“Protected Designation of Origin is the designation regulated by the European Union that protects the names of products whose production, preparation and processing take place in a delimited region, with a duly recognized and verified know-how.”
Serra da Estrela PDO cheese is one of Portugal’s most famous cheeses because of its genuine characteristics, which derive from the climate characteristic of Serra da Estrela, but also from the centuries-old wisdom associated with the practices of shepherding and cheese-making by local people.
Its manufacturing process is still artisanal today: the product is obtained by slowly draining the curd after coagulation of raw milk from sheep of the Serra da Estrela and/or Churra Mondegueira breeds (reared in a defined geographical area), the coagulation being promoted by cardoon flower.
Serra da Estrela PDO cheese which has been aged for a minimum of 120 days is called Queijo Serra da Estrela Velho PDO.
The Queijos da Beira Baixa DOP are matured cheeses of three types: Yellow, Castelo Branco and Picante.
The tradition in the production of these cheeses has its origin with the migratory flows of transhumance.
The so appreciated quality of the Beira Baixa cheeses is due to both edafoclimatic and human factors, associated to ancestral knowledge related to cheese making, rooted in the population of this region since remote times.
The Castelo Branco PDO cheese is obtained by the slow exhaustion of the curd after coagulation of raw milk from Merina sheep or other sheep breeds well adapted to the defined geographical area. The milk is coagulated using an infusion of thistle.
For their part, the Yellow and Piquant cheeses of Beira Baixa PDO are obtained by draining the curd after coagulation of raw milk from Merina sheep or other breeds of sheep well adapted to the defined geographical area and raw milk from charnequeira goats or other breeds of goats well adapted to the defined geographical area.
When the Queijo de Castelo Branco PDO and the Queijo Amarelo da Beira Baixa PDO have been matured for a long period, they are referred to as ‘Velho (Old)’.
Rabaçal Cheese PDO is a cured cheese, with ancestral origins in the village of Rabaçal. It is, since then, produced in an artisanal way from a mixture of sheep and goat milk from breeds adapted to the defined geographical area, by the action of animal rennet.
Part of the distinctive and particular characteristics so appreciated in Rabaçal Cheese PDO are given by a spontaneous aromatic herb called “Erva de Santa Maria”, predominant in the pastures that serve as food for animals.
