Due to the growing reputation of Aragonese cheeses in Spain and internationally, the tv program "Objetivo" (Aragón TV) returned to our Dairy to record a report highlighting the role of the Sierra de Albarracín in this international recognition with our latest and successful innovation "La Cava de Mia" while obtaining the title of The Most Awarded Dairy in Spain at the World Cheese Awards 2016-2017.
"A family project with own livestock that since last year has a public facility."
Sara Narro, communication manager of Sierra de Albarracín Cheese, welcomes the TV program team inside La Cava de Mía.
"This is La Cava de Mía, inside the Cheese Shop Sierra de Albarracín. It's a cheese refining cellar. Refining a product is to give it the touch of perfection and here is what we do in this kind of cave using the ultimate technology to generate the conditions of natural cave. So we can control the temperature and aeration humidity."
The final result, which can be appreciated with the senses, is confirmed by Alberto Asensio, Dairy's manager with one of the cheeses born from this Spanish gourmet innovation. "One of the aspects to be evaluated in any tasting is that external format. Immediately after, its cut begins to speak of this product. This cheese aurea clearly defines the crust matured in a highly humid environment above 90 percent practically all weeks, two and a half months or two weeks, three months maximum. This 750 grams format is how we get the optimum timing."
To conclude the visit, Objetivo underlines our commitment to a different product that is added to the wide range of Cheeses Sierra de Albarracin exported to countries like Japan or Qatar.
"La Cava de Mia" the first cheese ripening cellar, unique in its kind, was presented on July 6th to the press, collaborators and friends of Cheeses Sierra de Albarracín.
Coinciding with our tenth anniversary, we decided to build this limestone cellar obtained from its environment which reproduces the conditions of a natural cave but having the latest technology. This allows a maximum control of temperature, humidity and aeration, favoring the implementation of a unique and exclusive flora cheeses, consisting of mildew (Penicillium candidum), yeasts,... which gives them their own personalitys as they mature on wooden shelves (sabina).
The human factor plays a fundamental role, as the cheeses are turned daily and changed of place periodically, in order to ensure a higher homogeneity in each shipment.
"La Cava de Mia" has a production capacity of 6,000 kilos per year of these sheep milk cheeses produced exclusively from the cattle owned by the Dairy and processed according to strict guidelines about food and hygiene.
Here is where our two new gastronomic treasures under this brand will be refined:
- Soft cheese with four weeks of maturation (150g).
- Pressed cheese with three months of maturation (750g).
Two new cheeses in which we have been working for a long time performing tests with different formats and textures, with different ripening times and observing the possibilities offered by these exclusive facilities.
Maturing cheese with organoleptic high-tech needs to have a good quality milk and follow a methodology and appropriate protocol to ensure the safety and wholesomeness of the final product. Thus, cheeses refined in "La Cava Mia" are unique products which have unique and unrepeatable textures and flavors.
"La Cava de Mia" comes from a complex project that began a year ago, with the idea of creating a place for cheeses which could mature in the same way as they have done since time immemorial: in contact with nature. The goal is to produce cheese with increasing quality and greater recognition, without losing the artisan value as differential element of our cheeses. Under these assumptions we decided to build "La Cava de Mia", a unique space within the Quesería in Albarracín becoming the first cheese refining cave in Spain.
"La Cava Mia" is a tribute to the tradition and culture of the environment, as it's represented by a symbol extracted from a cave painting in Pinares del Rodeno, which provided food and shelter for man for centuries. At the same time, it takes the name of the daughter of Alberto Asensio, director of Quesos Sierra de Albarracin, as her birth gift.
The opening of "La Cava Mia"
Its inauguration took place on July 6 in the presence of the Quesos Sierra de Albarracín team, headed by Alberto Asensio, as well as reference journalists in the Aragonese gastronomy, project collaborators, friends and prescribers.
Our sincere thanks to the sponsors of this special event: Antonio Jimenez, Managing Director of the Santa María de Albarracín Foundation and Maria Jose Meda, Michelin star chef of "Hospedería El Batan".
After the emotional welcome, we visited the cheese factory where Alberto Asensio explained in detail all the production stages while the smell of cheese wheted the appetite of the attendees.
Then, in small groups, the attendees could enter into the cave and learn about the maturation process of these new cheeses. José Luis Martin, Master Refiner and Collaborator, explained the highlights of "La Cava de Mia". (check out the video above)
Finally, the most awaited moment came: the tasting of the first soft and pressed cheeses "La Cava de Mia". A cheese tasting guided by José Luis, brilliantly to not miss a single nuance.
The private lunch celebration took place in the restaurant "Tiempo de Ensueño", owned by Chef Maria Jose Meda and Sebastian Rosello in Albarracin, where we enjoyed a delicious menu with great presence of other concerning products and ingredients from Aragon. Amazing.
After a morning full of gastronomic pleasures, nothing better than ending the day with the great Albarracín Cathedral, when the Foundation celebrates its 20th anniversary.
We are excited to announce that next July 6 our new cheese "La Cava de Mia" will be introduced, the great newness and pride from the Sierra de Albarracin Dairy. A Spanish gourmet sheep's cheese differentiated and exclusive because its maturation: in a natural stone cellar on savin wood shelves and under conditions that facilitate the cultivation and growth of a specific mildew (penicidium candidum).
Alberto Asensio, director of Quesos Sierra de Albarracinwhich celebrates its 10th anniversary, will welcome the guests at the Cheese Factory. Here we will pay attention to the interventions of Jose Luis Martin, an expert cheese refiner and project collaborator, and Antonio Jimenez, managing director of the Santa Maria de Albarracin Foundation.
At 12:30 we will visit the facilities and the official opening of La Cava de Mia, unique in Spain as cheese ripening cellar. Here's when we can enjoy the first taste of cheeses made in the Cava. A smooth and creamy texture with the aromas and flavors provided by its natural cave, and the very intensity of our raw sheep's milk.
The lunch will take place at the restaurant "Tiempo de Ensueño", owned by Maria Jose Meda and Sebastian Rosello, who also manage the "Hospedería El Batan" in Tramacastilla, awarded with a Michelin star.
Photo: Sara Gimeno
A special day like this must end the same way: with an exclusive private tour at 17:15 to the Cathedral of Albarracín, before its pending opening for September this year when the Foundation celebrates its 20th anniversary.
We look forward to sharing with you this new Spanish gastronomic treasure in which such dedication and enthusiasm were placed. These cheeses "La Cava de Mia" assume a new life for Quesos Sierra de Albarracin and we invite you to join it.
Paint a circle in the
centre of the plate where the salad will be served with the balsamic vinegar
reduction and place the cream cheese from Albarracin inside the circle.
Now, place a line of
lettuce over the cream cheese from Albarracin.
Then, place the anchovies
over the lettuce and add some slices of hard cheese form Albarracin.
Finally, add the toasted
almonds and the raspberry that has been previously hydrated whit olive oil.Salt and pepper to taste.
We are extremely excited that Culture Magazine chose our Sierra de Albarracin Blue Label cheese as one of their best 101 cheeses of the year. 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 recipe with cheese is a great choice for a second course. The type of zucchini used (round) is not very common, but you can also do this recipe with a current long zucchini, as long as you are careful, of course. ;)
This recipe is easy and quick, with not so many ingredients; you just have to make sure that the quality of these is good enough in order to improve the flavour of the dish.
Wash the zucchini, cut the upper side and then with a spoon empty the zucchini. If it´s not rounded, cut the pieces not longer than 2.5 in. and leave as bottom around 0.2 or 0.3 in. of zucchini.
Pour some water with salt in a pot and then boil the zucchini, upper side included. Once it´s well cooked, strain and let cool down for a while.
Not long ago, the most important gastronomy fair took place in Madrid; the “Salón Gourmet 2013”(Spanish).
As you can imagine, we had to be there and so we did, to show our cheese to a very exquisite audience, among many other culinary delights, high quality ingredients and products and also the most select palates.
We went there together with a varied group of delicatessen producers from our region, Teruel and also with a little representation of our provincial government. We all had the purpose to offer the best products from our land, Teruel, to people who know much about quality products and flavours.
It was a fair that lasted 4 days (8th – 11th April) but it was never too tiring or long since it was full of new things to discover, to try and experience.
Among all the activities we found the “gourmet senses workshop”, a space in which people could play with their senses around gastronomy.
“Different tunnels, workshops and corners – for wine, bread, beer, coffee, olive oil, cheese, vegetables, fruit, etc. –come near the Senses Square, space conceived as an agora where all the activities take place” Fair´s website
Furthermore,
there was a special corner specialized on our favourite subject: cheese, the Gourmetquesos 2013.
There
people could learn thanks to the different workshops offered and related to cheese tasting. These were oriented for
both, professionals and fans of this highly valued product.
We list below the different activities
offered:
Tasting and sensory analysis workshops.
Cheese slicing art and the different utensils used.
Cheese boards preparation.
Tasting
for kids.
At
the cave of Taste, a pedagogical place where many different activities about cheese occurred, people could find
different speeches about the typology, production, service and harmonies
between cheese and many different
beverages.
In short, attending to this Gourmet Fair was a gift for the senses,
especially taste. It was a huge pleasure to find out that there was a special
interest on the world of cheese. It
was a great surprise and a new way to keep on learning with the purpose to develop
better and better.
If we couldn´t find each other at the
fair, you know that our website and
the online store will always be
opened for you. In the case you decide to go by the beautiful village Albarracín, Teruel, you´ll be able to
find us there, surrounded by both, architectural
and natural beauty.
Not long ago this information was the “trending topic” of the world of cheese; there is finally a certain evidence of the origins of cheese and an accurate date of such moment instead of the, until now, lapses taken which could include centuries or even millenniums.
We don´t know if this was the real origin of cheese, but it´s at least the earliest solid evidence of its existence. It was around 7500 years ago in a region that nowadays is Poland.
“Though there is no definitive test forcheese, we found large amounts
of fatty milk residue on the pottery shards compared to cooking or storage pots
from the same sites” said Richard Evershed at the University of Bristol.
That seems to be enough to prove that some of the
sieves found in Poland were used to separatefatty
curdsfrom theliquid whey, all of this
in a crudecheese-making
process.
“It’s a very
compelling forensic argument that this was connected to cheese” Evershed said. He also said that the discovery of
cheese-making was a major development for Neolithic people and gave an
extra survival advantage since they could get more essentialcalories, mineralsandproteinsthanks to this way of milk
preservation which was also benefitial to have reserves when food was scantly,
specially in winter time.
Cheesealso helped
to makeNeolithic dieta little more diverse.“Food was incredibly dull and
monotonous” said Paul Kindstedt, a professor of nutrition and food sciences
at the University of Vermontwho
didn´t take part in the study.
These “Neolithic cheeses” were sure
non-perishable and quite pungent. “They wouldn´t be the first choice for many
people now, but anyway I´d still love trying them” confirmed Kindstedt.
What´s sure is that the evolution of cheese has been
constant since it was first made. Right now there are so many kinds of cheese
that trying each one would be almost impossible to imagine.
Here inSierra de Albarracincheese factory, we use onlyfresh sheep's milkobtained exclusively from the
livestock owned by the dairy itself, following the strictest standards in
terms of nutrition and hygiene. The entire process perfectly balances traditional craftmethods with the very latest
technological developments.
We are waiting for you in our factory but also in ourweb, where you´ll
be always welcome!
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.
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.
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.
