From 'the calm place,' a spoonful of heaven
There are more sheep than people in Spain's Extremadura, an arid and economically depressed region in the southwest, near the Portuguese border. Shepherds have made cheese there for centuries, but largely for their own and local consumption. That picture changed in the late 1980s, when wool and meat prices dropped and shepherds began to focus more on their cheese as a revenue source. Spanish gourmets quickly embraced the Queso de La Serena, made in the area of La Serena ("the calm place") in the region's southeast corner, from the rich milk of Merino sheep.
Today, the cheese from La Serena is name protected, with rules regulating its manufacture, but it remains an artisanal cheese made in small factories. Sheep are shy producers; it takes almost two dozen animals to produce enough milk for a kilo (about 2.2 pounds) of Queso de La Serena.
Like only a handful of other cheeses (Torta del Casar, made nearby, being one), Queso de La Serena is coagulated with a natural vegetable rennet extracted from cardoon (Cynara cardunculus). The cardoon's renneting action is weak so coagulation happens slowly, allowing for flavor development in the milk and yielding a cheese with a pronounced tartness. Many tasters, myself included, also detect a slight bitterness in the cheese, which some attribute to the cardoon. It is not an unpleasant flavor but part of the distinctive signature of this unusual cheese.
Wheels of Queso de La Serena can weigh anywhere from 1 1/2 to 4 1/2 pounds. The ones I have seen in Bay Area markets are on the smaller end of that range. They are briefly brined or dry salted early in the process, which produces a natural rind with a pleasantly salty crunch. The typical aging period is about eight weeks, although wheels must be at least 60 days old before they can be shipped to the United States because they are made from raw milk.
Another distinguishing feature of cheeses coagulated with cardoon is their creaminess. The cardoon contains enzymes that break down the milk proteins as the cheese ages, producing an oozy, runny interior over time. When Queso de La Serena (or Torta del Casar) gets super-ripe, the convention is to cut off the top and eat the interior with a spoon. Even younger versions will have a lush, spreadable texture, a milky aroma and an undeniable tang.
Late spring and early summer is prime time for this cheese because the Extremadura pasture peaks in quality after winter rains. Queso de La Serena is not an easy wine match because of its acidity, but I enjoyed it recently with the 2001 Lorinon Rioja from Bodegas Breton Criadores, made mostly of Tempranillo of moderate weight and intensity, with cinnamon and clove aromas and a zippy blackberry fruitiness that cleansed the palate after the creamy cheese. .