🧀 Queso Los Beyos

Queso Los Beyos is a Spanish cheese with a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) from the municipalities of Oseja de Sajambre (Castile and León) and Amieva and Ponga (Asturias). It is made from raw or pasteurised cow's, sheep's or goat's milk, never mixed together, using lactic coagulation. The ingredients are milk, lactic ferments, calcium chloride, rennet and salt.

Maturing. At least 15 days, and at least 60 days if the cheese is made from raw milk.

Size. A cylinder with flat or slightly concave faces, 3–9 cm high and 7–11 cm across, weighing 250–500 g. It has at least 50% dry matter and at least 45% fat in the dry matter. The whey drains in the mould under the cheese's own weight.

Rind and paste. The rind is thin and coarse, from creamy yellow to pale yellow or light brown depending on the milk. The paste is hard to semi-hard, closed, friable or crumbly when cut; white for goat's milk, marble or pale yellow for cow's and sheep's milk. The flavour is mild, slightly salty and lightly acidic; it is more intense in sheep's and goat's cheese.

Labelling. A numbered label carries the words Indicación Geográfica Protegida and Queso Los Beyos with the PGI logo, and the commercial label must state the milk species in capital letters.

Los Beyos or other mountain goat and sheep cheeses? Queso Los Beyos is not tied to one animal: the PGI allows cow's, sheep's or goat's milk, raw or pasteurised, but never mixed in one cheese. That is why the label must name the milk species in capital letters. It is a small, firm cheese of 250–500 g, made by lactic coagulation with the whey draining in the mould under the cheese's own weight. It is mild and slightly salty rather than strong, and it comes from only three municipalities in León and Asturias.

Look for the numbered label with the words “Indicación Geográfica Protegida” and “Queso Los Beyos” beside the EU PGI logo (protected geographical indication). The commercial label must show the milk species in capital letters, which is how you tell cow's, sheep's and goat's cheese apart. The cheese is a small cylinder, 250–500 g, with a thin, coarse rind from creamy yellow to light brown. Typical places to find it are a cheesemonger, a delicatessen or a supermarket cheese counter.

Name. The cheese is named after the Los Beyos gorge cut by the river Sella. According to the specification, it was mentioned in the 1752 land registry of the Marquess of La Ensenada and in Miñano's Diccionario (1827).