Casin

Queso Casin DOP is probably the oldest cheese to be documented in Asturias and, according to some, it is among the oldest in all of Spain. It has historically been found mentioned in many documents from the 14th century that reference the particular production method of kneaded curds. Casin cheese is a cow’s milk cheese made with the milk from the Casina breed (also known as the Asturiana Mountain breed). It is a hard or semi-hard, high-fat, aged cheese made with whole, raw milk. It has a high fat content of at least 45%. The milk used in the production of this cheese is obtained from farmers that are belong to the area covered by the DOP.It is cylindrical and disk shaped, but irregular. Each individual cheese weighs between 250 and 1000 g. It is straw yellow with whitish shades. Its aromatic profile is complex, intense, and rather pungent for those not used to it. Obviously, those less aged are less pungent. In any case, the flavor is persistent and has a lightly bitter aftertaste. It is eaten on its own because of its strong flavor or as a dessert served with quince.To make the cheese, milk is heated to 35°C for the insertion of the rennet. The milk is then held for eight days inside the stomach of a pig, where it is left to coagulate and then it is left for a few days on a canvas cloth to release the whey. After having drained the whey, it is mixed and shaped with a tool called a gorollo and left to rest in a cool place for a few days. This process is repeated several times at an interval of once a week, each time adding new curds. The aging of the cheese is done in a well-ventilated area with a temperature of about 8°C and a humidity of 80% for about two months.Following tradition, the last step is done by hand: the marking on the top part of the cheese is made with a wooden stamp to imprint the mark of the artisan. The stamps general have floral themes, the names of the producers or even geometric designs. Currently, there are only two producers operating in the area.