Torta del Casar ✦

Torta del Casar

What it is

It is set not with rennet but with a water infusion of dried cardoon flowers, Cynara cardunculus, whose enzymes cut the protein network further than an animal rennet does — which is why the paste ends up spoonable rather than sliceable. The same thistle leaves the faint bitterness at the end of the mouthful: it belongs to the method, and a Torta without it has been made wrong.

In the kitchen

Cut the top off as a lid an hour after the cheese leaves the fridge and eat from the cavity with a spoon — cold it is claggy, at room temperature it pours. Warmed gently it becomes a sauce for potatoes or lamb, but a boil separates the fat and there is no bringing it back.

Goes with

Potato Lamb White asparagus Olive oil Honey Walnut Rye berries

Same species

Pauillac lamb Salt marsh lamb Sisteron lamb Lamb fries Lamb brain Leg of lamb

In season alongside

Chestnut honey Artichoke Bagnoli truffle Broccoli Camus de Bretagne artichoke Charolais

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