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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Portugal, Alto Alentejo

Queijo Mestiço de Tolosa

Raw ewe and goat milk is mixed in set ratios ('mestiço' means mixed), strained through a white cloth, warmed to 30 °C and set with animal rennet or cardoon. The curd is never cut; it goes straight into small hoops, is squeezed, salted face by face and dried on shelves for 15–20 days. Around day 20–25 some makers wipe it with paprika water, and it is ready at 'meia cura' after 3–4 weeks. Made in 8 steps over 36 days – 48 days. The longest step, cure to meia cura, takes 21–28 days (Agrupamento de Produtores Pecuários do Norte…). Lactic acid bacteria from the raw ewe and goat milk does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step21–28 daysSet[caderno][oj-1999]Cure to meia cura
Temperature30 °CSet[caderno][oj-1999]Warm to 30 °C, stirring with a fataça

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedNo fixed amounts beyond the milk ratios. Each cheese weighs 150–400 g.
Raw ewe and goat milk · Mixed in the dairy in ratios of 20:80, 40:60 or 60:40[caderno][oj-1999]
Animal rennet or cardoon (Cynara cardunculus) · Each maker keeps to their own practice and proportions[caderno][oj-1999]
Food-grade salt · Measured by eye, with no instrument[caderno]
Paprika (colorau) and water (optional) · Wiped on the faces with a white cloth at about 20–25 days[caderno][oj-1999]
Starter: none added; the raw milk carries the lactic bacteria

Total time across the recorded steps: 36 days – 48 days

Start
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What changes: Starting material: raw ewe and goat milk, strained through a white cloth

Step 1 of 8
Mix and strain the milks
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria

Ewe and goat milk are mixed in the dairy and poured slowly through a white cloth stretched over the pot by a metal band. Output: strained mixed raw milk.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

What makes this one different

The curd is never cut; it goes whole into the hoops. The milk is always a mix of ewe and goat in fixed ratios, and some makers colour the rind with paprika water near the end of curing.

Milk
Raw ewe and goat milk in ratios 20:80, 40:60 or 60:40
Composition
Moisture 55–65 % of the fat-free cheese; fat 45–60 % of dry matter
Size
150–400 g; 7–10 cm across, 3–4 cm high
Season
Made from mid-January to mid-July, the lambing and kidding season

Related ferments

Safety

Made from raw milk with a short cure of 3–4 weeks. The specification requires storage at 10 °C at most.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

The specification cites dairy experts who wrote about the cheese in 1901 and 1905, and describes making it in the Portalegre district as a way to keep milk in a remote area. It was registered as a PGI in 2000.

  1. [caderno] Agrupamento de Produtores Pecuários do Norte Alentejo, Caderno de especificações Queijo Mestiço de Tolosa IGP, published by DGADRspec
  2. [oj-1999] European Commission 1999, Publication of an application for registration, 'Queijo Mestiço de Tolosa' (G/PO/00078/98.11.11), Official Journal of the European Communities C 229, 12 August 1999spec
  3. [pereira2026] Pereira C.D., Campos L., Veiga A., Pereira-Dias S., Henriques M. 2026, Role of cardoon (Cynara spp.) and raw milk microbiota in Iberian PDO and PGI small ruminants' milk cheeses, Foods 15(13):2359 (review; calls it the least studied Portuguese cheese)paper