PREPARATION FOR THE ARRIVAL OF THE MILK – SERRA DA ESTRELA LAMB

The taste of a cheese does not cease to be enriched with the attempt to know the past of the animal in which the whole history of Serra da Estrela Cheese begins.

The Serra da Estrela sheep has very remote origins: according to Sanches Belda et al. (1986) there was a single point of domestication situated in the Middle East in the Fertile Crescent Zone 10,000 years ago. Then, through human migration, the sheep crossed Central Europe, the Mediterranean coast in southern France and arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around 5,000 BC.

It is this ewe that at this time of year assures the renewal of the species, giving birth to the Serra da Estrela Lamb, which promotes lactation and subsequent milk for the production of Serra da Estrela PDO Cheese.

It is in this cycle of birth and renewal that it is possible to obtain pure milk, raw milk, for a unique cheese.