Pata Cabra Mitica – Spain
Pata Cabra
If I hadn’t looked at the label, I would have sworn this was a goats milk cheese as I took a bite (the label said cows milk). And in fact, it is goat cheese because during my research, I discovered that Patacabra means “goat’s leg”. This has taught me to not trust every label at the cheesemongers!
This cheese was semi-soft and is actually a washed rind cheese. I couldn’t tell this from the little piece that I purchased, but as you can see from the photo, it’s shaped as a log. Washed rind cheese are rinsed with brine (or wine in some cases) during the aging process. This permeates the cheese with new flavors, in this case a little salty, and ever so slightly pungent. Washing rinds has the added bonus of preventing bacteria growth.
It reminded me (sorry, I know I say this ALL the time), of the Green Banks Raw Goat cheddar, but it seems as though all goat cheese made in his semi-firm style remind me of that cheese. So, perhaps, it is because they all the taste the same. And that’s not a bad thing, because it’s a delicate salty flavor. Because the texture of the cheese is very compact but pliable, the cheese because gooey in the mouth and I kind of like that. It’s a cheese you need to chew for a bit to really appreciate it.
Quick Facts
$22.99 / lb
goat milk
enzymes