Why would someone decide to get on a horse and fight windmills? I do not see a reason for it, but this story is one of the main elements in one of the most published books worldwide: Don Quixote. Things may have changed since its first publication 400 years ago, but the region where it happens, La Mancha, still retains a lot of tradition. The area has preserved traditional ways of living and proudly producing one of the most consumed Spanish cheese in the world - Manchego!
Wine in La Mancha
La Mancha is a vast flat land at one hour drive South of Madrid. Their main local produce are wine and cheese. In summer months, here has plenty of sun and limited water, making it challenging for the wine production. However, the skillful winemakers space out the vineyards so much that the grapes benefit from the wind and when they grow the leaves create a natural umbrella. One of the grapes, Airen, is still the most widely planted white grape in the world, although most of its production is for distillation in the production of Brandy.
Manchego
The cheese, called Manchego (literally “from La Mancha”) is a pasteurised cheese from sheep's milk cured between two months and two years depending on the quality. The main producer in the region (and the world) is Garcia Baquero making more than 20 million kilos of cheese a year. Its Managing Director, Luis Alfredo explained me the whole process in my last visit to the region and how they are now developing a new style of cheese with more flavour and in the style of Parmigiano.
Traditional Dish - Suckling Lamb
When visiting one of the wineries, VQ, the owner and winemaker Jose Fernando prepared one of the traditional dishes: Suckling lamb at the rustic way. The recipe is based on having an iron cast open casserole on a fire prepared with branche from vines and using 0.5L. olive oil with a 4Kg. suckling lamb diced, until is golden on the outside, in it goes 1L. of red wine and leave it to cook until it is tender to eat. No need for cutlery, just picking with fingers.
My two-day visit in La Mancha at the beginning of the Summer was brief yet ended sweetly. I promised a return in the near future!
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