Food and Wine

Cheese Museum in Azeitão - Taste of Arrábida

Thursday, 25 November 2010 00:00

The rich vegetation of Arrábida, where sheep graze freely. Here is the first step in the making of Azeitão cheese- classified as Protected Designation of Origin. The factory, which for years made the cheese Alfredo Azeitão cheese is now a museum, but with life. On Thursday the Cheese dairy products are still manufactured, but for the curious who want to know the business. The manufacturing process is recreated in Quinta Velha whenever requested, receiving schools, groups of friends interested in learning this activity. To make cheese of Azeitão all that is required are three ingredients: sheep's milk, salt and milk thistle, a plant that has some heads from which a purple flower. The first step is to make the soaking of the thistle, a process that takes ten to twelve hours. The thistle is used to curdle milk. Remove the water from soaking thistle and a mortar to make a paste. In the 'mouth' of a clay pot is placed a white cloth. Inside the salt and cloth is passed through the cloth warm milk, taking the salt. Mix a little water removed from the maceration of the thistle and passes through a cloth. The liquid will therefore into the milk. The farm hopes to return to the Old Cheese dairy production and marketing of cheese Azeitão within three years.