8 Cheeses from Malaga, amongst the Best in the World

Food & Drink
The quality, the distinction in flavour and the treatment of the product has its rewards. This is what three companies in Malaga have achieved, therefore getting recognised among the most demanding palates. In total, eight kinds of cheese have been awarded for the prestigious cheese sector, World Cheese Awards.

The new Awards edition was celebrated on the 2nd of November in Bergen, Norway, in which 3.472 cheeses from all over the world took part. The panel, composed of 235 experts from 29 different countries were in charge of tasting all the participating products.
Among them all, they found various cheeses from Malaga, but the ones that stood out the most belonged to cheese companies such as Agamma, El Pinsapo and La Cañada del Capitán, which managed to achieve and bring to the province one golden, five silver and two bronze medals.


Cheese bathed in oil
Málaga cooperative, Montes de Málaga Agrupación de Ganaderos (Agamma), which brings together more than 170 goat milk producers from all over the province, surprised the jury with three of its elaborations, all from cattle that graze outdoors in the Montes de Málaga. Its characterization lies in the appreciation of wild herbs of the land.

The cured cheese bathed in oil won a silver medal. The use of these ingredients provides the traditional sensation of having bread smeared in oil, ensures Enrique Cazorla, an expert on cheeses in Agamma. The intense characteristic sensation is achieved thanks to the maturing process of about six months, by which it receives the same treatment as the dry cured cheese, but which is incorporated at a later stage of smearing in oil and bran.

The second silver medal was obtained thanks to the cured Montes de Málaga cheese. This is distinguished by its goat aromas and a spicy aftertaste achieved thanks to its long maturation process in dry which makes its conservation optimal.

The bronze medal has been acquired through their cottage cheese. Its most important character is the quality achieved with the immediacy of its production to increase the dairy flavour of the cheese. "The intense flavour and texture, we have achieved thanks to the freshness and high quality that we use in Agamma. The final product is spectacular", highlights Cazorla.

Combination of thyme and goat's milk
The Cañada del Capitán, an artisan factory located in Vélez-Málaga, has been the company that in this edition has been awarded the gold medal, as well as two silver medals. The golden award was taken by the semi-cured goat cheese, thanks to the treatment and the nuances with this aromatic herb, wrapped in thyme and moulded by hand. "To this spice, they added the maturation process and the selective feeding of the goats, which is based on tender shoots and other aromatic plants, which make the taste very special and of quality", says Mélani Ruiz, representative of the company.

Their cured goat cheese achieved one of the two silver medals with which they have been awarded. It distinguishes its aroma and spicy notes that intensify on the palate, achieved through a healing process of about three months. The second silver prize has been taken by the semi-cured cheese, also made with goats' milk from Malaga, characterized by a milder flavour and a more tender feel, to which its high vitamin B2 content is added.

Buttery & creamy Touch
The cheese factory ''El Pinsapo'', from Sierra de las Nieves, which manifests itself as "master craftsmen of pure goat cheese", has managed to be part of the best cheeses in the world thanks to the two bronze and silver awards obtained in the competition.

On the one hand, with their semi-cured cheese, they have reached the silver distinction. Its characteristic odour of Roquefort and camembert, together with the buttery and creamy touch on the palate, has clearly differentiated it from other cheeses of the same category. On the other hand, the bronze has been obtained by the cured cheese, characteristic for its dark colour and spicy degraded flavour and with an aftertaste of nuts, achieved in its maturation process, which extends from six to seven months.

In addition to the prize-winners from Malaga and the gold, silver and bronze awards, the contest also positions in Top 16, the cheeses that they value as 'Super Gold', among them three Spanish kinds of cheese: the Semicured Majonero with PDO paprika. Maxorata, the Old Cheese Mix of the Reserve of Entrepinares and the Matured cheese of Organic Goat of the factory Mas el Garet.