🧀 Queso Tetilla

Queso Tetilla (Queixo Tetilla in Galician) is a soft cheese from Galicia made from whole cow's milk. Its conical, concave-convex shape recalls a woman's breast, which gives it its name. ⁴ Both forms of the name have been protected in the EU as a PDO since 1996. ¹²

The milk. It comes only from Rubia Gallega, Friesian and Brown Swiss cows and their crosses, from farms entered in the appellation's register; the cattle eat mainly grass and forage from the area and graze freely when the weather allows. The milk may not be standardised or mixed with other milk and must contain no colostrum or preservatives; only calcium chloride may be added. ³⁴

How it is made. The milk is coagulated with animal rennet or another approved enzyme, with lactococcal starters, at 30–34 °C, and coagulation takes 30 to 60 minutes. The curd is cut to the size of a chickpea, part of the whey is drained, and the curd may be washed with water to lower its acidity. The cheese is then moulded, pressed and salted in the vat or in brine for no more than 24 hours, and it ripens for at least 8 days. ⁴

What it looks like. A cheese weighs 0.5–1.5 kg, with a height and base diameter of 90–150 mm. The rind is thin, under 3 mm, elastic, straw-yellow, natural and mould-free, and may be coated with a clear, colourless anti-mould coating. The paste is soft, creamy and ivory-white, with no holes or a few small ones; the taste is milky, buttery, slightly acidic and mildly salty. ⁴

Composition. Fat in dry matter is at least 45%, dry matter is also at least 45%, the pH is 5.0–5.5 and water in the fat-free matter is 66–72%. ⁴

History. The first reliable mention is a letter of 1753 in which a chaplain from the parish of Torés in Lugo province sends his lord, among other things, three and a half dozen "tetillas". The friar Martín Sarmiento noted between 1746 and 1770 that in Galicia small breast-shaped cheeses were called "tetas", and the fair at A Illana was so famous that the cheese was for a time called "A Illana cheese". In 1832–1835 the monastery of San Martiño Pinario in Santiago bought at least a dozen a week, and up to 20 dozen in winter. ⁴

From farmhouses to dairies. During the First World War Galicia exported about 500 tonnes of Tetilla, and a decade later it produced twice as much, half of all Galician cheese. Even in the 1960s it was made only at home, by women who passed the method down the generations; dairies took up Tetilla only in the mid-20th century. ⁴

Today. In 2023 Tetilla was made from the milk of 21,492 cows on 704 farms in 24 dairies: it took 14.3 million litres of milk and yielded 1.83 million kg of cheese bearing the appellation mark. Of this, 1.68 million kg were sold in Spain and 140,600 kg in other EU countries. The price was 8 euros per kilogram and the value 14.62 million euros, or 3.54% of the value of all Spanish cheese appellations. ⁵

Queso Tetilla or other soft cow’s cheeses? Tetilla is not a fresh cheese and not a mould-ripened one. The curd is cut to the size of a chickpea, drained, moulded, pressed and salted, then the cheese ripens for at least 8 days under a thin, elastic, straw-yellow rind that is natural and mould-free. The paste is soft, creamy and ivory-white with few holes. It is also a small, young cheese of 0.5–1.5 kg, meant to be eaten within 60 to 90 days of making, so it is not a cheese to keep for months.

Look for the name “Queso Tetilla” or “Queixo Tetilla” with the words “Denominación de Origen Protegida” and the EU PDO logo. Genuine cheese carries a Regulatory Council back label with an alphanumeric code, applied only at the dairy that made it. A cheese over 0.7 kg may be sold in halves, each with its own label. It weighs 0.5–1.5 kg and has a breast-like shape. Expect it at a supermarket cheese counter, a cheese shop or a delicatessen.

Why it matters to you. Genuine Tetilla carries a Regulatory Council back label with an alphanumeric code, and its label shows the words "Denominación de Origen Protegida", the name and the EU logo; it is applied only at the dairy that made the cheese. Cheeses over 0.7 kg may be sold in halves, each with its own label. Tetilla is a young cheese: best eaten within 60 days (0.5–0.7 kg cheeses) or 90 days (larger ones) of making. ⁴