When I stopped by Premier Gourmet after work today, I was treated to a wide variety of cheese samplings by Janet Ostrow, owner of Premier Gourmet for the last twelve years. One of the cheeses I tasted (and brought home) was Caña de Oveja, a soft-ripened sheep's milk cheese from Spain.Caña de Oveja is made in Murcia, a dry and mountainous region of southeastern Spain, by Central Quesera Montesinos, a leading producer of Spanish artisanal cheeses.
Caña de Oveja comes in the shape of a log and is covered in a somewhat thick, bloomy, white rind. Immediately underneath the rind is a thin, gooey layer of cheese that quickly gives way to a creamy, crumbly paste. The inner portion of the cheese is slightly acidic, buttery and delicious. It's no wonder the cheese won a Silver Medal at the 2005 World Cheese Awards in London.
Restaurant Magnus in Madison, WI, bakes Caña de Oveja in phyllo dough and tops it with seasonal fruit, a sherry butter sauce and a habanero glaze. That sounds delicious.
I highly recommend this very interesting cheese. It is unlike most cheeses you will encounter.
Tried a portion of this tonight, paired with a bottle of [i]Saison Dupont[/i] (a pairing I strongly recommended; the pungency of the sheep's-milk cheese and the funk of the farmhouse ale play wonderfully off one another), and it was nothing short of an epiphanic experience. This may go on to become one of my favorite cheeses.
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