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Cheese from Portugal, Serra da Estrela

Requeijão Serra da Estrela PDOaçafates (chestnut-twig baskets)

A boundary entry, set by heat rather than by microbes. Whey left from making Queijo Serra da Estrela is diluted with 10–20 % water when the cheese was salted in the milk, heated slowly with one-way stirring to 82 °C, and may get up to 18 % sheep milk. At 96 °C the whey proteins clot into flakes, which are skimmed into small baskets, drained and wrapped at once in parchment paper.

Fully documentedCheesePDO (EU), Reg. (EC) No 205/2005; standard amendment 2024 (C/2024/5177)Family: Whey cheese (heat-precipitated whey protein) family

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe specification gives shares, not a full recipe; each piece weighs 150–400 g.
Whey from making Queijo Serra da Estrela PDO[req-2004][req-2024]
Drinking water, added when the cheese was made with salt in the milk10–20 %[req-2004]
Raw sheep milk of Bordaleira Serra da Estrela or Churra Mondegueira ewes (some dairies)up to 18 % of the quantity of requeijão[req-2004][req-2024]
Goat milk of the Serrana breed or other local breeds (optional, authorised and labelled)[req-2024]
Starternone; a heat-set whey product
Start
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What changes: Starting material: whey from Serra da Estrela cheese, softened with water

Step 1 of 5
Collect and dilute the whey
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

A boundary entry, set by heat rather than by microbes. Whey left from making Queijo Serra da Estrela is diluted with 10–20 % water when the cheese was salted in the milk, heated slowly with one-way stirring to 82 °C, and may get up to 18 % sheep milk. At 96 °C the whey proteins clot into flakes, which are skimmed into small baskets, drained and wrapped at once in parchment paper.

Key numbers
Temperature82 °CSet[req-2004]Heat slowly with one-way stirring

What makes this one different

Made from the whey of Serra da Estrela cheese and heated in two stages, slowly to 82 °C and then quickly to 96 °C. It is heat-set, not fermented, and sold fresh.

Moisture
Moisture above 60 % since 2024; earlier indicative values were 55–60 % water, 19–20 % protein, 18–20 % fat
Weight
150–400 g, taking the shape of its container

Related ferments

Safety

A perishable, microbiologically sensitive product, so it is wrapped at the dairy where it is made and sold fresh.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

The name Requeijão Serra da Estrela was entered in the register of protected designations of origin by Commission Regulation (EC) No 205/2005 of 4 February 2005. The 2004 application says Portugal has proof of cheese and curd cheese being made and eaten in the region of the Montes Hermínios (today's Serra da Estrela) from the time the Romans held the Iberian Peninsula. It also says that Motta Prego, in his 1906 work on butters and cheeses, noted that poor families lived off their flocks, with maize soaked in whey as basic food, especially for children. The 2024 standard amendment opened goat milk to breeds other than the Serrana and replaced the fixed composition with a moisture above 60 %.

Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
Process times
The sources we found give no figure for how long any of its steps take.
  1. [reg205] Commission Regulation (EC) No 205/2005 of 4 February 2005 supplementing the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 2400/96 on the entry of certain names in the Register of protected designations of origin (including Requeijão Serra da Estrela), OJ L 33, 5.2.2005, p. 6, via publications.europa.euspec
  2. [req-2004] European Commission 2004, publication of an application for registration 'Requeijão Serra da Estrela', OJ C 88, 8.4.2004 (CELEX 52004XC0408(03)), via publications.europa.euspec
  3. [req-2024] European Commission 2024, publication of an approved standard amendment 'Requeijão Serra da Estrela', OJ C, C/2024/5177, 21.8.2024, via publications.europa.euspec