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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Spain, Asturias

Queso de Porrúaquesu de Porrúa

A simple fresh cheese of eastern Asturias, once sold at coastal markets. Cow milk, or sheep or goat milk in spring and early summer, is set with rennet, cut small and lightly pressed, then rubbed with salt on both faces. The ministry catalogue describes it as fresh and unripened, soft, moist and mild, with a pH of about 6. Made in 5 steps over 3 days. The longest step, cut and drain in the mould, takes 3 days (Wikipedia (es)). Salt is 2 % (Ministerio de Agricultura (MAPA) 2015).

Key numbers
Main step3 daysReported[wp-es]Cut and drain in the mould
Salt2 %Reported[mapa-catalogo]Rub with salt
AciditypH 6Reported[mapa-catalogo]Sell fresh

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedTraditional cheese with no fixed recipe; each cheese weighs about 0.5 kg.
Cow, sheep or goat milk, or a mix · Raw or pasteurised[mapa-catalogo]
Lactic cultures · Only when the milk is pasteurised[mapa-catalogo]
Rennet[mapa-catalogo]
Salt (sodium chloride) · Rubbed on both flat faces[mapa-catalogo]
Starter: rennet; lactic cultures when the milk is pasteurised

Total time across the recorded steps: 3 days

Start
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What changes: Starting material: cow milk, or sheep or goat milk in spring

Step 1 of 5
Warm the milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Farms were mixed, mostly cattle with a few sheep and goats, so most cheese was cow milk, with sheep or goat cheese in spring and early summer.

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

Queso de Porrúa is a plain market cheese, only lightly pressed and salted on its faces. Its milk changes with the season, from cow milk most of the year to sheep or goat milk in spring.

Size
3–5 cm high, 8–10 cm across, about 0.5 kg; disc-shaped
Composition
40–45 % dry matter, 55–60 % moisture, about 50 % fat in dry matter, 2 % salt

Related ferments

Variants

  • De vacaCow milk, made all year.
  • De ovejaSheep milk, from about April to August (Wikipedia).

History and sources

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

The ministry catalogue says it was a homemade cheese sold at the local markets of the eastern Asturian coast. Growing demand moved production into small specialised dairies.

  1. [wp-es] Wikipedia (es), «Queso de Porrúa» (outline only)wiki