🧀 Mahón-Menorca

Mahón-Menorca is a Spanish pressed-paste cheese with a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), registered in the EU in 1996. According to the specification it is made from cow's milk of the Friesian, Mahonesa or Menorquina and Brown Alpine breeds; occasionally up to 5% milk of the Menorquina sheep breed may be added.

Milk and types. The milk must be whole and clean, with no preservative, and the cheese must contain at least 38% fat in dry matter and at least 50% total dry matter. Two types are protected: Mahón-Menorca Artesano, made from raw milk, and Mahón-Menorca, made in industrial dairies from milk that has undergone some preservation process. Both are called semicurado when ripened for less than 150 days and curado when ripened for more; artisan cheese must ripen for at least 60 days.

Making. Coagulation takes at least 30 to 40 minutes at 30 to 34 °C, and the curd is cut to grains of about 1 cm. Artisan cheese is moulded by hand in the fogasser, a square cotton cloth, which leaves its fold marks on the top face. The cheese is pressed for about 10 hours, brined for up to 48 hours, aired for 3 or 4 days and then ripened, being turned and cleaned from time to time. In artisan cheese the rind is rubbed during ripening with cow butter, olive oil or olive oil with paprika.

The cheese. It is a block with a square base and rounded edges and corners, 5 to 9 cm high and weighing 0.6 to 4 kg. The rind is compact and greasy, yellow to brownish-yellow; the paste is firm and ivory yellow, with few round eyes, none larger than a pea. The taste has mitigated acidity and a slight milky note, with piquancy that becomes more marked in aged cheeses.

Where it is made. The milk is produced and the cheese made and ripened on the island of Menorca, in registered farms, dairies and ripening rooms.

Labelling. The label of the cheese sold to consumers carries the PDO logo and a control number, and the name Mahón-Menorca must appear prominently.

Mahón-Menorca the cheese or Mahón the town? Searchers mix them up, but the cheese is the one made on the whole island of Menorca; the name arose in the 18th century when Mahón, the port of shipment, was added to records of cheese exports. Within the cheese, Artesano is made from raw milk and moulded by hand in a cotton cloth, while the other type comes from industrial dairies. Semicurado ripens under 150 days, curado longer, with the piquancy growing in aged cheeses.

Look for the name “Mahón-Menorca” shown prominently, the EU PDO logo and a control number on the label. The cheese is a block with a square base and rounded edges, 0.6 to 4 kg, with a compact, greasy yellow to brownish-yellow rind and firm ivory-yellow paste. On an artisan cheese the top face may show the fold marks of the fogasser cloth. It is sold at cheese counters, delicatessens and specialist cheese shops, labelled semicurado or curado.

Link with the area. According to the specification, cheese-making on Menorca is documented from the 5th century, and the name arose in the 18th century when military authorities added Mahón, the port of shipment, to records of the island's cheese exports.