Casín
There is a good case for calling Casín the oldest cheese in Spain. It is almost certainly the oldest in Asturias.
I am particularly taken with the unique, and by modern standards, lengthy process of making this cheese. It is much more manual and much more intensive than many cheeses these days. The local technology used to make a dense cheese by adapting bread making technology is interesting in and of itself. Thankfully, the end product is also of interest.
Where Is It From?
Casín is produced primarily in the historical home and namesake conceyu of Caso. It is also produced in the neighboring conceyos of Piloña and Sobrescobio. Together, these make up the Casín DOP.
Currently there are four producers of this cheese, and all are part of the DOP.
How Casín Is Made
Made with raw cow’s milk, Casín goes through several unique steps in production. These steps, so very similar to making sourdough breads, are the primary evidence for the antiquity of the recipe. The milk comes from locally pastured cows of the indigenous Asturiana de la Montaña breed. These are ancient cattle that long ago adapted to the region. They are also named with the local denonym casina. Now considered to be primarily a beef breed, they were once the only cattle in the area.
Traditionally, the curdling agent is obtained by fermenting the milk from a cow that has recently calved. This fermentation takes place in the stomach of a recently slaughtered pig (butiellu). After a week or eight day, the cheese maker adds this rennet substitute to gently warmed milk and leaves it to curdle. Once curdled, they allow it to drain for up to six days hanging in a cheesecloth or muslin bag.
When the curd is longer draining, it is broken down into smallish pieces called gorollos and left to rest for a few days in a cool space. The longer they sit, the more piquant the resulting cheese will become.
The cheese maker then kneads the gorollo, using a rabilar machine that looks like a biscuit brake to me. The cheese maker kneads the paste well, folding and rolling it each time. Additionally, the cheese maker adds a small chunk of well-aged cheese to the mix to further fortify the flavors. This also boosts the fermentation taking place in the cheese. Usually the cheese maker does this kneading three or four times, allowing the cheese to rest for a week or so between kneadings.
Once the kneading is done, the cheese maker ages the cheese for 2-3 months in a humid environment. This is usually around 80% humidity and as close to 8C as possible. Caves are obviously good places for this aging. During this maturation period, the cheese maker turns the cheeses daily.
The final step is also unique. After aging, the cheese maker stamps it with his or her marco. These handheld wooden press forms are engraved with decorative patterns. They contain geometric designs, flowers, traditional symbols, or the makers name or company.
History
Unfortunately, as is common around here, I have very little to go on trying to substantiate the weak claims made for the ancientness of this cheese. Enric Canut, one of the foremost experts on cheese making technology in Spain states that “Casín cheese, due to its technique and the simple utensils used, is perhaps one of the oldest in Spain, and is part of that group of cheeses made in the Cantabrian Mountains that took root herein the Neolithic with the first settlers who arrived at the spine of the Peninsula“.[1]
Note that Dr. Canut does not say that the origin of the cheese is neolithic. He merely states the factual case that the technology used in producing the cheese existed in the Neolithic, and that it is interesting that a recipe continues to this day that uses such simple machines. Any interpretation of his words to be proof of the Neolithic origin of the cheese is mendacious, at the very least.
Other Spurious Claims
It is also widely claimed to be something called the caseus luniensis mentioned by Pliny the Elder in his Natural History. Now, book 11, chapter 97 is indeed Various Kinds of Cheese. And Pliny does speak of a caseus luniensis, a cheese from Luna. Inconveniently however, Luna is well established as being the modern Italian town of La Spezia. It’s rather obvious being that Pliny names its situation as being on the border between the Etruria and the Liguria. These were two tribal groups that lived between the Alps and the Mediterranean Sea in northern Italy. In the Augustan model of Roman organization, Etruria was Regio VII and Etruria was Regio IX.[2]
As you can see from the map, that gives only a very small region that Pliny could have been talking about, and inconveniently for the pseudo-historians, rather far away from Asturias. There is certainly no argument that Pliny would not have known that, as the very book in question is the source for the Augustinian organization and the mapping of the Regios.
Actual History
Dispensing with all other mythical or invented attestations to Casín, we can skip forward to the very end of the 18th century. There, in 1782, Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos wrote a postcard to his friend Antonio Ponz in which he praised the cheeses of Caso and Cabrales as being the best of the industria rustica of Asturias.[3]
During the 20th century, production of many cheeses declined precipitously. Casín was one of those that suffered most, and for several decades was in danger of disappearing completely. At one point just before the establishment of the DOP, there were only two people still making it.
Uses For Casín
Common Uses: Casín is a classic dessert cheese in Asturias. It is traditional to serve it with sliced quince, or membrillo – a sweetened quince paste.
How I Use It: Try it crumbled in a rocket salad with toasted walnuts, diced apple, and a garlic/rosemary vinaigrette. It melts well, and evenly. As such, I enjoy adding it to pasta dishes that might otherwise use Parmesan. I am also a fan of it in croquetas
Where To Find Casín
Casín, like other DOP cheeses in Asturias are easy to find throughout the territory. They are also readily available in specialist cheese mongers throughout the rest of Spain.
Unfortunately I do not know of a direct importer in the United States.
- ↑ Canut, Enric. España, el país de los 100 quesos. pp 114, 3rd ed., Alimentaria Exhibitions, S.A, 2008. (translation and emphasis my own)
- ↑ Pliny the Elder. Naturalis Historia. Translated by Henry Thomas Riley and John Bostock, H. G. Bohn, 1855. Perseus, urn:cts:latinLit:phi0978.phi001.perseus-eng1, WorldCat, http://data.perseus.org/catalog/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0978.phi001.perseus-eng1.
- ↑ Jovellanos, Gaspar de. Cartas del viaje de Asturias (cartas a Ponz). pp 43. Ayalga, 1981
