Pressed cheese from the region of La Mancha made from manchegan sheep´s milk with a minimum aging period of sixty days. The cheese from Finca Casa Alarcón is produced with raw, unpasteurised milk which allows for a more intense and complex aroma and taste.
Archeological remains show that in the Bronze Age, in what is now known as the region of La Mancha, cheese was already produced from the milk of a breed of sheep ancestor of the current day Manchegan sheep. It would be fair to assume that the production of cheese and the final product would not have differed much from today´s method.
The uniqueness of the manchegan sheep together with that of its diet, based on country vegetation afforded by La Mancha´s climate and countryside have given rise to a worldly unique cheese, impossible to produce in other regions.
As it matures, Manchegan cheese acquires a complex and good quality aroma and taste, reaching optimum conditions for consumption between six and eight months of aging. The terms “semi-mature” can be used for cheeses which have aged between two and six months and “mature” for six months and onwards. Soft manchegan cheese does not exist as the minimum ageing period is sixty days.
Manchegan cheese is a highy nutritious product. A natural source of calcium, it provides a higher proportion of protein than meat and a high content of vitamins A, D and E, essential for the absorption of calcium and for metabolic processes such as tissue growth and maintenance.
Its consumption is recommended for all ages. Due to its high calcium content it plays a role in the growth of children and young people and is suitable for adults due to its high protein content. In the elderly it slows down the loss of bone density and is easier to digest than milk.