Torta del Casar

Torta del Casar
250 px
Country of origin	Spain
Region, town	Casar de Caceres, Caceres
Region	Extremadura
Source of milk	Sheep
Pasteurised	No
Texture	Semi-hard
Aging time	60 days minimum
Certification	protected-origin status 2003
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Torta del Casar is a cheese made from sheep's milk in the Extremadura region of Spain. It is named after Casar de Cáceres, its city of origin. The milk is curdled using a coagulant found in the pistils of the cardoon, a wild thistle. This ingredient lends a subtle bitterness to the otherwise rich and slightly salty tasting cheese. It is aged for at least sixty days. The fully ripe cheese has a creamy consistency in the center, and is traditionally eaten by slicing off the top and scooping out the inside.

In 1999, the cheese was given protected-origin status, regulations that stipulate not only where it can be produced, but also that it can only be made with the milk of Merino and Entrefina sheep. These breeds have a low yield of milk, and it takes the milk of 20 sheep to make a 1kg wheel of Torta del Casar.

See also

• List of cheeses
• List of sheep milk cheeses

References

• Torta del Casar: Regulation Council, Protected Designation of Origin, retrieved December 22, 2005
• "It takes a herd of sheep to make one small wheel of Torta del Casar" by Janet Fletcher, San Francisco Chronicle, December 22, 2005, retrieved December 22, 2005