Popular in Spain, It Has Many Variations.

When this cheese is made with cow's milk, it's called Hispanico. When it's made with sheep's milk, it's called Manchego and when it's made with a mix of sheep's milk and goat's milk, it's called Iberico. (Really, though, we just call it delicious!)

It may be aged for 2 weeks (Fresco), 3-6 months (Curado) or 1 year (Viejo.) No wonder it's the most popular cheese in Spain.

A few months ago, Jim took a course at the University of Vermont, where he learned how to make this cheese from master cheese maker, Enric Canut (shown at left) and his technical assistant, Marie Chantal Houde from Quebec. Jim cannot say enough about how highly he values these VIAC courses and how much he learns from them.

As usual, in his recipe, Jim covers every detail of how to make Hispanico and Iberico cheese.

Last month, we featured Joe Heyen in our Cheese Maker of the Month section and in a blog article about him.   Last week he sent us this picture (at right) of his latest triumph.

Yesterday I opened the gorgonzola dolce I started on September 25, 2011. As you can see, it came out looking pretty good! The taste was creamy and fresh, with a good taste of blue cheese!

Joe Heyen, Estes Park, Colorado 

Thank you for posting cheese events around the world - after seeing your notice in the summer about the Great British Cheese Festival in Cardiff, Wales, we noticed that it coincided with our annual September visit to the UK.

The Festival was great fun and we tasted the most amazing cheeses. Favorite flavors: ginger cheddar, cranberry cheddar, and other wonderful strongly flavored cheddars. We made new friends from Cardiff while sharing the limited places for snacking on cheese on the festival grounds.

We bought a number of different cheeses thinking that we could ship them back to our home in Florida. Alas, the cost for shipping was way more than the cheese was, so we kept on munching throughout the remainder of our visit to London, and carried several packages home in the suitcase.

Having Cardiff as a new destination to explore was interesting and fun. Thanks for providing info on world-wide cheese events!

Meg & Barry Logan, Terra Ceia, FL
PS - Cheese making in Fl is difficult, but we've made delicious mozzarella and queso blanco.

When it's winter in New England, it's rare to find places to learn cheese making. So, we were happy to hear from Carol Lake about her current classes. She schedules them bi-monthly and the next one will be February 24th.

Hi there,

I just wanted to send you an email to let you know how successful our beginner soft cheese making classes have been, and we couldn't have done it without your help! We use your book and supplies for the class, and I am always sure to send attendees your way. You're a great resource, can't thank you enough!

Carol Lake
Dancing Dog Farm 

Lois Hunt sent us this recipe and she sells the crucial ingredient- culinary lavender at her website. She also sells a wide variety of other interesting lavender products.(windyhillslavender.com)

I buy 2% milk one gallon at a time, but before I can use it all up it starts to go sour. I usually have a half gallon left, which I used to feed to my chickens, but now I make delicious cheese with it!

I own and operate a lavender farm here in northern Arizona, with my son Bryan and his wife Cindy.

Naturally, I have been devising new and different ways to use the culinary lavender that we grow here. I had been making a soft cheese from my old milk for quite a while now, but it was only "passable" and useful to spread on crackers. This morning, however, I decided to throw in some ground dried lavender and some honey, and WOW!

LAVENDER-LEMON-HONEY CHEESE
 

• 1/2 gallon of milk that has gone just a little too sour to drink
• 2 tablespoons of fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon of ground dried culinary lavender buds (from Windy Hills Lavender Farm, of course!)
• 1 tablespoon of honey

Put the milk into a stainless steel pot and bring to just before boiling, about 185F. As curds begin to separate, add the lemon juice, stir, and continue to heat for another few minutes.

Pour the curds and whey through cheesecloth into a colander set in a large bowl. Drain just to let most of the whey out. Turn the curds into a bowl and add the ground culinary lavender and the honey. Mix it all together.

You are finished! I place mine in an 8 ounce mini-crock (see picture).

And the whey? I use it as the liquid to make homemade bread. I feel a treat coming on tonight, freshly baked bread spread with lavender-lemon-honey cheese!

Lois Hunt
Windy Hills Lavender Farm LLC

"Artisan Cheese Making at Home" Techniques & Recipes for Mastering World-Class Cheeses, by Mary Karlin (256 pages, hardcover)

Can you ever have too many cheese making books? Of course not. They're your connection to the larger world of fellow artists.

This book has it all, including two recipes. From our technical advisor, Jim Wallace for Epoisses and Bloomy Robiola. Isn't it great to know that you can e-mail him any time with any question about your cheese making, knowing that he's a foremost authority in the field? Who loves ya?!

Please send your cheese making news & photos to: moosletter@cheesemaking.com