Arzua Ulloa PDO Cheese

Arzúa-Ulloa cheese is one of the quintessential Galician cheeses, widely distributed throughout central Galicia, although its production was originally basically concentrated in the municipalities of southeastern A Coruña, western Lugo, and northeastern Pontevedra, receiving different names depending on the areas and historical periods, among others: Arzúa cheese, Ulla cheese, A Ulloa cheese, Curtis cheese, Chantada cheese, Friol cheese, or Lugo cheese.

It is a cheese made from raw or pasteurized cow's milk which, after a production process that includes the stages of coagulation, cutting and washing of the curd, molding, pressing, salting, and maturation, acquires the following characteristics:

Its maturation period is a minimum of six days. Its shape is lenticular or cylindrical, with rounded edges, with a diameter between 100 and 260 mm and a height between 50 and 120 mm. The height may not at any time be greater than the radius. The weight will range between 0.5 and 3.5 kg. The rind is thin and elastic, medium to dark yellow, shiny, clean, and smooth. The paste is uniformly colored, between ivory white and pale yellow, with a shiny appearance, without cracks, and may have a reduced number of small, angular or rounded eyes, irregularly distributed.

Its method of preparation is as follows:

Coagulation will be carried out with animal rennet, at a temperature of 30 to 35 °C, for a time, variable depending on the conditions of the milk and the rennet, of 30 to 75 minutes.

The cutting will be carried out so that the granularity of the curd is the size of a corn grain (5-10 mm in diameter). Subsequently, it will be washed with potable water, to lower the acidity of the curd so that in the elaborated product the pH is not lower than values between 5.0 and 5.5.

Molding is carried out in cylindrical molds. The pressing time used will vary depending on the pressure applied and the size of the pieces.

Salting will be carried out in the vat on the curd and/or by introducing the cheeses into brine. This will be kept refrigerated to avoid undesirable microbiological alterations. The cheeses will not remain in it for more than 24 hours.

Maturation will be carried out in premises where there will be a relative humidity between 75 and 90 percent and a temperature below 15 °C. The minimum maturation period for aged cheeses will be six months. During the maturation period, the cheeses will be subjected to the necessary turning and cleaning practices to acquire their peculiar characteristics.

This Denomination covers three distinct types of maturation: cheese with a maturation of 6 days, called Arzúa Ulloa Fresh Cheese; aged cheese with a maturation ranging from 4-6 months and named Nabiza Cheese or Queixo dos Tempos dos Nabos

• Raw or pasteurized cow's milk
• Animal rennet
• Potable water
• Salt

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