Torta del Casar: Extremaduran raw milk cheese

Casar de Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain

One of Spain's most extraordinary cheeses — a raw sheep's milk soft cheese from the village of Casar de Cáceres in Extremadura, coagulated with a vegetable rennet derived from the dried pistils of the cardoon thistle (Cynara cardunculus) rather than animal rennet. The thistle rennet produces a different coagulation: the proteins in the milk are cleaved less completely, resulting in a cheese that never firms fully — at room temperature, the interior of a mature torta del casar is a thick, flowing cream that must be eaten by cutting off the top rind and scooping. The taste is remarkable: slightly bitter from the thistle rennet, intensely sheep-milk rich, creamy without being heavy, and with a persistent finish of raw milk and lanolin.

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