Portugal
– given its continental narrowness – cannot pride itself of having good
pastures, especially for larger stock… However, in the areas where the
high grass is scarce, the goats and the sheep reign. The Azores is
quite another story. There, on the island of São Miguel, and on the other
blessed island “her ladyship the cow” is empress. That is, the true dairy
cow, not the “marcolina cow” in the paradigmatic translation
of “vacum cleaner” done by some, touched by the American greatness of
local emigration…
Therefore,
and also due to the poverty of the soil, herd tending has always been
present in the Lusian lands, as a very old livelihood, quite often
supplementing in a sustainable manner, avant la letter, the tilling of the
soil, while the payment for the “pasture” that fed the furry or
woolly cattle that returned the natural manure to the earth was negotiated
between farmers and shepherds. It is quite obvious that in herd land the
cheese is the king. Cheese is perhaps the oldest man made
processed food. After that hunting, fishing and fruit and vegetable collecting
times were bygone, and after man had learned to master the secret of fire,
cheese appeared. Historic documents place its genesis in the valley
between two rivers and in Egypt, around 3500 B.C. In Portugal,
cheese has certainly been produced since Neolithic times. Cheese
making, whichever the cheese, is an art. At least that is the case with
hand-made cheese, intuitively worked by experienced hands, where
knowledge is passed down from the mother to the shepherd’s daughter
who attentively follows every details: the temperature of the hand, the
curdling time, the turning of the cheeses and the changing of the bands,
the pastures of broom or other graminaceous plants of the higher
lands which greatly influence the flavour of the final product.
As
a tribute to the shepherds, to their wives and to all the people who still
work in the traditional Portuguese cheese-dairies, we have made this
commemorative stamp issue, made up of two series, portraying all
the Lusitanian cheeses with POD and geographical indication (GI),
leaving the description of the cheeses to Master José Quitério.
Serra da Estrela cheese PDO
Made
of pure, raw sheep’s milk, of the Bordaleira race, Serra da Estrela
variety, curdled with cardoon, aged between 30 to 45 days (for the soft
cheese). Cylindrical shape, about 6 cm high and 15 in diameter and
weighing between 300 and 1500 g. Ivory coloured paste, soft, creamy,
“blind” or with a few small holes, exquisite flavour, slightly
acidulated. The legally defined area of production, which better opinions
considered to be excessive, covers the municipalities of Carregal do Sal,
Celorico da Beira, Fornos de Algodres, Gouveia, Mangualde,
Manteigas, Nelas, Oliveira do Hospital, Penalva do Castelo and
Seia, and a few administrative parishes in the municipalities
of Aguiar da Beira, Arganil, Covilhã, Guarda, Tábua,
Tondela, Trancoso and Viseu, in the centre-north of Portugal.
Rabaçal
cheese PDO
Made
from sheep’s and goat’s milk, in the ideal proportion of 75% of the first
to 25% of the second, raw, curdled with animal rennet, it is aged for at
least three weeks. Cylindrical shape, about 5 cm high and 12 cm
in diameter, it weighs between 300 and 500 g. Whitish-unpolished
paste, semi-hard, with little or no holes, it has a particular
flavour. The production area is mostly concentrated in the old
village of Rabaçal (Penela municipality, Coimbra district) and a few
neighbouring villages. The certificate that instituted the POD includes
the municipalities of Alvaiázere, Ansião, Condeixa-a-Nova, Penela, Pombal
and Soure, in the centre of Portugal.
Azeitão
cheese PDO
Made
from the milk of the Bordaleira sheep race, sub-race Saloia (in present times
from other imported races as well), raw, curdled with cardoon, three weeks
normal aging time. Shaped as small cylinders – 5 cm high, 8 cm
in diameter –, weighing in average between 250 to 300 g (smaller ones
are now appearing on the market). Pale-yellow or whitish paste, soft,
creamy, with a stronger milky taste than the Serra da Estrela cheese (from
which it descends). The production area established by law stretches to
the municipalities of Palmela, Sesimbra and Setúbal, in the Lisbon
region.
Cabra
Transmontano cheese PDO
Made
from raw goat’s milk of the Serrana race, curdled with animal rennet, aged
during two months at least. Cylindrical shape, 4 to 6 cm high and 12 to 15
cm in diameter, weighing between 600 and 900 g. Hard whitish “blind”
paste that has the characteristic flavour of goat’s cheese and a light
peppery touch. Produced in the municipalities of
Âlfandega da Fé, Carrazeda de Ansiães, Freixo de Espada à Cinta,
Macedo de Cavaleiros, Mirandela, Mogadouro, Torre de Moncorvo and
Vila Flor (Bragança district), as well as Murça and Valpaços (Vila Real
district), located in the north-east of Portugal.
São
Jorge cheese PDO
Made
of raw cow’s milk curdled with animal rennet. Shaped as a sort of
wheel-type big cylinder between 10 to 15 cm high, its diameter varies
between 25 and 35 cm and its weight between 8 to 12 kg. Hard,
straw-yellow paste with many tiny irregular holes, brittle, with an
individual flavour and slightly spicy touch. Minimum aging three
month. The production area is that of the whole Island of São Jorge,
Azores
Acknowledgments
Gabinete de Planeamento e Políticas - Direcção de
Serviços das Fileiras Agro Alimentares - Ministério da Agricultura; Associação
de Produtores de Queijos do Distrito de Castelo Branco (Queijo de Castelo
Branco DOP); Cooperativa de Produtores de Queijos da Beira baixa Natur - al -
Carnes (Queijo de Niza DOP); QUEITEQ - Cooperativa de Produtores de Leite de
Ovinos da Terra Quente (Queijo Terrincho DOP); Queijaria Artesanal, de Jaime
Silva Lopes, Monte da Pedra da Légua, Alcains
Technical
Details
Date
of Issue: 2 March 2011
Values:
stamps of €0,32, €0,47, €0,68, €0,80 and €1.00 and one souvenir sheet with one
stamp of €2,50
Designer: Atelier Acácio Santos / Túlio Coelho
Printer:
Joh. Enschedé
Process:
4-colour offset lithography
Size:
stamps 30.6 mm x 40.0 mm
Souvenir
sheet 125 x 95 mm
Perforation:
Cross of Christ 13 x 13
Paper:
White TR CPST331 110g/m2
Watermark:
Sheet:
sheets of 50 stamps
