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Cheese from Spain, Extremadura, La Serena district

Queso de La Serena PDOQueso de La Serena

Raw whole milk from Merino and Lacaune ewes is set with dried cardoon thistle flowers (Cynara cardunculus) at 25–32 °C over 50–75 minutes. The curd is cut to 10–20 mm grains, moulded in esparto bands or moulds and salted dry or in brine of at most 20 % for up to 24 hours. It ripens at least 20 days; about 20 days after moulding the paste turns runny, the 'atortado' that gives the torta.

Fully documentedCheese21 daysPDO (EU), registered 21 June 1996 (Reg. (EC) No 1107/96); the register also lists Official Journal publications of 29 July 2017, 7 February 2024 and 23 April 2026 (PDO-ES-0086-AM02)Family: Hard pressed ewe cheese family (Manchego and Pecorino Romano as templates)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe specification gives temperatures and times but no doses. Cheeses weigh 250 g to 3 kg.
Raw whole milk of Merino and Lacaune ewes and their crosses from the areaLacaune added in 2026; at least 4.8 % protein and 11 % cheese extract[serena-eu2026]
Natural vegetable coagulant from dried Cynara cardunculus flowers (yerbacuajo)[serena-eu2026][serena-pliego2017]
Salt (sodium chloride), dry or as brine of at most 20 %[serena-pliego2017]
Starternone added; the thesis says the cheese is made without a starter culture, with raw ewe milk, vegetable coagulant and salt

Total time across the recorded steps: 21 days

Start
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25–32 °C

What changes: Dried thistle flowers set the raw ewe milk slowly at 25–32 °C

Step 1 of 5
Set with thistle coagulant
Time
50 min – 1.3 h
Set
Temperature
25–32 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria
L. mesenteroides
Lactococcus lactis
L. raffinolactis

The moderate temperature and the weak thistle coagulant give long setting times.

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

Raw whole milk from Merino and Lacaune ewes is set with dried cardoon thistle flowers (Cynara cardunculus) at 25–32 °C over 50–75 minutes. The curd is cut to 10–20 mm grains, moulded in esparto bands or moulds and salted dry or in brine of at most 20 % for up to 24 hours. It ripens at least 20 days; about 20 days after moulding the paste turns runny, the 'atortado' that gives the torta. Made in 5 steps over 21 days. The longest step, ripen until it turns runny, takes at least 20 days (Pliego de condiciones 2017). Salt is up to 20 % (Pliego de condiciones 2017). Lactic acid bacteria, up to 90 % of sequencing reads through ripening; mainly Leuconostoc mesenteroides, Lactococcus lactis and Lactococcus raffinolactis does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 20 daysSet[serena-pliego2017]Ripen until it turns runny
Temperature25–32 °CSet[serena-eu2026][serena-pliego2017]Set with thistle coagulant
Saltup to 20 %Set[serena-pliego2017]Salt
AciditypH 4.9–5.9Set[serena-eu2026]Ripen until it turns runny

What makes this one different

Set only with dried thistle flowers at a moderate temperature, so the curd sets slowly and the paste breaks down into a spoonable torta about twenty days after moulding.

Milk
Raw whole milk of Merino and Lacaune ewes and their crosses
Ripening
At least 20 days
Composition
At least 50 % fat in dry matter and at least 50 % dry matter; pH 4.9–5.9

Related ferments

Safety

Made from raw ewe milk. In the 2021 thesis, sequencing of cheeses from three Queso de La Serena and three Torta del Casar dairies found no sequences of enterohemorrhagic E. coli, Listeria monocytogenes or Salmonella. The thesis notes that other studies have reported E. coli O157:H7 and L. monocytogenes in raw-milk torta-type and Portuguese ewe cheeses, and the 2026 single document sets the pH of the finished cheese at 4.9–5.9. A clean result from six dairies does not rule these bacteria out, and the 2017 specification gives a minimum ripening of only 20 days for this soft cheese (the thesis says 60; see the ripening step). ANSES advises pregnant women, young children, people over 65 and people with weak immunity to avoid raw-milk cheeses other than cooked pressed ones such as Gruyère or Comté.

History and sources

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

Vázquez Merchán (2021) cites a 1791 account, Viaje a La Serena by Antonio Agúndez Fernández, that praises the cheese made from the district's ewe milk, and 16th–17th century ordinances of Cabeza del Buey that mention a tithe of cheese. The name was registered as a PDO on 21 June 1996; the 2026 amendment (PDO-ES-0086-AM02) added Lacaune ewes to the permitted milk.

  1. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov
  2. [serena-eu2026] Communication of approval of a standard amendment and single document, 'Queso de La Serena', PDO-ES-0086-AM02, Official Journal of the European Union C/2026/2334, 23.4.2026 (Publications Office copy)spec
  3. [serena-pliego2017] Pliego de condiciones, Denominación de Origen 'Queso de la Serena' (Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación, version of 29.7.2017; web.archive.org copy)spec
  4. [vazquez2021] Vázquez Merchán A. 2021, Aislamiento y selección de levaduras y enterobacterias para su uso en la mejora de las características tecnológicas y funcionales en quesos tradicionales de pasta blanda, doctoral thesis, Universidad de Extremadurapaper
  5. [eambrosia-reg] European Commission, eAmbrosia register record for 'Queso de La Serena' (PDO-ES-0086), EU protection date 1996-06-21, with its listed Official Journal publicationsspec