Valencian Cheeses: Underrated and Distinctively Mediterranean
My relationship with Valencia began by pure accident when I purchased an apartment, initially without any particular plan. However, when COVID and lockdowns altered how and where we worked, Valencia gradually became my second home. I did not have many expectations of the city, but it pleasantly surprised me and eventually convinced me to move here. My relationship with Valencian cheeses may be similarly described- accidental, surprising, and ultimately persuasive.
More diverse and versatile than Manchego
Part of the reason Valencian cheeses remain under the radar is the lack of a single defining appellation. La Mancha has Manchego, Spain’s most famous cheese, made exclusively from the milk of Manchega sheep. The Basque Country has Idiazabal, a smoked sheep’s cheese. Both carry PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) status, with strict rules and consistent results.
Valencia has no such single standard. In its place: variety. Fresh goat curds, semi-cured sheep cheeses with herbal notes, and mixed-milk wheels shaped by experimentation and local conditions. Some cheesemakers draw inspiration from styles elsewhere in Spain — emphasizing goat milk’s character and aging discipline — but adapt their techniques to Valencia’s flora and climate.
A small but passionate community of artisanal cheesemakers
A small but passionate community of Valencian cheese producers focuses on artisanal methods, raw or thermized (not fully pasteurized) milk, hand-formed cheeses, and careful aging. Lácteos Segarra, a small dairy farm in Elche, for example, just won Spain’s national cheese championship with a semi-soft goat’s cheese washed in wine.
Pasture is the first ingredient of any Valencian cheese. Herders graze cattle on Mediterranean scrub and wild herbs. These plants, rosemary, thyme, wild fennel, salicornia near the coast, and aromatic shrubs inland, imprint subtle terroir on the milk, yielding cheeses with herbal, saline, or floral undertones depending on season and locality.
Many small producers follow transhumant or semi-seasonal grazing, moving herds to take advantage of cooler upland pastures in summer and lower plains in winter. This mobility not only preserves biodiversity but also yields milk that varies through the year, a feature cheesemakers use to create seasonal batches for limited releases.
Which Valencian cheeses should you try?
Valencia’s culinary identity often centers on paella and sometimes on horchata, yet it is its cheeses that imperceptibly reflect the local terroir, traditional techniques, and a growing artisanal revival.
Every so often, I will select a Valencian cheese to compare with one or two of its more famous rivals and still be surprised at how well it holds up next to them. If you want to do the same, Solaz and Boutique del Queso in Mercado Central, and Formatges in Mercado de Russafa, all carry a wide selection of Valencian cheeses.
Ask for a Servilletta (handkerchief in Spanish), so called because the curds from goat´s milk are folded in a handkerchief to give it its unique shape, or the pyramid-shaped Castell de Morella. For fresh cheeses, try the Blanquet or La Nucía (also known as Pastel), or for stronger flavors, Abrigo (coat in Spanish) cloaked in ash.
Tronchón deserves a special mention here. This is an old-school sheep’s milk cheese tied to the Maestrazgo area. It is medieval, historically important, and proof that Valencian cheesemaking isn’t some recent artisan hobby. It is referenced in Don Quixote.
