Torta del Casar vs Tupí
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.
Tupí
Facts
- Milk
- Mixed milk
- Texture
- Soft
- Rind
- No rind
- Country
- Spain
- Place
- Pyrenees and Pre-Pyrenees
Tupí is a strong fermented cheese from the Pyrenees and Pre-Pyrenees of Spain, and it is a Catalan specialty. Makers use cow's milk or sheep's milk, so the milk changes with the batch rather than staying one species. Fresh curd, or pieces of cheese, go into a small glazed jar called a tupí, together with a strong liquor. The mix ferments until it is soft, creamy, and very pungent. You eat it as a spread, not as a neat slice cut from a wheel.