"Aromatic Crumbliness that
melts in your mouth"

Fuerteventura Island is located in the southeastern reaches of the Canary Island archipelago, a little more than 100km from Africa.

With its extensive golden sandy beaches and wide plains, caressed by the sun and trade winds, this important tourist destination is also a land with a farming tradition going back a thousand years. The goat cheeses produced on Fuerteventura are sought after not only in the archipelago but outside of the islands as well. Fundamental factors determining the quality of this cheese are the rich pastures from a land that is dry but pleasant, and the unsurpassable characteristics of the Majorera goat, a very adaptable rustic animal which produces a thick, aromatic and high-fat milk.

During the Middle Ages, this island was known as Maxorata and the name of the cheese "queso Majorero" comes from the adjective denominating the inhabitants and products of the island.

This milk, along with the talents of the Majorero cheese-makers is the main secret of one of the best goat cheeses in Spain.

Queso Majorero is normally available in large sizes presented in three different ways: natural rind rubbed with oil, rubbed with pimenta or with "gofio" (roasted cornmeal).

Labeled "Denominación de Origen" (D.O.).

Origin

• All the island of Fuerteventura (Canary Islands).

Characteristics.

• Fuerteventura is considered the oldest of the Canary Islands. Its low altitude and lack of rain make Fuerteventura a very dry, arid island, with scarce vegetation, where the goat breeding takes place in the humid and higher areas of the Jandia peninsula and Betancuria lands.
• Fuerteventura and Lanzarote were the first islands of the archipelago to receive European and African explorers. These visitors already attest, in their documents dating from the XIII century, the large amount of goat herds. These goats were a source of fur, meat, milk and cheese, and therefore a very important factor in the island economy.
• Today the goat shepherds have joined together in the cooperative of Gran Tarajal, adding some industrial processes to the cheese production in order to improve and increase the production of the cheese.

  Production process.

• Majorero is an aged cheese, from aired to very cured, made only with goats´milk. It has an enzimatic coagulation. The paste is pressed and uncooked.
• The goats´milk must be unpasteurized. After the only daily milking of the goats, in the morning, the lamb curd is added to the milk, in order to obtain a compact curdle in approximately one hour.
• The resulting curdle must be intensely beaten. The serum has to be eliminated, the resulting paste has to be crumbled and compacted by hand, inside the cincho de palma (palm and wood mold) until it is completely dried and free of serum and heavily pressed, and then shaped.
• The salting is done only over the top face by rubbing with dry salt.
• It must be left to air for several days before consumption, or can be left to age in dry rooms at mild temperature. While the cheese is aging it can be rubbed with oil, paprika and gofio (a local sweet wheat flour) in order to avoid excessive drying.
• The cheeses have a cylindrical shape, of a much larger diameter than height, with the side rind engraved by the wrinkles of the molds palms, and the faces with the grooves of the wooden mold bases´. They are large cheeses, weighting more than 6.5 lb. (3 kg. ), usually between 11 and 15 lb. (5 to 7 kg.)
• The rind is white, in the case of the young aired cheeses, and brownish beige in the aged, with a somewhat scratchy touch.
• The interior is compact, but open, with eyes spread evenly, and a slightly gummy texture. The taste is acidic, a little piquant and buttery but not salty, and in the aged cheeses with an oil, paprika as well as a little toasted aroma produced by the gofio.

• It is one of the most versatile cheese of the Spanish gastronomy.
• Its fine creamy texture make it ideal for grating over pasta, as well as over potato, rice or vegetable dishes.
• Mahón is traditionally served as an appetizer, drizzled with olive oil and served with a sprig of fresh Rosemary
• The Palo Cortado sherry brings out the personality of the cheese, stressing its unique characteristics. The flavor of the wine gradually loses strength, allowing the taste of the cheese to return. The combination is very pleasant, giving very subtle sensations.

Terrine of Quince Jelly and Majorero Cheese

Serves 8

500 gr (1 lb.) quince jelly (or two tablets)
200 gr ( 1/2 lb.) fresh Majorero cheese
1 glass of cream
3 tbsp powdered sugar
Juice of half a lemon

Beat the cream when very cold in a bowl that has also been cooled with ice cubes or in the freezer, together with the icing sugar. Beat the Majorero cheese with the lemon juice and blend with the cream. Slice the quince jelly into long strips. Grease a loaf tin, line the base with greased paper and arrange it in alternate, very thin layers of quince jelly and cheese. Leave to cool and settle in the refrigerator for eight hours. Cut into slices and serve. A mint-flavored custard sauce would be very welcome accompaniment.

Recommended wine: Oloroso Dulce or Cream, D.O. sherry.

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