Cheeses from the Canary Islands: Peculiar and Irresistible 

Let’s embark in a tasty journey. Destination: Canary Islands, a territory with cheeses that have characteristics that make them unique: their formats; size (in some cases weighing up to 20 kg); their rinds, printed with beautiful drawings of the typical braided palm; the various coatings, with pimentón, oil, or gofio, or their natural or smoked coatings, etc. which surprise—and earn the admiration of—judges at the various competitions in which they participate.

Fuerteventura, the land of ‘Majorero’

When you arrive on the island of Fuerteventura, the first thing they tell you is that there are more goats than people. It's true that the Majorera goat has been there for many centuries and has been able to adapt to the conditions of the terrain, with a very gentle mountainous topography and a very arid climate.

Maxorata was the indigenous name of the island before the conquest, hence the name Majorero, which means “children of the country.” Majorero cheese was the first to obtain the Designation of Origin in Spain for goat cheeses.

These cheeses are made with raw or pasteurized milk from Majorero goats and may contain up to 15% of Canary Island sheep's milk, as stated in the Queso Majorero PDO specifications. Its rind can be covered with oil, gofio, or paprika, the latter being the most common. Ten dairies are officially registered to make this cheese, of which four produce it with pasteurized milk.

The soft cheeses are very juicy and lactic, with a semi-soft to semi-hard texture and hints of milk, soft yogurt, and raw nuts. Raw milk cheeses have a more intense flavor. They're ideal for dessert with honey or marmalade, or as an appetizer with oil, spices, or fresh aromatic plants.

The semi-cured cheeses have a semi-hard texture that makes them ideal as an aperitif or as a dessert on a cheese board. They still retain their lactic character but have a more intense and persistent flavor with very noticeable aromatic notes.

The texture of cured cheeses tends to be hard the longer they age, and their flavor is much more complex, intense, and persistent, with notes of cereal and nut predominating, in combination with toasted and spicy ones.

The large-medium and long-ripened cured majorero cheeses are, in my opinion, great options to export (currently, they are being exported to United States, Canada and Europe mainly) as it's quite difficult to find goat cheeses with this size and appearance. It's the most produced cheese in the entire archipelago, and many types of mojo are usually prepared with it, to be served with papas arrugás (wrinkled potatoes), which can be made from Papas Antiguas de Canarias PDO.

Majorero goats.

The incredible diversity of Gran Canaria cheeses

Nowhere in the world are there as many small artisan dairies nor such a variety of cheeses as on this island. As there are three types of milk and different climates, there are cheeses with very different textures and flavors: from the soft, aged, hard and semi-hard goat cheeses in the southeastern part of the island to the creamy, soft cheeses of the northeast, with milk from the three species and the flagship cheeses from Guía, whose Protected Designation of Origin includes up to three different types.

Transhumance is still practiced today in Gran Canaria, to take advantage of the different seasonality of the pastures, from the coast in winter to the midlands in spring and fall, and ending in the peaks during the summer. These journeys across the island's interior in search of food for the livestock is suffering a gradual regression in terms of the number of shepherds and the pasture area; in fact, this tradition that has existed on all of the islands only continues on Gran Canaria at the moment.

Of all the nomadic shepherd, the most well-known is Pepe Pavón (José Mendoza), who has a house and sheep in the Cortijo de Pavón, in Guía. His more than 400 sheep are milked by hand in the various sheepfolds where they remain throughout the year and produce cheese using traditional methods. This raw milk cheese has as many nuances as places where the animals graze, so it's difficult to describe but it's worth noting their herbaceous and balsamic notes and an aftertaste of clean wool and nuts, ending with an elegant spiciness in the most ripened cheeses.

Pepe, his wife Mari Vega, and their three children move throughout the year to the north, south, and west of the island in search of the best pastures, and they end up in the fall in their country house, waiting for the calving to begin and the start of a new cycle of “mudá.” This indigenous practice refers to the journeys that shepherds and their families made throughout the island with their livestock during certain times of the year. Essentially, they moved from one place to another in search of food for their livestock.

Majorero cheese.

The peculiarity of Guía cheeses

Its roots lie in the first Portuguese and Extremaduran populations that settled there at the beginning of the 16th century, after the conquest of the island. These settlers first used dried wild thistle flowers as a milk coagulant, specifically the Cynara cardunculus and Cynara scolymus varieties. The milk used for these cheeses primarily comes from Canary Island sheep. One of the conditions for producing these cheeses is that the cattle cannot be stabled and must graze within the area established by the Queso de Flor de Guía-Queso de Media Flor de Guía-Queso de Guía PDO. It's closely connected to transhumance, where herds feed in different areas throughout the year. Cheese can only be produced in three municipalities in the northwest of the island: Gáldar, Santa María de Guía, and Moya. The cheeses protected by this PDO are: Flor de Guía cheese, made solely with vegetable rennet made from thistle. The pistils of the flower are macerated in water for several hours and the resulting liquid serves as rennet. It's a creamy, unctuous cheese with a soft to very soft consistency, with vegetable notes and a touch of sour fermentation. It has a long persistence in the mouth and a slightly bitter aftertaste due to the action of the rennet. Media Flor cheese is made with 50% animal rennet and 50% thistle flower.

It has a semi-soft to semi-hard consistency, depending on the degree of ripening. It’s buttery on the palate and has a slight sweetness in the mouth with a touch of acidity. Its aftertaste is subtly bitter and barely noticeable. Guía cheese is made exclusively with animal rennet and its texture can be semi-hard to hard depending on the ripening period. It's considerably buttery and its flavor reflects the animal's origin, with slight acidity that combines with notes of cereal, grass, and nuts.

Palmero cheese.

Let’s get green in La Palma

La Palma is known as the “Isla Bonita,” an entirely appropriate description. Its western half recalls the thickness of the Atlantic forests and its eastern half has extremely varied contrasts in color, where the gray volcanic lava, scattered green vegetation, and marine blue that floods everything are all mixed together.

It's known as the “Green Island” because it has the largest rainfall in the entire Canary Island archipelago, as reflected in its vegetation, comprising more than a thousand species, of which a hundred are endemic. Many of them are eaten by the Palm goat, an excellent producer of milk, which has high levels of alpha-casein, an ideal protein for cheese production.

The goat herders, who are scattered throughout the island, own a small number of animals (100-150), which they care for like their children. The Queso Palmero PDO includes two types of cheese: the “artisan” cheese, which weighs less than 8 kilos, and the Queso de Manada, produced by the herders and weighing up to 20 kg. The milk must come from animals that graze in the mountains.

The two types are easy to distinguish by the color of the label (burgundy for the artisan ones and green for the herd-produced cheeses). The natural rennet from suckling goats is still used to curdle the milk, and during the ripening process, the cheese can be smoked with almond shells, prickly pear, and/or Canary Island pine.

Palmero cheese, when consumed tender, has a buttery texture with lactic notes reminiscent of goat's milk, combining a pleasant acidity with a mild sweetness. The smoked cheeses have an aromatic and toasted aftertaste. As the ripening process progresses, the texture becomes harder and the flavor more persistent.

The acidic and sweet notes are still noticeable, but other complex aromas appear, reminiscent of grass and vegetation. The saltiness is combined with animal notes of leather and rennet. There's an aftertaste of nuts and a slight smokiness in cheeses that are subjected to these preparation methods. It's typically served with green or cilantro mojo, alongside potatoes and vegetables.

Cows in the Canary Islands.

Tenerife, a universe within an island

This 2,036 km² island has a great diversity of well-differentiated ecosystems and climates, depending on the island's northern or southern slope. Goat and sheep farming was the main resource of the pre-Hispanic population and gave rise to the island's cheesemaking tradition, which is conditioned by the very different geographical environments: the north of the island, where goats, sheep and cows coexist, is rainy and green; the south, where goats take advantage of the scarce pasture, helped by agricultural by-products, is arid and desert-like.

The Tenerife goat is the result of crossing the pre-Hispanic goat with other imported breeds and selected for their productivity and adaptation to the environment.

In the south, the horns are identical and  multi-colored coats and short hair predominate.

The cheeses produced in Tenerife are mainly made from Tenerife goats. In fresh cheeses, the outer rind is very thin and white, and when it's cut, the cheeses have a moist, white paste with a lactic flavor and a moist sensation.

The paste inside cured cheeses comes in shades ranging from ivory to yellow, depending on the milk, the degree of ripening, and how the rind was treated (with pimentón or gofio, or if it was smoked). They have a characteristic goat smell, clean and pleasant, and the flavor is more pronounced and intense.

Don Nicolás Finca de Uga cheese.

Lanzarote: Volcanic character

The island's pleasant climate, dry pastures, and the humidity of the sea breeze provide the ideal habitat for the Majorero goat, which is well adapted to arid environments.

Its milk is used to make different varieties of cheese throughout the island, some of which have been created recently.

The livestock on this volcanic island is almost exclusively goats, due to the unique qualities of its soil and its aridity. Because of this, they produce a high-quality milk that provides peculiar characteristics to its cheeses.

This semi-desert island still retains a large enough goat herd, especially in the central area, in towns like Teguise, Tinajo, and San Bartolomé.

Since 2014, the Association of Artisan Cheesemakers of Lanzarote (AQUAL) unites the vast majority of dairies, and among its objectives is the dissemination of the island's traditional cheese, Queso Conejero, categorized by the Ministry of Agriculture as a traditional cheese since 1989 as it has been an important part of the island's culture and tradition.

It's made in a similar way to Majorero, with raw or pasteurized goat's milk from the different Canary Island breeds and crossbreeds.

It's primarily consumed as fresh cheese, although an increasing number of more semi-cured and cured cheeses are being produced.

Lanzarote is becoming a reference point for signature cheese enthusiasts. It's clear from the number of small artisan dairies that have popped up in recent years.

In the south of the island, around the mythical Timanfaya National Park, is Finca de Uga, a 7 hectare area where more than 20 species of animals can be found, all of them native to the islands, such as the Black Canary pig and the Black Canary Campera hen.

Tradition, craftsmanship, the avant-garde, and technology come together at Finca de Uga.

Here more than 25 products are made with the farm animals' milk (Majorera goats, Canary Island sheep and Jersey cows), from yogurt to traditional cheeses and new varieties that have been added since its inception in 2007. Its Don Nicolás cheese was the Absolute Winner at the prestigious Gourmet Cheese Championship, nominated as Spain's Best Cheese in 2024 at a competition where it competed with more than 850 cheeses. It's a cheese made from Jersey cow's milk aged for 18 months on a wooden board, with an ochre rind, yellowish paste, firm texture, and a crunchy sensation in the mouth due to the presence of tyrosine crystals. It has slightly lactic aromas and a flavor that highlights its sweet, caramel, toasted, and fruity touches, reminiscent of tropical pineapple.

Queso de Flor.

La Gomera, cheese and ‘almogrote'

On La Gomera, declared a Biosphere Reserve in 2012, is Garajonay National Park, created in 1981 and home to the best preserved laurel forest in the archipelago. Together with the “Silbo Gomero,” a whistle language used by the locals to communicate between ravines, they are considered a World Heritage Site and Intangible Cultural Heritage, respectively.

The island has a high rainfall that allows the green pastures of the central plateau and surrounding ravines to be used by small mixed herds of goats and sheep. These pastures have a great variety of plant species, many of them endemic and, to a large extent, they are responsible for the aromatic richness of its cheeses, which are made by hand.

La Gomera has a singular product: almogrote. Cheeses are the basis of almogrote, a somewhat spicy paste of Sephardic origin. It's a type of mojo with the texture of pâté, made from cured goat cheese mixed with oil, pepper, and tomato. t's one of the most characteristic dishes of La Gomera and is eaten spread on bread, with papás arrugás or as a side to meat dishes.

Herreño cheese.

Fascinating Hierro

The island of Hierro is the westernmost and southernmost island of the Canary Islands archipelago. The Romans called this island Capraria because of the large number of goats there.

Today, it's an example of sustainable development with its own energy autonomy and was declared a Biosphere Reserve (2000) and a Global Geopark (2015) by UNESCO.

It has a humid climate and a clear inclination towards livestock, herds that are usually a mix of goats and sheep. Its milk is used to produce fresh cheeses, the basis of its famous quesadillas, a typical sweet from the island made with fresh cheese, flour, eggs, and sugar.

The cured cheeses are usually made from goats and sheep and are smoked on wooden grilles. Depending on the intensity and duration, the origin of the smoke is noticeable and usually comes from burning spurge, Canary pine bark, and green heather.

Its flavor is slightly acidic, aromatic, and a bit salty, with smoky, persistent notes.

The mojoqueso is a traditional appetizer and is often served alongside papas arrugás. It's made with the remains of cured cheese, to which garlic, cumin, oil, and pimentón are added, although other recipes also include tomato. It's similar to almogrote, but its texture is finer and its flavor more mild.

The Canary Islands are clearly something like the promised land of cheese, due to an incredible mix of unique geography, ancient traditional methods of production, artisanal craftsmanship, and a reverential respect for the environment. They call them the "fortunate islands," but we are the fortunate ones to have the opportunity to taste their cheeses!