Maó cheese

Última actualización: 20/08/2024

Protected Designation of Origin

Are you a cheese lover?
Then you will be interested to know that Menorca produces a delicious cheese with Protected Designation of Origin (P.D.O.) since 1997.
Its fine aroma and flavor is the result of the combination of the particular geography of the island, the Menorcan livestock culture and the love that the producers put into its artisanal production and maturation.

History of Cheese

Cheese is one of the oldest foods of mankind; according to legend, the transformation of milk into cheese was discovered by chance by an Arab shepherd, when transporting sheep’s milk in a bag of lamb intestines.
Prehistoric excavations reveal that in Menorca its production was known at least 2000 years before our era, and ancient Arab documents already considered it a delicacy… more than a thousand years ago!
Nowadays, Mahón-Menorca cheese is made maintaining the traditional practices handed down from generation to generation, which give it its particular flavor, texture and color.

A Natural Flavor Cheese

Mahón-Menorca cheese is made with freshly milked cow’s milk following the millenary method inherited from the ancient shepherds of the island.
Its natural flavor is given by the air, humidity and light of Menorca: characteristic, intense, unmistakable. The crust acquires its orange color as a result of the periodic turning and smearing with a mixture of olive oil and paprika.
You will find two equally delicious varieties:

1. cheese made from pasteurized milk
2. artisan cheese.

Depending on the degree of maturation, you can choose between Mahón-Menorca cheese

• Tender, of a soft yellowish-white color.
• Semi-cured, firm paste, small eyes and brown or orange rind.
• Cured, firm texture and intense flavor, a delight for connoisseurs.

How to distinguish it from other cheese?

If you want to make sure that you are buying cheese from Maó with Denomination of Origin you onlyhave to make sure that somewhere it carries the yellow label of its Denomination of Origin.

Dictionary of Mahón-Menorca cheese

Mahón-Menorca cheese is not only a food product: it is an expression of the island’s culture, traditions and lifestyle.
Here is the basic dictionary to know everything about Mahón cheese:

• Formatjat: Maó cheese production process
• Llocs: Menorcan estates
• Fogasser: cotton cloth used to wrap the curd; it is suspended by its four corners and placed on a table to remove the whey.
• Lligam: string to tie the “fogasser” and press the dough.
• Mamella: drawing of the folds of the fogasser that is embossed on the surface of the cheese.

Photo: Creative Commons https://www.flickr.com/photos/silverman68/5111295582/sizes/l/in/photostream/