Serra da Estrela vs Torta del Casar
Serra da Estrela
Facts
- Milk
- Sheep
- Texture
- Soft
- Type
- Pressed
- Rind
- Natural rind
- Country
- Portugal
- Place
- Serra da Estrela
Serra da Estrela is a sheep's milk cheese from the Serra da Estrela mountains in Portugal. Shepherds and small dairies set the milk with a thistle flower, not with animal rennet, and that choice shapes both the texture and the taste. A ripe wheel can turn so soft that people spoon the center. A wheel kept longer becomes firmer and better for grating. The mountain range and the name on the cheese are the same place.
Torta del Casar
Facts
- Milk
- Sheep
- Texture
- Soft
- Type
- Pressed
- Rind
- Natural rind
- Country
- Spain
- Place
- P.D.O.
Torta del Casar is a soft sheep's milk cheese from Spain. The word torta means a cake, and a ripe wheel settles into a low round instead of standing tall and firm. Makers set the milk with cardoon, a kind of thistle, instead of animal rennet. That plant coagulant is why the center becomes almost spoonable while a thin rind still holds the shape. The paste is rich, a little bitter, and meant to be scooped.