Manchego Cheese is a hard, buttered cheese with a silky texture. It has an ivory interior punctuated by several small holes.

This crumbly texture dissolves in the mouth, thus revealing the creamy richness of sheep's milk that remains pleasantly on the palate. The distinctive lateral zigzag pattern of the bark is gray, black or singed. This rind in some cheeses is artificial and in no case edible.

Depending on the ripening time, three kinds of manchego can be obtained:

• Semi-cured Manchego: the texture of this cheese is relatively moist and supple, with a pale cream-colored paste; the aroma is slightly sour, while the flavors are hay, grass and fruit, with sweet notes. This variant has been matured for three months.
• Cured Manchego: it has a maturation of six months, which gives it a different and pronounced acidity, with soft flavors of caramel notes and nuts.
• Manchego Viejo: to obtain this variety requires a year of maturation; this cheese has a crumbly texture, its interior acquires a caramel color and has a sweet and persistent flavor.

History

Manchego cheese has been produced for centuries in the La Mancha region, central Spain. Archaeologists have found evidence of the production of this cheese, dating back to before Christ, when Iberian civilization was still in the Bronze Age.

Other references appear in Cervantes' famous 17th-century novel, Don Quixote. In the midst of the windmills, the fanciful knight Don Quixote and his fellow traveler Sancho Panza spent many pages nibbling on Manchego cheese.

Already by the beginning of the twentieth century, local farms focused more on cheese production. As the industry grew, producers in La Mancha developed cheese-making techniques especially geared to local Manchego sheep herds, resulting in a product of excellent quality and worldwide recognition.

Today Manchego is one of the most famous and recognized cheeses worldwide, but this high demand has generated the industrialization of production and, often, a loss of quality. However, production has been regulated since 1984, and authentic Manchego cheese is produced exclusively from the whole milk of the Manchego sheep, raised in the region of La Mancha and has PDO certification (Protected Designation of Origin).