It is part of Central Lechera Asturiana special “El Maestro Quesero” selection. It won the award for the Tenth Edition of the Gourmet Quesos contest at the Salón Gourmets 2019 Trade Show.
The Salón Gourmets 2019 trade show, which took place this week at Ifema (Madrid), today awarded the winners of the tenth edition of GourmetQuesos, the best cheese in Spain championship. Vidiago won third Prize in the ‘young cow’ category, in a contest with numerous participants. About 900 cheeses were presented for the award this year.
VIDIAGO cheese is made with milk from Vidiago, a village in Llanes where cows graze in pastures by the sea, which makes the flavour smooth and distinctive.
Vidiago cheese has been hand made since 1940 by the Collera family. Its recipe has been passed down from generation to generation until today. For many years, only the Collera family made this cheese, and today the family’s working example has reached more producers. It is a semi-cured cheese with no additives or preservatives, with a clean cut, no eyes and a smooth texture. Used extensively in cooking, it is often used to make the traditional Asturias ‘cachopo’ (cordon bleu).
Vidiago is part of the “El Maestro Quesero” selection, a project that brings together five Asturias cheese factories whose traditionally crafted products share the common link of Central Lechera Asturiana milk. At the end of last year, this special edition was launched with five varieties: Cabrales PDO, Afuega’l Pitu PDO, Casín PDO, Los Beyos PGI and Vidiago Traditional Cheese. This cheese selection has the Alimentos del Paraíso Natural seal, which distinguishes foods that are marked by tradition, handed down from generation to generation, and due to the unique geographic characteristics of the principality.
The “El Maestro Quesero” is an initiative that is aligned with Central Lechera Asturiana’s CSR strategy, as a proposal of differential value of support to traditional cheese factories in a commitment to quality, defending the ‘all natural’ from livestock to the table.
The GourmetQuesos Championship is consolidated as the most important event in Spain due to the number of samples presented. This year, 840 were submitted; in the last edition there were 725. In Spain there are about 150 varieties of cheese and 32 with Protected Designation of Origin, in addition to 15 selected for regional quality certifications.
