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Spaniards leading a national surge in global business and politics, culture and the arts. As the country prepares for a pivotal election, TIME examines its striking creative burst
Sheep have been raised for their milk around Casar de Cáceres, a small town in Extremadura, at least as far back as the 13th century. At some unrecorded moment in time, when a shepherd was producing a batch of cheese from this milk, the maturation process went wrong. While the outside hardened, the inside stayed balanced between liquid and solid. Before throwing it away, he dipped in a finger — and was delighted to discover a texture and taste better than anything he'd made before. The Torta del Casar was born.
For centuries, the delicacy remained a secret among locals who perfected the "mistake," which involves tinkering with the temperature and the amount of rennet.
But in 1984, a family firm decided to try its luck with the rest of Spain's tastebuds.
Some 236,000 kg of certified Torta del Casar were produced last year by nine local makers, nearly half by the pioneering firm, Quesos del Casar. The cremoso cheese is best eaten by slicing off the top of the round, then spooning onto bread the pale yellow lava within. "It's creamier than a camembert and has a higher fat content," says Mario Blasco, director of Quesos del Casar. The torta is also unusual in that it uses a vegetable rennet — one derived from the cardo, a relative of the thistle — rather than the typical rennet that comes from a cow's stomach.
The onetime blunder now boasts its own Denominación de Origen guarantee and is probably Spain's most expensive cheese (between €19 and €25 per kg). Javier Muñoz, of the Denominación de Origen office, says only 10% of the 2003 production was exported — mainly to Italy, Germany, Britain and the Netherlands, "although we know of cheeses having reached Mexico, even Australia."
The ultimate cheese accolade: tortas are now being bought by the French. www.tortadel casar.org.
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