HeinzelCheeseTalk no 10: real cheese from Spain – February 20th, 2015

Hola, amigos del queso! This was the tenth HeinzelCheeseTalk and therefore a special one: we had a fantastic Spanish cheese guest who brought us the real stuff from his home country and told us all about it. David Raya Moreno runs, together with the ever smiling Marta, the Gusto Artesano stall at Markthalle Neun.

Every Tuesday, Friday and Saturday they offer real artisan cheese directly from Spain, full of real character and real stories (by the way: they also have great meaty wares). David brought us a very generous selection of nine cheeses, from Castellón, Extremadura, Cadíz, Girona and Asturias. Espadan was a rare example of a goat’s milk cheese made with kid’s rennet, Torta del Casar demonstrated the very special creaminess that comes with the use of cardoon „rennet“. Payoyo oveja en manteca made us aware of the fact that Iberian pigs are even better multitasks then we thought: this cheese is rubbed with their lard before aging. And there was so much more, and they were all utterly delicious. With David „translating“ their stories into words for us, they made us discover a whole new world.

And yes, of course, we had all kinds of (Spanish) wines in the glass. We started with an excellent Cava (thank you Wernher!), explored the world of Spanish natural wines (Pampaneo! Mendall!), checked that with a more „regular“ Tempranillo from Albet y Noya (courtesy of Suff) and finished with a sweet aromatic essence of Moscatel… Life is hard. As usual, you were a fantastic group to travel with on our cheese plates and in our minds – gracias, amigos, e GRACIAS, David e Marta.

HeinzelCheeseTalks take place regularly, usually on a Friday at 6pm at Markthalle Neun in Berlin-Kreuzberg. I bring some interesting cheese, open a few bottles of wine, and we sit around the large table opposite the Suff winestall, tasting, drinking, talking, discussing (mostly in German – but we usually manage to cater to English speakers too). Invites are sent out about ten days before we meet, to a mailing list you can join here. Reservations need to be confirmed and are strictly by first come first serve – so be quick! And please do let me know if you can’t make it – there is always a waiting list.  A donation of ten euros per person (or one or two euros more if you really had a lot of fun..) is much appreciated. Cheesio!