Also available for Sydney customers in SHOP - (outside NSW - Check for distributors in your area listed below)
Mahón Curado, the 6 month version of this cheese boasts a certain sharpness, and its lemony, salty flavours evince the rural Mediterranean seascape. It is an uncooked pressed cheese paste, with parallelepiped shape with rounded edges. Its rind contains a hard, crumbly cheddar-like texture and darkens as the wheels age. At peak, Mahón is tangy, intense and delicious. Pair this cheese with Madeira or Tempranillo.
Control Board has a Protected Designation of Origin and is made exclusively on the island of Menorca in Spain , according to tradition and rules contained in the regulations of the DOP. A product with "Denominación d'Origen Protegida" D.O.P. which stands for Protected Guarantee of Origin and Quality, is a product intimately tied to the geographical area in which it is produced. In 1985 it was awarded, definitively, the appellation Mahon cheese and then in the year 1998 , the word was added to the Covered Menorca cheese, which was renamed Mahon-Menorca. Cheese is and has been a flagship product of Menorca. It is made on the island with cow milk curd at low temperature, is salted and cured by immersion according to the custom of the island. Its development responds to ancestral traditions, one of the pillars on which rests a part of history and culinary tradition of livestock and Menorca.
The history of cheese-making on the island goes back a very long time, including prehistory, according to archeological finds of ceramic tools used for its production and dating back to 3,000 B.C. There exists documentation written in the 5th century A.D. that refers to cheese consumption on the Island. There also exist Arabic documents dating back to the year 1,000 that praise the excellence of Menorcan cheese.
The "formatjat" or production process of Mahón-Menorca cheese has remained unchanged for a very long time in all the Menorcan "llocs" (farm-houses) where very old practices have been followed. Overall it is determined by a series of procedures that have been handed down from father to son and the correct application of these procedures define and are the source of authentic Mahón-Menorca cheese. Recently, some advisable modifications have been incorporated as a result of technological advances. The maturing process of Mahón-Menorca cheese is carried out in the maturing cellars, where the cheese is subjected to the traditional rind treatment, consisting of a series of turning the forms over and spreading oil and/or pepper over the forms.
