Spanish Cheese Tetilla
The Tetilla cheese is one of the best known cheeses of Galicia gastronomy. It is made from pasteurized cow's milk from Galician breeds, with a maturity of between 7 and 30 days. Named for its shape of breast or nipple, this Spanish cheese is one of the most sought after within and outside Spain.
Built from ancient times into the traditional Spanish diet, history makes it one of the most sought after in and out of their homeland and is also a point of reference, an essential part when it comes to Spanish cheeses.
The Tetilla cheese protected by D.O.P. Queixo Tetilla (of 0.5 to 1.5 Kg) has a tapered or conical-convex characteristic shape. The height is between 90 and 150 mm, and also the base diameter between 90 and 150 mm (the height is greater than the radius of the base and less than the diameter). It has an appreciable elastic thin crust, of less than 3 mm thick, yellow straw color, natural and mold free. The mass is soft, creamy and smooth, with few and uniformly distributed eyes, of white-ivory, yellowish pleasing color.
Its soft, slightly acidic aroma reminds the milk from which it’s made, like its milky, buttery, slightly sour and salty flavor. Galician soft cheeses like Tetilla cheese can be consumed with young acids and fresh white wines such as Albariño or Ribeiro and with any red wines.
The Tetilla cheese is made from milk of cows whose pasture sites are in the coastal range. There, master cheesemakers modeled cheeses by hand. The milk curdles and is heated between 28 and 32 °C, and natural rennet is added in this process. The mass is cut into large grain and once it is firm, is poured into molds, which are slightly pressed to eliminate the serum. The process ends with the salt of the pieces in the brine. Originally, salt was applied to the mass. Maturation occurs in the moist and fresh environment of Galicia, and lasts between 10 and 30 days.