every Summer; The Cooper´s Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake Festival, in Gloucestershire.

As its very own name says, it´s all about a race down the hill in which the people chase after a big cheese that has been also sent down the hill just one second before. The prize will be the very same cheese that the fastest racer gets to take.

Source: Wikipedia

It sounds fun, but it´s also hard since finishing this peculiar race with no harm is practically impossible.

The Cooper´s hill is so steep that the cheese (7 lb) reaches a speed of around 65 mi. per hour. It becomes a real danger if anyone gets in its way and it has been since 20 years ago the same kind from the same local artisan; a double Gloucester cheese.

There are several races along the day; 4 or 5 down the hill and other 4 or 5 up the hill. Is in these last ones when children under 12 can take part in the “game”.

At the lower slope there are catchers, strong men who are in charge of grasp and stop the participants with too much inertia. You can also find ambulances and health workers to assist the injured people.

Some of the injured get to cross the winning post the first, but they end up so tired and with so many bruises that they can´t even rise the cheese they´ve just won.

Anyway, what´s sure is that all the people have lots of fun either way; participating or just watching. Is a day of joy and laughter.

What would you think if we import this celebration into our village Albarracín? We also have a great and steep hill. It´s even surrounded by the medieval wall.

Shall we start a new tradition? Which of our cheeses would we throw downhills? 

OPENING OF THE SPANISH DELICACIES BAR “TOZINO” IN LONDON

The last October 26th was the opening of the bar Tozino at the Maltby Street Market. What was at first a simple stall ofering jamon (cured ham) from Teruel (Spain) freshly cut, our cheese from Albarracín, etc.. has now become a specialized Spanish bodega. 

There you won´t only just be able to taste their delicacies, such as jamon, cheese, truffle, cold meat, etc.. but also to buy them!!

Tozino has been growing along the years, thanks to Chuse and Zac, in the gastronomic panorama of London. They cut jamon for special events like, for example, the Tapas Fantásticas, or the World´s50 best restaurants or even for the Spanish athletes during the Olympic Games this last summer. They do it also for restaurants: Boqueria, in Brixton and Zorita´s Kitchen).

They now bring to the English public, special delicacies from Spain (cheese, cold meat, wine, saffron, truffles and tinned food).

Don´t miss the chance to visit the only one BODEGA at the Maltby Street Market (Bermondsey). It´s open every Saturday from 9am to 4pm.

Here are some more pictures of the great opening.

We remind you that, either in Tozino Bar or via online, you can buy our products and enjoy all the variety that we can offer: wine cheese, rosemary cheese and cheese in oil are some of our gourmet delicacies.

Enjoy!

Spanish Snack Board. Surprise your guests!

It´s Friday afternoon and you have some friends coming home by surprise… WHAT TO DO NOW? You can amaze them with a simple but delicious board with some of the most typical snacks from Spain.

Easy, classy and yummy!

What are the ingredients that we´ll need?

The Spanish snacking culture or “tapeo” is based on 4 main pillars. These are; cold meat, cheese, bread & wine.

From here your imagination has no limit, but sometimes the simpler, the better a snack board will be.

We propose the following one:

• Cold meat:
• Spanish “jamón” (cured ham) must never be missing.
• “Chorizo” (hard pork sausage).
• “Salchichón” (salami-type cured sausage).
• Cheese: all kinds of cheese can be used. A number of 4-6 different types would be great. We recommend start eating the softest one. From there keep on tasting a stronger cheese than the previous one. This way people can fully enjoy the flavour of each cheese.
• Bread & Wine – Wine & Bread: The order is not important because both are the perfect and irreplaceable accompaniments. They will be the finishing touch of a perfect cycle of Spanish gastronomy.
• You can also add some nuts and quince jelly to surpass the senses, but that´s an option.

Source: Flickr of Gonmi 

There is one last ingredient that will turn this simple dish into the perfect one in your house: a good conversation with good friends. It makes everything ten times better.

Our cheese offer comprises many different kinds; from creamy to hard ewe cheese, going through goat cheese, wine cheese and more. All of them are rich in flavour and texture.

We encourage you to visit our website and see the entire world that surrounds the production of our cheese. Then you will understand why we are so proud of what we do and also of how we do it.

ENJOY!

Autumn Stockbreeding Fair of Biescas, Huesca, Pyrenees (October 2012)

As every year at the end of October, a very interesting Fair takes place in the beautiful village of Biescas. Located in the Pyrenees and surrounded by the most beautiful mountain landscape (Huesca Spanish province).

This weekend the Autumn Fair, which is always growing bigger and better, is one more year going to be full of activities such as different cattle shows, traditional games exhibition, mushroom tasting, veal tasting, etc. Among these activities, our cheese from Albarracín will be taking part of the IX Autumn Cheese Contest. (Cross your fingers for us).

As novelty of this year, there will be a new big top where the cheese and wine producers will be offering their own delicacies. The big top will be divided by two parts; one commercial and one for tasting and voting for the best Autumn cheese. There you will be able to taste some of our well known and award winners cheeses: Black Label, Green Label, Gold Label and more…

We recommend a little visit at least one day, you won´t regret being surrounded by all the stockbreeding environment together with other cultural activities: Photography contest, Gorriti festival, a puppeteer show of Binéfar and the previously mentioned tastings.

It´s a Fair made for all kinds of audience. ¡Come and check it out yourself!

Original Spanish Potato Tortilla with a twist (cheese & bacon)

This recipe is little different from the authentic Spanish Tortilla most of us already know. You can add practically any tasty ingredient to give it a nice twist: red or green paprika, carrots, tomato, spanish Jamon/Ham, etc. This time we added our 9 months cured rawmilk variety from Sierra de Albarracín® “Black Label” and some bacon to add some deeper flavours to the tortilla.

Ingredients:

-Eggs 4-6

-Salt

-Potatoes, 3-4 medium sized

-Raw milk (unpasteurized) Sheep´s Cheese, in this case we used our “Black Label”

-Bacon

-Olive Oil

Preparation:

After peeling, cut the potatoes into randomly sized slices (usually around 1-2 mm thick). Fry the potato slices in olive oil and take them out of the pan before they are done/coloured, leave them in a heat restistant bowl and put aside. With the oil still hot, add the bacon and fry untill they´re almost crispy. In the meantime you can stir up the eggs by hand inside a small bowl, add some salt, but remember the cheese already contains salt so don`t add too much. When the bacon is nicely coloured and almost crispy, take them out of the pan and add them into the bowl with the tortilla slices. Now you can add some cubes of cheese and mix everything together with the previously stirred eggs.

Use a non stick pan with a little bit of oil, when hot add the contents of the bowl and wait for the eggs to set up, to avoid any burning lower the heat of the stove. As soon as you notice the eggs are set, we get to the trickiest part of the process: turn the tortilla over while using a big plate/pan cover or -optionally- a special “tortilla turner”.

Enjoy! This recipe made exclusively for “Cheeses from the Sierra de Albarracín” by www.recetaycocina.com

Sirloin au Fromage

6 servings

Ingredients

• 6 pork sirloin medallions
• 7 oz. Cheese from Albarracín (either blue or golden Labels) 
• 6 rashers (of bacon)
• 1 medium size onion
• 12 or 18 wild asparagus
• 1 leek (just the White part)
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1.7 oz. Brandy
• 14 oz. milk
• 1.7 oz. olive oil or butter
• Salt and pepper

Directions

Wrap the sirloin medallions with the rashers up. We recommend holding the rashers with a toothpick to make sure they stay covering the medallions. Fry them on a pan with some oil or butter. Once they are fried keep them in the oven to keep the warmth.

Using the same oil/butter, fry also the onion, leek, garlic and a couple of asparagus. All of them diced. When they start to brown add the milk, Cheese from Albarracín and Brandy. Season it with the salt and pepper and keep cooking until getting a dense sauce.

Pour the sauce over the medallions, fry the rest of asparagus apart and place them on top of everything. If wanted, cook some mashed potatoes to serve as accompaniment.

BON APPÉTIT!

"Rioja Tapas Fantasticas 2012" celebrated next month in London

London’s award winning celebration of Rioja wine and Spanish food is back! And so are our award winning cheeses from Albarracín! Our U.K. based distributor "Tozino Ldt." will participate -same as last year- with their own tapas stand at the "Tapas Fantasticas 2012" festival.

"Slices of Heaven" accompanied by toasted tomato bread ("pan con tomate") prepared by Tozino Ltd. 

Tozino is a London based Spanish food importer specialized in Spanish hams and totally dedicated to the art of carving ham. They have a stall at Maltby Street Market selling some of Spain´s best artisan produce: Jamon de Teruel from Aragon or delicious acorn fed Jamon Iberico from Los Pedroches in Cordoba and of course our award winning cheese from Sierra de Albarracín accompanied by great Rioja wines.

Tozino´s stall at Maltby Street Market (April 2012)

The South Bank of the Thames will be taking on a flavour of Spain’s most famous wine region as Rioja Tapas Fantasticas returns for two days on Saturday 14^th and Sunday 15^thJuly 2012.  The free event will be held at the same fantastic venue as last year – Potters Fields Park – so grab your friends, come down and enjoy the food, drink and entertainment. 

Visit Teruel, Discover Albarracín And Join Us At La Quesería

Mudejar style in Teruel, the most typical and famous.

Teruel is a legendary city thanks to the famous story of the lovers of Teruel, it´s full of charming corners like the central Plaza del Torico, the aqueduct of the arches and the popular Paseo del Óvalo.

Aqueduct in Teruel

From the earliest times, several prehistoric and Iberian civilizations settled in the area of Teruel. Reaching the highest prosperity during the Middle Age, a wall was built around its perimeter to separate its Christian land from the Muslim kingdom of Valencia, right next to it.

Plaza del Torico

It was precisely this Islamic influence that left in Teruel and Aragon the most important Mudejar monuments of Spain. It´s a fusion of Gothic with Muslim architectural elements that make this style unique around the world.

Thanks to its history, Teruel is full of little charming streets to visit and wonderful museums, such as the Diocesan Museum of Teruel and the Provincial museum.

Near the city of Teruel are historic places and villages like Albarracín, declared a National Monument.

Albarracín was the former capital of a Moorish kingdom (Taifa), ever since it has preserved all its Islamic and mediaeval characteristics. This entire multicultural heritage brought a wide range of architectural and cultural styles and built the village as it is now; narrow, steep and unorganized streets are all around. The medieval defensive walls are much longer than the village itself. What we see today corresponds to three different periods of construction.

View of Albarracín and its wall

Albarracín also offers the opportunity to visit some museums; the Bishops Palace has a Diocesan Museum (Santa María Foundation) attached to it with a good collection of Flemish tapestries. Other museums that you should not miss are the museum of Albarracín, the Museum of theironworks and there is even a Toy Museum, all of them are places of great interest.

If after touring the whole day you still have strength enough to walk around a little more, we encourage you to go to any of the bars or restaurants in Albarracín and enjoy with a piece of the best cheese of the region; Cheese from Albarracín (Queso de la Sierra de Albarracín) accompanied with a revitalizing glass of wine. The fine texture and delicious flavour of our cheeses will help you out to recover some energy and it will be the best end of a journey that a person could ever have.
Surrounded by all this ancient heritage, La Quesería de Albarracín could not find a better environment to produce its cheeses, from taking care of its own ewe to the final process of tagging the cheeses; all respecting the artisan way of centuries of cheese culture.

Come visit us and enjoy all that Teruel, Albarracín and us can offer to you! Beautiful views and places and, of course, delicious food, specially jamón (Spanish ham) and our cheese.