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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Spain, Cantabria

Quesucos de Liébana PDOQuesucos de Liébana

Small cheeses made from a blend of two or three milks - cow, sheep and goat - from the mountain herds of Liébana. The milk is set with animal rennet at 28–32 °C, cut to pea-sized grains, moulded and dry-salted, then ripened in cool, damp rooms. Some are smoked over juniper wood for a day or a day and a half before sale. Made in 8 steps over 2 months – 2.1 months. The longest step, ripen, takes 2 months (MAPA (I.N.D.O.) 2081) and runs at up to 15 °C (MAPA (I.N.D.O.) 2081). Salt is 2–3 % (MAPA (I.N.D.O.) 2081).

Key numbers
Main step2 monthsSet[pliego1996]Ripen
Temperatureup to 15 °CSet[pliego1996]Ripen
Salt2–3 %Set[pliego1996]Dry-salt

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe PDO file fixes limits, not a recipe. Each cheese is 8–12 cm across and 3–10 cm high; the weight varies, and ICEX gives about 500 g.
Whole milk from cows, sheep and goats · Two or three kinds blended; the share follows the season[pliego1996][eu1996]
Animal rennet[pliego1996][eu1996]
2–3 % of the cheese weightDry salt[pliego1996]
Juniper wood (smoked type only)[pliego1996]
Starteranimal rennet; the PDO file names no culture

Total time across the recorded steps: 2 months – 2.1 months

Start
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What changes: Starting material: cow, sheep and goat milk blended together

Step 1 of 8
Blend the milks
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Milk of two or three species from registered farms in Liébana, whole and with balanced fat and protein. The blend changes through the year with the herds' milking seasons.

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

Quesucos de Liébana is one of the few PDO cheeses that must blend the milk of two or three species. The juniper-smoked type keeps a herders' practice from the high pastures of Áliva.

Milk
Blend of two or three of cow, sheep and goat milk
Composition
At least 45 % fat in dry matter; at least 30 % moisture
Size
8–12 cm across, 3–10 cm high; weight variable
Minimum ripening
ICEX summarises the rules as at least 15 days

Related ferments

Variants

  • Quesuco naturalNot smoked.
  • Quesuco ahumadoSmoked over juniper wood for one day to a day and a half before sale (Áliva, Brez, Lomeña).

Safety

Quesucos ripened less than 60 days must be made from pasteurised milk. For raw-milk cheese, ANSES advises pregnant women, young children, people over 65 and people with weak immunity to avoid it unless it is a pressed cooked cheese, because of Listeria, Salmonella and Shiga-toxin E. coli.

Hazards the sources name: Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella, Shiga-toxin-producing E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus (risks named for raw-milk cheeses; raw milk is allowed when the cheese ripens 60 days or more).

History and sources

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

The PDO file says the quesuco is the most typical cheese of Liébana, made to keep the milk of mixed herds in a valley far from collection routes. Smoking began in the summer pastures of Áliva, where herders lit fires at the mouths of their ripening caves to keep flies out and found the cheeses kept longer; it has since moved down to the Camaleño valley. The file also cites Columella on smoked cheeses and a 1442 price list for Santander. Cantabria recognised "Quesos de Liébana" in 1986 and a separate quesucos designation in 1993; the EU registered it in 1996.

  1. [pliego1996] MAPA (I.N.D.O.), Denominación de Origen «Quesucos de Liébana», expediente de solicitud de registro under Regulation (EEC) 2081/92 (MAPA copy, read via the Internet Archive)spec
  2. [eu1996] European Commission, eAmbrosia, «Quesucos de Liébana» application summary (VI/B14/ESP/0090/94), English and Spanish versionsspec
  3. [boe1987] Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación, Orden de 6 de octubre de 1987 ratifying the Reglamento de la Denominación Genérica «Quesos de Liébana», BOE no. 246, 14 October 1987, pp. 30636–30640gov
  4. [icex] ICEX, Foods & Wines from Spain, «Quesucos de Liébana PDO» product pageweb
  5. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov