Enjoy Manchego Cheese at Mayfair Restaurant
Manchega is a breed of sheep of ancient origin that graze on the high, arid plains of La Mancha in central Spain. And La Mancha’s manchega’s produce the milk that is used to make what is arguably Spain’s most famous cheese, manchego, sold in supermarkets around the UK.
It’s a lovely nutty cheese that has become popular worldwide, and in 2022 the cheesemakers of La Mancha exported 18,000 tonnes of manchego worth £220 million. But production is not without its problems.
In March, 2023, an outbreak of sheep pox led to the slaughter of 42,000 sheep leading to the loss of nine million litres of manchega milk, according to analysts at Mintec. And that came at a time when the number of farmers and shepherds had already fallen dramatically. Fewer shepherds means fewer sheep, and less cheese. Less cheese with increasing demand leads to price rises.
A Restaurant in Mayfair stocked with Spanish Cheeses
Queso manchego is protected by Spain’s denominación de origen (DOP) system and has been granted Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) by the European Union. That means that production is strictly regulated. It can only be made with the whole milk of manchega sheep raised on registered farms in four provinces of La Mancha and it must be aged for a minimum of 60 days and a maximum of two years. And then it can only be made by pressing in a cylindrical mould that has a maximum height of 12cm and a maximum diameter of 22cm.
The problem is that it’s difficult to convince people to take on shepherding as a career. In the past, the farmer or shepherd’s children would take over as a matter of course, but these days they see the work as thankless, demanding, time consuming and low paying. They’re looking for easier ways to earn a living.
So, the next time you tuck into manchego cheese take your time to savour it. Try it at El Pirata restaurant in Down Street, Mayfair, London – it’s perfect with a glass of Mira la Mar Oloroso sherry.
Incidentally, La Mancha is derived either from the Arabic words al-mansha, meaning ‘land without water’ or al-manya, which means high plateau (both of which are reasonable descriptions).
