by Juliana Uruburu
It was illegal to produce artisan cheese in Spain up until 1992...
Tapa - derived from the Spanish verb topar meaning to top...
The Basque countries La Nuvea Cuisine de Espagna and the explosion over the past 25 years of bringing back lost culinary traditions...
These were some of the highlights of last nights Iberian Peninsula class that I taught at The Cheese School of San Francisco.
Twice a year I teach this class and it is always a party. The 30 students ranging from young couples to retired wine makers listened, smelled and tasted their way through some of the finest Spanish and Portuguese cheeses, wines and meats. A favorite cheese for the evening was Serra da Estrella from the central northern mountains of Portugal. It was a 2 pound wheel resembling a loaf of levain bread. We let it sit our and come to a proper temperature which resulted in a pudding-like texture. This is a raw sheep milk cheese that can be so strong that you can imagine it walking away on it's own, but this wheel was perfection... I gently removed the top rind of the cheese creating a bowl for the students to dip entire spoonfuls of the cheese out onto their plates and into their mouths. The aroma was subtle, like sweet summer grass and cooked cream. The texture rolled around the palate smoothly and the finish was of a farmhouse custard. Absolutely amazing...
This week at The Pasta Shop we have Paleta Jamon, so this was an extra treat for the class. And it was well worth it. The rich nuttiness of the meat was fantastic with all of the full bodied cheese from this culinary rich land...
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