Day Three Hundred and Sixty Eight : Nisa

Everybody seems to be talking about Portuguese wines as of late. Why I'm not sure, but apparently February is the month for wine stores to have Portuguese specials. So I figured I'd jump on the bandwagon and tell you all about one of my favorite Portuguese cheeses -- Nisa.

Crafted in the Eastern central portion of Portugal, this raw sheep's milk cheese is quite the delight! Coagulated with vegetarian cardoon thistle rennet, this cheese is nothing like other cheeses crafted with thistle which tend to have hints of bitterness. Not Nisa, it has the most fabulous round subtly sweet mouth feel. I am sure you are thinking thistle? Yes, there are a few cheese makers that utilize thistle as a coagulant, most of them hail from Spain or Portugal.

Cardoon thistle, in case you couldn't call an image to mind :)

Yellowish rusty brown on the exterior with a bright ivory interior, it is only aged for between 45 and 70 days. So why do I love this cheese?

Well it's got classic sheep moments -- fullness of flavor, creamy, slightly earthy, barnyardy and farmy, with heated milk notes. Definitely rustic! But the cardoon thistle elevates what would otherwise be a not very exciting but well done cheese to a whole new level -- the cheese becomes minerally, grassy, herbaceous, and overall decadently fabulous. The perfect balance of lightness and weighty-ness. So go grab some at Murray's Cheese and have it with a nice minerally white or a light to medium bodied red of the region.

Image courtesy of www.murrayscheese.com