Arzúa-Ulloa

Appearance & taste

The wheel is lens-shaped or cylindrical with rounded edges, 100 to 260 mm in diameter, 50 to 120 mm high and never taller than its radius; it weighs 0.5 to 3.5 kg. The thin, elastic rind is medium to dark yellow, shiny and smooth and may be coated with a colourless emulsion against mould. The paste is ivory to pale yellow, shiny and without cracks, with a few small holes. It smells of butter and yoghurt with hints of vanilla, cream and nuts, tastes milky, slightly salty and only a little sour, and is semi-firm and melting in the mouth. It contains at least 45 % fat in dry matter.

The “Arzúa-Ulloa curado” is smaller (120 to 200 mm in diameter, 0.5 to 2 kg) and has a deep yellow, shiny and greasy rind. Its rich yellow, very compact paste is hard and difficult to cut. It smells sharp and pungent of butter with a slightly rancid touch, and tastes salty, only a little sour and moderately to barely bitter, with hints of vanilla and nuts. It contains at least 50 % fat in dry matter. The “Arzúa-Ulloa de granja” is made only from the milk of the farm’s own cows. The label states whether the cheese is made from raw or pasteurised milk.

Production

Whole milk from cows of the Rubia Gallega, Pardo Alpina and Frisona breeds or their crosses is used. The animals eat mainly feed from their own farm and graze when the weather allows; bought-in plant-based concentrate is only a supplement. The milk is not standardised and is stored at no more than 4 °C.

The milk is coagulated with rennet at 30 to 35 °C in 30 to 75 minutes. The curd is cut to about the size of a grain of maize (5 to 10 mm) and then washed with drinking water to lower the acidity. It is then filled into cylindrical moulds and pressed. The curd is salted in the vat, or the wheel is placed in brine for no more than 24 hours. The cheeses ripen at 75 to 90 % humidity and below 15 °C for at least six days, the curado for at least six months, and are turned and cleaned as often as necessary. Each cheese carries a numbered control label.

Origin & history

The area in inland Galicia lies mostly above 300 m, with wide valleys full of meadows and pastures. The average temperature is just under 12 °C, and 1,200 to 1,700 mm of rain falls a year. Native grasses such as timothy, Yorkshire fog, fescue and ryegrass grow on the pastures, along with clover, bird’s-foot trefoil and lucerne. The milk comes from small family farms that still keep many animals of native breeds.

According to the specification, Arzúa-Ulloa is one of the best-known cheeses of Galicia. Depending on the area it was called Arzúa, Ulla, A Ulloa, Curtis, Chantada, Friol or Lugo cheese; publications of the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture from 1973, 1993 and 1996 mention it. Because milk was plentiful here almost all year round, farmers made cheese with a short ripening of about a week, just enough for a rind that would survive the journey to market, and sold it at the weekly, fortnightly or monthly markets. Washing the curd, which according to the specification is not customary in any of the neighbouring cheese regions, prevented too much acidification. The surplus milk of late autumn and winter gave rise to the long-ripened curado as a store for the summer with its heavy work in the fields.