The best semi-cured artisan cheese at the 25th Mahón-Menorca cheese competition was made at Ses Arenetes, a small Menorcan farm, and matured by Quesos Torralba. The prize reflects the work of both: the farmers who make the cheese and the affineur who brings it to maturity.
The farm
At Ses Arenetes, Carlos Taltavull and his wife Margarita Cursach, helped by their neighbour Llorenç Bosch, start work early every morning. They milk their Friesian cows, which are fed on pasture and forage grown on the farm, along with silage and grain, and turn the milk into cheese straight after milking.
Making the cheese
- The warm milk goes straight into the vat, where rennet is added.
- Once the milk has set, the curd is cut into small pieces.
- The curd is gathered by hand in a traditional cotton cloth, the fogasser, which gives Mahón-Menorca cheese its characteristic square shape with rounded edges.
- The cheeses are pressed for seven to eight hours, then soaked in brine for 24 hours.
- They rest on reeds for about a week to form a light rind.
Maturing at Torralba
Quesos Torralba then takes over:
- the cheeses are first dried at room temperature, and turned every few days for about three weeks;
- they then move to the cellar, where they are rubbed with olive oil and paprika, turned weekly and oiled again every two weeks.
After two months they can be sold as semi-cured; after five months, as cured; and after a year, as aged (añejo).
Why it won
The judges praised the winning cheese’s shape, smooth texture, balanced and slightly acidic flavour, and the small eyes that form during maturing.
Generations of expertise
Corin Cardona, who runs Quesos Torralba and represents the fourth generation of his family in the business, chose the winning cheese himself. He tastes each batch, checking colour, aroma, texture and balance — the same criteria used by the Mahón-Menorca designation of origin. His family’s relationship with Ses Arenetes goes back generations.
A Menorcan tradition
Mahón-Menorca cheese has had a protected designation of origin since 1985. The farm-made, artisan version — produced from raw milk on the farm itself — is the most traditional form, and awards like this one recognise the families who keep it alive.
