Azeitão Cheese (DOP)

It’s said that only experienced artisans have the know-how to produce this gourmet favorite. Azeitão is a concentrated round of sheep's milk cheese made with cardoon thistle rather than traditional animal rennet. Azeitão is named for the village where it was born in the foothills of Setúbal’s Arrabida mountain range (south of Lisbon). Being made for generations, this cheese is mainly produced in the regions of Palmela, Sesimbra and Azeitão also known for their delicate white wines.

The pastures where the sheep of Azeitão graze are lush and covered in herbaceous scrub, giving the milk its characteristically rich flavor and a strong, earthy aroma. Molded in cloth, Azeitão has a rustic appearance that adds to its romance. Its texture ranges from soft and unctuous to firm and chewy - cut open the top and scoop its yellow cream onto slabs of nutty bread. Azeitão was awarded DOP, elevating its stature in Portugal and abroad.

When ripe, Azeitao has a rich, creamy, slightly sour flavor with hints of flowers or sweet herbs. When left at room temperature, the cheese becomes almost melty. The older the cheese the harder and drier the paste will get and the intenser the flavor. The gourmet cheese is at its best when it is full, but still very rewarding when just over the top and flatter in form. If you have never tasted Portuguese cheese before, this is a great starting place!

Évora Cheese (DOP)

Évora or Queijo de Évora is a Portuguese gourmet cheese with a yellowish color that becomes gloomy in contact with air. This is a cured cheese made from raw sheep's milk, presented with a hard (60g & 90g; 120g & 200) or semihard (200g & 300g) consistency, of smooth rind.The paste is softer than the rind but has the same color, a very light yellow.

It has the aroma of a pasture and a creamy flavor of oats and fresh hay, little salty with fruity tones with a slightly acidic finish. The older the taste the sheepier the flavor becomes of this gourmet cheese. There is no rennet in this cheese and it is bound with thistle flower. This cheese is produced in the town of Évora in the Alentejo region (southern Portugal). Production begins in November and peaks in March and April. Sometimes these cheeses are preserved in olive oil and are then less hard.

Évora

The city was designated Ebora Cerealis during the Roman empire, gained the name Liberalitas Julia during the period of Emperor Julio Cesar. At the time it was an important city, as one can see looking at the ruins of the classical temple and the vestiges of the Roman fortress walls. It was conquered to the Moors in 1165 by Geraldo Sem Pavor (Geraldo, the Unfrightened), the year he restored his diocese. It was a royal residence, mainly during the reigns of king João II, king Manuel I and king João III. Its prestige was particularly relevant during the XVI century, when it was promoted to ecclesiastical capital and when the University of Évora was founded (subordinated to the Jesus Company) by Cardinal Infant Henrique, first Archbishop of the city. This was extinguished in 1759 (and would only be restored approximately two centuries later), after the Jesuit expulsion of the country due to an order given by Marquês de Pombal. Évora testifies the diverse styles and aesthetics and has collected throughout the years such important works of art that it has been classified by UNESCO, in 1986, as World Heritage.

Serpa Cheese (DOP)

Perhaps the most famous traditional cheese in southern Portugal, Serpa gets its strong scent and spicy flavor from the unique climate, soil and pasture of the Alentejo region. Made from sheep’s milk, the cheese is curdled with vegetable rennet and wrapped in cloth to mature. Inside the natural rind, the flesh is so creamy that it almost spills when cut. Serpa is one of the most genuinely crafted and high quality cheeses from Portugal.

Serpa is made solely from sheep’s milk, predominantly from the Lacaune, a French breed that has replaced the local Merino because it is more productive and easier to manage (the former can be milked by a machine) and can be raised in free-range conditions.

Queijo Serpa DOP is available in four diferent dimensions called "merendeiras" (weighting from 200 to 250 g), "cuncas" (800 to 900 g), "normais" (1000 to 1500 g) and "gigantes" (2000 to 2500 g).

The Presidium Slow Food Award
Slow Food’s Ark of Taste has cataloged hundreds of extraordinary products from around the world and the presidium Serpa is the only portuguese cheese to obtain this distinction.

"PDO status currently protects Serpa; however, the presidium was established to preserve the most traditional of the types of this cheese. The denomination covers a large geographic area that extends from the coast to the Spanish border, including a third of Portugal and passing by cork plantations and arid grazing lands. The PDO standards do not require long ageing periods, only that a slice of cut cheese must make a belly towards the outer edges. The market, in fact, prefers amanteigado cheese or rather cheese with a soft and melting consistency that one eats with a spoon (a type similar to those of the other two PDO of great renown, Azeitão and Serra da Estrela). However, traditional Serpa cheese is aged in an attic on cane mats and is consumed when mature. This rarer type of Serpa (firm and semi-firm) is markedly more interesting with more complex sensory qualities and personality. The presidium intends to protect the traditional version of Serpa cheese. The PDO standards will have to require narrower boundaries on the historical area, indicate a minimum ageing period and give the product uniform labeling, as it is currently impossible to precisely identify the type of Serpa by sight, as under this name one finds many different cheeses."

Source: http://www.slowfoodfoundation.org/eng/presidi/dettaglio.lasso?cod=333.

Serpa Solar Power Plant
Serpa Solar Power Plant construction began in June 2006 and was completed on January 2007. This is the worlds 2nd largest solar power plant capable of producing 11 megawatt electricity from the sun with no fuel costs or emissions. The Serpa plant is on a 60-hectare (150-acre) hillside and is a model of clean power generation integrated with agriculture.

Cabra Transmontana Cheese (DOP)

Queijo de Cabra Transmontana DOP is a Portuguese gourmet cheese. This cheese comes from the north-western part of Portugal and is made from the milk of the Serrana Negra goat. The milk is very rich in butterfat and protein.
After the Cabra Transmontano is formed, it is salted and allowed to age for a minimum of 60 days.
This lovely gourmet goat cheese is semi hard with a natural white rind with a firm, hard, slightly unctuous texture. Excellent for grating and as a table cheese.

Bica Cheese

Bica (de queijo) is a raw farmhouse gourmet delicious cheese made from a blend of cow, goat, and sheep's milk. Bica has a distinctive yet mild, buttery flavor and a satiny texture. Like most portuguese cheeses, Bica has a slightly salty flavor because its milk comes from animals that graze on land that sits by the sea. Enjoy it with a medium-bodied red wine before the meal, or with a glass of Port for dessert.

"Bica de Queijo" loosely translated means "bag of cheese". And that is exactly what this cheese looks like. When the curd is fresh, it is placed in a cheese cloth and twisted up into a "bag". As the cheese firms up, the cloth is removed, but its imprint remains, giving rise to its name.

Bica de Queijo is produced in Póvoa de Lanhoso in Minho region (north of Portugal). This is considered the capital of Filigrana, the traditional Portuguese 19,2K gold jewellery. In Póvoa do Lanhoso you may visit Museu do Ouro de Travassos (gold museum).

Flor de Sal from the Algarve

Salt pans within Ria Formosa natural reserve (Olhão)

Traditional Sea Salt from the Algarve has a history going back to the Roman era, some 2,000 years ago, and the same ancient methods and simple equipment are still used today.

The salt is harvested in June, July and August, depending on the weather, using time-honoured methods. In May the producers begin to flood the basins with seawater at high tide. The saltpans are flooded until the water level reaches 40-50cm over a period of 4-5 days, with water added each day at high tide. It then takes 3-4 days for the water to evaporate in the sun, until approximately 20cm of sea salt remains, and it generally takes 2 weeks to harvest all the sea salt, using wooden rakes.

This sea salt has a very clear and whitish colour, but is totally unrefined. The reason for this is that the clay in the area is very hard and light in colour, so the salt does not take on the earthy grey colour that, say, Guerande salts do. The salt has a moisture content of 8%, and a sodium chloride content of around 96%, which is lower than that of table salt, leaving room for other essential minerals, such as calcium and magnesium.

Tradition and Quality

These traditional sea salts are comparable to handcrafted foods, and are very labour intensive. They are quite different to conventional sea salts, which are often harvested by tractors, washed in seawater, and dried at high temperatures. Salt farmers in Portugal adhere to quality standards for certified organic produce and consequently have been awarded the "Slow Food Award for the Defense of Biodiversity".

Web references & Interesting links

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fleur_de_sel
http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flor_de_Sal
http://www.saltworks.us/salt_info/si_gourmet_reference.asp#FleurDeSel
http://www.necton.pt/en/offer.html
http://www.terrasdesal.com/salinfo.php
http://www.flordesal.net/index.htm
http://www.observatoriodoalgarve.com/cna/noticias_ver.asp?noticia=18161