Ahumado de Pría

A wonderfully smoky, dense and buttery cheese perfect for snacking and sandwich making
Producer:	Quesos de Pria
Type:	Semi-Soft Cheese
Milk:	Cow (90%), Sheep (10%)
Milk Treatment:	Pasteurized
Shape:	Cylinder
Weight:	500g
Rind:	Clear marks from cheese cloth. Somewhat waxy. Light brown from the smoking.
Paste:	White with a slightly yellow cast.
Aroma:	Hints of grass, of cow pasture, and of milk. Some aromas of toasted nuts and, of course, smoke.
Flavor:	Initially smoky, giving way to creamy butter flavors. Very creamy mouthfeel, like the best Muenster cheeses.

Some cheeses are the result of long experimentation and adaptation to a particular climate. Others are the result of constant tinkering with a formula by untold generations. Some are modern inventions of agri-businesses, designed via focus groups and market research. And then there are a few strange outliers. Unique products that are the result of a lucky turn or a bit of blind luck, or simple stubbornness. Ahumado de Pría is of the last kind.

From an nearly impossible situation, one couple simply went about doing the one thing they knew how to do. From that came one of the region’s most popular cheeses.

Where Is It From?

Llanes concejo sits in the eastern coastal corner of Asturias. It is situated between a spectacular collection of beaches and the almost sheer wall of of the Sierra del Cuera sub range. Rising to 750 meters at L’Abá, this wall overlooks a series of lush green valleys. In these valleys live the brown Tudanca and Frisian cows that provide the milk for this cheese.

How Ahumado de Pría Is Made

Ahumado de Pría is made from pasteurized cow’s milk and an addition of sheep’s milk whey.

It is first long-pressed in a cheesecloth mold. After pressing, the cheesemaker brines it and cures the wheels for 30-40 days. After curing, the mold is washed off and they are brined again before being smoked with oak and beech.

History

Ahumado de Pría is the singular labor of one Juan Inés Blanco, who had spent the Spanish civil war in Cantabria. There he had learned to make cheese from a friend who had a cheese factory. When the civil war ended, Juan married Palmira Granda Pontigo and returned to his hometown of La Pesa de Pría in Llanes.

Not knowing what else to do to support themselves, they bought milk from neighbors and friends and made cheese in small quantities. This proved to be a good move, and the cheese business supported the growing family for decades.

In the 1970s, two of Juan’s sons developed the smoked cheese that ended up being the big hit for the business. Very quickly it rose to a prominent position among Asturian cheeses – a position it still occupies today.

Uses For Ahumado de Pría

This is probably one of the most popular cheeses in Asturias, and it is almost impossible to find a restaurant cheese board (tabla de quesos) in Asturias that doesn’t feature it.

I love this cheese. My whole family loves this cheese. It melts very well. Well enough that it makes an amazing grilled cheese sandwich. We love it on crackers, or paired with fruits. It is pretty amazing shredded over pasta. Try it mixed with your mozzarella as a pizza cheese…

Recipes

No recipes on this site currently use Ahumado de Pría

Where To Find Ahumado de Pría

This is a very easy to find cheese in Asturias. You don’t have to look past your local supermarket or corner store usually. As I mentioned above, it is impossible not to run into it on cheese samplers as well.

Despaña, and perhaps other importers in the US have Ahumado de Pría in stock.