I took a little informal survey and asked people to name a country known for producing cheese. I got a lot of “France” and some “England” but I didn’t get any “Spain”. That’s really too bad, because the Spanish make some really fantastic cheese.
One of those cheeses is Garrotxa, which hails from Catalonia in northern Spain, sandwiched between the Pyrenees and the Mediterranean.
Garrotxa is a raw goat’s milk cheese, which is covered in a blue-grey, felt-like rind. I’ve seen it described as semi-soft, firm and even one description that said it was creamy! I’m not sure what’s up with that, but the piece I had I would say was firm (or maybe semi-hard) not hard, but definitely not soft–you still had to cut it with a knife. The color was a pale white with a nice texture and good mouth feel.
The rind had a nice “musty” smell from the blue-grey mold and there was a bit of that taste in the cheese, too. Almost reminiscent of walnuts, but without any tanic or bitterness. Fresh walnuts, like you find at the base of a tree and break open yourself… fresh, woody, nutty. Good. It does have that characteristic goaty tang (which I love, love, love) but it’s not as prominent as it is in the creamier goat cheeses. It’s a nice, mild flavor. This is very much a table cheese, excellent for snacking. Another Dave recommended cheese.
Also, as a bonus, while I was looking up sites on Garrotxa to link to this review, I found a great article about Enric Canut who is a leader in bringing artisanal Spanish cheeses back after Franco. I’m going to have to dust off my Spanish and check out his book, Los 100 Quesos Españoles.