Portugal Archives | Cheese Atlas https://thecheeseatlas.com/tag/portugal/ Best Cheeses of the World Sun, 07 May 2023 05:22:20 +0000 en-AU hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0 https://thecheeseatlas.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Small_LogoMark-PepperStem.png Portugal Archives | Cheese Atlas https://thecheeseatlas.com/tag/portugal/ 32 32 196917962 Azeitão https://thecheeseatlas.com/cheese-profiles/azeitao/ https://thecheeseatlas.com/cheese-profiles/azeitao/#comments Sun, 17 Jul 2022 00:47:49 +0000 https://thecheeseatlas.com/?p=30929 The Jewel in Portugal's Crown

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Without a doubt, Portugal is one of the world’s most underrated destinations for cheese tourism. And their artisanal cheeses don’t get much better than Azeitão.

Soft oozy Portuguese cheese Azeitão
Ripe Azeitão - Alivetaste

Where does Azeitão come from?

Azeitão is a soft washed rind cheese that is made by select farmhouse dairies in the Arrábida Mountains of southern Portugal. Local cheesemakers coagulate their raw sheep’s milk using a vegetable rennet that is derived from the stamens of the cardoon thistle flower.

While the use of this rennet is traditional in some Mediterranean regions, it is actually very challenging to master. Indeed, consistency between batches is hard to maintain and, because of this, most commercial cheesemakers prefer to use animal rennet.

What does Azeitão taste like?

Azeitão’s texture is smooth and velvety when ripe, becoming harder and drier as the cheese ages. Its rind is a rust-brown colour, and is occasionally dotted with patches of white mould. The interior paste is ivory-white and oozes at room temperature.

Finally, the cheese’s aroma can be fairly pungent and sheepy. Because of the cardoon thistle rennet, Azeitão tends to develop a slightly sour taste with a touch of bitterness. Overall, this balances well the sweetness of the sheep’s milk and the herbaceous and vegetal notes in the cheese. 

How to serve Azeitão

Because of its robust flavour and aroma, this wondrous Portuguese cheese is best paired with more moderate flavours. Sweet white wines from the same region or medium-bodied red wines with low tannin levels will work wonders. 

Thank you for reading

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