Aged Manchego
A cheese with charisma
Texture: firm
Milk type: sheep
Flavor notes: sweet, milky, nutty
Place of origin: Spain
I've been having a hard time finding the right approach to talking about Aged Manchego, a cheese that, honestly, has a lot of qualities many of us can only aspire to. Characteristically delicate and sweet, yet strong-willed in its full milky flavor; with a slight crystallization giving it some texture, so you feel its age, but somehow never crossing the threshold into fudgy or dry. Very charismatic and a bit nutty, much like Don Quixote, who hails from the same region of Spain — though admittedly my grasp on the man of La Mancha is tenuous at best because I only read that story in Spanish.
The dangerous thing about Aged Manchego is that it's mindlessly addicting. It's easy to not eat too much of a funky or sharp cheese because those cheeses are only good in small bits before the taste gets overwhelming. It's easy to not eat too much of a heavy, creamy cheese because stomachs have limits. But Aged Manchego will sneak up on you. It's just nice to eat!
The safe thing about all Manchego, regardless of age, is that it is a regulated cheese, meaning in order to be labeled as Manchego it must be made in La Mancha, using milk from La Mancha-raised sheep. Authentic Manchego will have a PDO (stands for Protected Designation of Origin) seal on the wheel or packaging designating its origin, otherwise it will be called "Manchego-style" or something along those lines.
The regulations are primarily meant to protect the farmers and cheesemakers from getting outpaced by mass production, but on a consumer level, it's nice to know where your food is coming from and that the ingredients aren't being manipulated to make your cheese taste like it comes from somewhere it doesn't.
How to eat Aged Manchego
Personally, I've been eating this cheese at all hours with all simulations of what could possibly qualify as a "meal." I've had it with soft scrambled herby eggs for breakfast, a messy mid-day deconstructed cheese plate surrounded by cornichons and olive oil crackers, and on a camera-ready plate with fig spread, prosciutto, and Spanish olives. All options were good!
My highest recommendation is to dip the Aged Manchego directly into the fig spread and eat — the sweetness of the jam highlights the mild sweetness of the cheese and nicely complements the milky and nutty notes. My ideal plate spread for Aged Manchego is fig spread, cornichons, and Marcona almonds. (At that point, you might as well throw on some Clover Blossom Honey Goat Cheese, olive oil crackers, dried mango, and fresh berries and call it a Spring soirée.)
PRO-TIP: This is a great chunking cheese. Instead of uniformly cutting, just stick the tip of the knife into the cheese about half an inch from the edge and crank forward. Because it's aged, there are natural breaks in the cheese that form nice bite-sized chunks. It'll make your plate look more interesting and it's more fun than cubing or slicing.
Do you want to buy some Aged Manchego? My local family-owned grocery store cheese section had a bunch of wheels recently, so hopefully yours does too! If not, Murray's in New York has some to ship.