Queso Valle Oscuro

A powerful pure goat’s milk cheese, cured for 45 days
Producer:	Queseríá Picurriellu
Type:	Semi-Soft Cheese
Milk:	Goat
Milk Treatment:	Pasteurized
Shape:	Pressed cylinder
Weight:	500g
Rind:	a rough, slightly sticky blue grey rind
Paste:	Bright ivory paste. A few medium sized eyes. Very spongy and creamy. Melts in the mouth
Aroma:	Yogurt, goat feet, barnyard
Flavor:	A strong, piquant goat cheese. The flavor is more like a dry aged goat cheese, but with all the creaminess one expects in a cheese this soft.

Queso Valle Oscuro is something of a cult favorite. It is definitely regarded as one of the best made cheeses in Asturias among the cheese cognoscenti. A surprisingly complex and impeccably made goat cheese, it is raising the bar for Asturian cheese making. It is also a firm favorite at my house. It is both meltingly soft and smooth and as strong and flavorful as much older aged cheeses.

Where Is It From?

Pié de la Sierra is a village of 65 or so people in Llanes conceyo. It is a sleepy little town well off the tourist track. You can see a video tour of the village. In addition to the creamery, it has a nice bar-tienda (la llosa).

How Queso Valle Oscuro Is Made

Quesería Picurriellu prides themselves on maintaining a very artisanal approach to their cheese making. They use only milk from their own animals. In the case of Valle Oscuro, that means the goat herd they maintain just outside the creamery itself.

History

Two couples, Benjamín and Delfina, from Treviso, and Aurelio and Paca, from Sotres began the creamery almost a century ago. Now the third generation of the family continues their work.

Uses For Queso Valle Oscuro

Common Uses: Queso Valle Oscuro appears most often on a cheese plate, paired with others from it’s region.

How I Use It: I have a hard time keeping this cheese around, to be honest. It disappears within hours of entering my house, usually eaten by itself with some sidra natural or orujo. Also excellent with crackers and a berry jam. An excellent foil to a very tart cider apple.

Where To Find Queso Valle Oscuro

The most fun way to acquire this cheese is directly from the maker. Guided visits are available, as well as regular weekly hours for buying the cheese from their farm shop. See their website for more information.

It is easy enough to find throughout Asturias. Large supermarkets like Alcampo usually carry the entire range from the dairy.

The regular European mail order houses can source it without trouble. Unfortunately, there is not currently an American importer for this cheese.