Queijo
The Portuguese word for cheese, from Serra da Estrela in Portugal to queijo minas in Brazil.
Also: queijos, queijo minas, queijo fresco
Queijo is cheese in Portuguese. Portugal's great cheeses are mostly of sheep and goat milk, and some are set with cardoon thistle rather than rennet: Serra da Estrela and Azeitão are soft enough to be eaten with a spoon when ripe. Queijo fresco is fresh white cheese. In Brazil, queijo minas from Minas Gerais comes fresh, half-cured or aged, and the artisanal raw-milk cheeses of the Serra da Canastra are a national treasure. Grated queijo is mixed into the cassava dough of pão de queijo, cheese bread, and cubes of queijo coalho are grilled on skewers on the beach. Queijo is also the root word for the Portuguese queijaria, cheese dairy.