Serra da Estrela cheese fair in Celorico da Beira

Cheeses for Serra da Estrela cheese fair in Celorico da Beira

Serra da Estrela cheese is at its best in late winter, and the towns around Portugal's highest mountains hold a cycle of cheese fairs from February. Celorico da Beira's fair, which has run for more than forty years, opens the season over a weekend in February, with shepherds and dairies selling cheeses alongside music and local food. The cheese is made from the raw milk of Bordaleira sheep, curdled with the flower of the cardoon thistle rather than animal rennet, and the ripest are so soft that the top is cut away and the paste scooped out. Dates are set each year by the town.

The cheeses

Serra da EstrelaThistle-set raw sheep's cheese, soft enough to spoon.