Buttery-soft sheep's cheese / Queijo de Azeitão DOP, unidade

Azeitão cheese is made from raw sheep's milk. It is a mature cheese with a semi-soft, buttery consistency and a white or slightly yellowish color, making it truly something for cheese lovers who want something special.
The cheese has a strong, spicy flavor that is both sour and salty.

Its characteristics are due, on the one hand, to the soil and climatic conditions of the region, which influence the quality of the pastures.
On the other hand, it is due to the use of a variety of the spontaneous thistle flower (Cynara Cardunculus L.) as a coagulant.

Manufacturing process:
After milking, which is usually done by hand, the milk is filtered and mixed with vegetable rennet (about 0.5 g of thistle flowers per kilogram of milk) and salt (about 25 g/liter). The milk is then stored for 45 minutes at a temperature of 30ºC. Once curdling is complete, the excess whey is removed by hand, leaving a pressed mass, which is then stored for 20 days at a temperature of 10 to 12ºC and a relative humidity of 85 to 90% to dry or de-aerate.

Weight varies between 200g-250g, as it is a natural product.