Afuega'l Pitu
| Afuega'l Pitu | |
|---|---|
| country |  Spain
|
| region | Asturias |
| Type of cheese | Soft cheese |
| Milk supplier | cow |
| description | |
| shape | Truncated cone or pumpkin shape |
| size | approx. 5 to 12 cm high and 8 to 14 cm in diameter |
| Bleed | white or orange-red with the addition of paprika powder |
| bark | different, orange-red with the addition of paprika powder |
| Ripening time | 5 to 60 days |
| Nutritional information | |
| Fat content | at least 45% FiTr. |
| Legal information | |
| protected term | PDO |
| Ordinance on protection | Commission Regulation (EC) No. 723/2008 of July 25, 2008 |
| Geographical area | |
The Afuega'l Pitu is a soft cheese from cow's milk , in the municipalities of Morcín , Riosa , Santo Adriano , Grado , Salas , Pravia , Tineo , Belmonte de Miranda , Cudillero , Candamo , Las Regueras , Muros de Nalón and Soto del Barco in Autonomous Community of Asturias . Afuega'l Pitu is a nationally protected designation of origin with the addition since 2004 DO and since 2008 in the European Union Protected Designation of Origin .
properties
The Afuega'l Pitu is made in two forms, with and without the addition of paprika:
- Atroncau blancu in the shape of a truncated cone or an inverted flower pot, white, weight 200 to 300 grams, diameter at the base 8-14 cm, height 5-12 cm;
- Atroncau roxu in the shape of a truncated cone, colored orange-red by adding paprika;
- Trapu blancu, pumpkin- or pear-shaped with pronounced folds from the surrounding cloth, weight 500 to 600 grams;
- Trapu roxu, pumpkin or pear-shaped, colored orange-red by adding paprika.
Other variants are the cheese that has matured for different times, young, medium and old. The young Afuega'l Pitu has a white, soft and irregular surface. It has a pronounced milk taste, not or slightly salty and pleasantly sour. With increasing maturity, the slightly moist bark turns yellowish-brown and has areas with white or blue mold. The taste becomes spicier and stronger. A particularly hot variant is flavored with smoked paprika ( Pimentón de la Vera ) and matured for two months.
The young cheese has a moisture content of at least 30%, at least 45% fat in the dry matter , at least 35% protein in the dry matter, a pH value between 4.1 and 5.0, and a water content of the fat-free mass of at least 70 %.
history
The Afuega'l Pitu is one of the oldest Spanish cheeses . The oldest written evidence comes from the 18th century. At that time taxes were paid with the Afuega'l Pitu, in the traditional documents it is called quesu de puñu or Afueg'l Pitu . The Asturian jurist and romantic lyric poet Félix de Aramburu described it at the end of the 19th century as the "primitive queso de puñu or afuega el pitu , which is common in almost every municipality in Asturias". In the work Asturias (Su historia y monumentos) by Octavio Bellmunt and Fermín Canella , which was published in three volumes from 1895 to 1900 , reference is made repeatedly to the "widespread" cheese known as "afuega el pitu or by other names".
The name Afuega'l Pitu comes from the Asturian language and literally means to strangle the chicken . It refers either to the tying of the cloth ( fardela ) with the cheese, to its texture, which occasionally makes it stick to the palate and makes it difficult to swallow, or to the traditional feeding of the cheese to chickens. Further translations of the name such as "drown your throat" or "get stuck in your throat" are circulating in the literature and on the Internet, which are helpless theories without reference to reality.
Historically, in the communities along the Narcea and Nalón rivers, Afuega'l Pitu cheese was known as cheese with different shapes, ripening times and tastes. The cheeses were made from naturally soured raw milk until, in the second half of the 20th century, Spanish hygiene regulations mandated the use of pasteurized milk in the production of all cheeses that had not matured for at least 60 days. The diversity of these cheeses has been given up in favor of a uniform production method, as this was a prerequisite for the protection of the name as a designation of origin.
Since 1981 an annual exhibition of the producers of Afuega'l Pitu has been held in Morcín . As a result of this and other activities, the cheese first gained fans in Asturias and later in the rest of Spain and among cheese lovers all over the world. In 2004 the Afuega'l Pitu received the addition DO as a nationally protected designation of origin. It has been a product with a protected designation of origin since 2008 . The municipalities of the autonomous community of Asturias , where the Afuega'l Pitu is made, are located on the banks of the Narcea and Nalón rivers and in the Sierra del Aramo : Morcín, Riosa , Santo Adriano , Grado , Salas , Pravia , Tineo , Belmonte de Miranda , Cudillero , Candamo , Las Regueras , Muros de Nalón and Soto del Barco . In this region of origin, all stages of cheese making take place, including maturation. The milk used must also come from this area.
In 2013 only two farms and nine cheese dairies were registered as producers. More than 110 tons were produced, most of which were sold on the national market. In 2014, 1,062 million liters of milk were processed into 137 tons of Afuega'l Pitu.
Manufacturing
Only milk from healthy cows of the Frisona and Asturiana de los Valles breeds and their crossbreeds is used for the Afuega'l Pitu . The dairy cows are kept in herds on the pasture during the day and driven into the stable towards evening, where they are milked and stay overnight until the morning is milked. In addition to the grazed fodder, they receive green fodder, hay or silage from the farms' own cultivation. In bad weather, small amounts of grain and legume concentrate may exceptionally be fed.
A ferment with special mushroom cultures developed in the 20th century to break down pasteurized milk produces a texture and a mouthfeel that largely corresponds to that of raw milk cheese. It also causes the formation of diacetyl , which contributes significantly to the taste. The milk is left to rest for 15 to 20 hours at a temperature of 22 to 32 ° C. with the addition of the ferment, a starter culture from different strains of Lactococcus lactis and Leuconostoc citreum and a very small amount of 2 to 5 grams of rennet per 100 kg of milk.
The white, frustoconical Atroncau blancu is poured into appropriate perforated molds with ladles . After twelve hours of draining, the cheeses are salted on the outside and converted into smaller molds, in which they drain for another 12 hours. Finally, the loaves are removed from the molds and placed on perforated surfaces for final draining.
The three other variants are stirred. To the curd in large containers 24 hours on gauze drained. The mass is then mixed with salt and, if necessary, paprika in a stirred kettle. The frustoconical cheeses with paprika are filled in conical shapes, the pumpkin-shaped ones in linen bags tied at the top. The cheeses drain in it for a further 24 hours.
Maturation requires a temperature of 4 to 15 ° C and a humidity of 75 to 85%. It lasts at least five and at most 60 days. The cheese can only be made from raw milk if it has matured for 60 days .
consumption
The optimal time for consumption is between 15 and 30 days after production. However, much of the cheese is consumed earlier.
Fresh white Afuega'l Pitu goes well with jam or honey. A dry sherry goes well with the paprika-flavored variants .
Web links
- DOP Queso Afuega'l Pitu , website of the Asturian Association of Producers (Spanish)
- Afuega'l Pitu in the Enciclopedia de los Alimentos of the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture (Spanish)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Paloma Cuesta, Estrella Fernández-García, Dolores González de Llano, Antonia Montilla, Ana Rodríguez: Evolution of the Microbiological and Biochemical Characteristics of Afuega'l Pitu Cheese During Ripening . In: Journal of Dairy Science . tape 79 , no. 10 , 1996, pp. 1693-1698 , doi : 10.3168 / jds.S0022-0302 (96) 76534-7 .
- ↑ a b c d e f g Javier Carballo: Afuega'l Pitu . In: Catherine Donnelly (Ed.): The Oxford Companion to Cheese . Oxford University Press, Oxford 2016, ISBN 978-0-19-933088-1 , pp. 11-12 .
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i Maria Belén López Morales, Thomas Bintsis, Efstathios Alichanidis, Karol Herian, Paul Jelen, Erica R. Hynes, Maria Cristina Perotti, Carina V. Bergamini, Everaldo Attard, Anthony Grupetta, Stefania Carpino, Tânia G. Tavares, F. Xavier Malcata: Soft Cheeses (with Rennet) . In: Photis Papademas, Thomas Bintsis (Ed.): Global Cheesemaking Technology. Cheese Quality and Characteristics . John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, NJ and Chichester 2018, ISBN 978-1-119-04615-8 , chap. 4 , p. 301-325 , doi : 10.1002 / 9781119046165.ch4 .
- ↑ a b c Juliet Harbutt (Ed.): World Cheese Book . Dorling Kindersley, London a. a. 2009, ISBN 978-0-7566-5442-9 , pp. 148 .
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i Publication of an application in accordance with Article 6 Paragraph 2 of Regulation (EC) No. 510/2006 of the Council on the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin for agricultural products and food (PDF; 90), accessed on 21 January 2018
- ↑ Regulation (EC) No. 723/2008 of the Commission of 25 July 2008 for the entry of certain names in the register of protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications (Afuega'l Pitu (PDO), Mazapán de Toledo (PGI), Agneau de Lozère (PGI), Oignon doux des Cévennes (PDO), Butelo de Vinhais or Bucho de Vinhais or Chouriço de Ossos de Vinhais (PGI), Chouriça Doce de Vinhais (PGI)) , accessed on 20 January 2020