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Thursday, 28 November 2024, 10:31
Regional Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Ramón Fernández-Pacheco has praised the "high level" achieved by Andalusian cheeses following the 36th edition of the prestigious World Cheese Awards, where four Andalusian cheesemakers have been recognised with six SuperGold awards, the highest distinction awarded by this pretigious competition.
A total of 4,786 cheeses were judged by 250 professionals from the industry at the event, held this year in Portugal. Spain won 25 SuperGold awards in all, six of which went to four Andalusian cheese producers. The 'Payoyo' and 'Doña Casilda' cheese brands, both from the province of Cadiz, won one of these awards. The former for its semi-cured goat's and sheep's cheese, and the latter for its fully cured (six months of maturing) rosemary cheese.
Likewise, the artisan cheese-producing dairy 'Las RRR' from Granada has won another two SuperGolds for its cured goat's cheese and rosemary-flavoured sheep's cheese (gran reserva) - both made with unpasteurised milk. Lácteos Romero Peláez, better known for their trade name Quesos y Besos from Guarromán in Jaén, match this achievement with two medals for its creamy, soft cheeses.
Fernández-Pacheco pointed out that all these cheeses "show the value of tradition and innovation in the dairy sector in the region, which has a wide variety of traditional cheeses of excellent quality." He added that it is "An activity that not only keeps the population in their municipalities, but also allows the survival of numerous indigenous breeds and good animal husbandry."
Diversification of production
The minister also pointed out that there are currently 15 recognised Andalusian varieties of cheese, five from sheep's milk and 10 made from goat's milk. He also mentioned the appearance of new specialities that show diversification in cheese-making, a "further demonstration of the strength that our agri-food industry sector acquires when tradition and innovation are combined."
Although it is also used for the production of other dairy products or for direct sale alone, in Andalucía almost 71% of the milk produced is actually cow's milk. The region's milk production represents around 7.5% of national production. Interesting also that the region holds top spot in Spain in terms of professionalisation of the dairy industry and the size of dairy farms with cows. The second most important dairy-related product is that of goat's milk (28 % of Andalusian milk production), which accounts for 46 % of national output and makes Spain the second largest producer in Europe, behind only France.
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