The Cheese Course: Goat's milk Ibores a bargain from Spain

The Cheese Course: Goat's milk Ibores a bargain from Spain

Janet Fletcher, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, July 25, 2008

In light of today's high cheese prices, especially among imports, the Spanish goat's milk cheese Ibores (ee-BOR-ess) is an astonishing bargain. An astute employee at Berkeley's Cheese Board steered me to it recently, and I bought a wedge on taste alone, without asking the price. At $14 a pound, it is arguably one of the best values in that store's extensive inventory.
Made in the Extremadura region of southwest Spain from raw goat's milk, a wheel of Ibores typically weighs between 1 1/2 and 3 pounds. It's standard procedure - although not required - to rub the outside with olive oil and smoked paprika, the famous Spanish pimenton de la Vera, giving the hard rind the color of roasted tomato. A few small, beady eyes dot the interior, a semifirm ivory paste that melts smoothly on the tongue. The contrast between its ocher rind and pale center makes Ibores a beauty on a cheese tray.
The wedge I purchased had some damp-cellar smells, a notable piquancy, a buttery aroma and a pleasant sourness that some have likened to yogurt. Minimum age is 60 days and I don't think this wheel was much older, but I had the impression that Ibores would develop even more compelling aromas with further age.
Ibores now has the European Union's PDO status (protected designation of origin), and it is made in modern dairies, but before 1980 it was largely a farmstead cheese produced by itinerant goat farmers. They raised indigenous breeds adapted to the rugged terrain and sold their fresh wheels at the local farmers' markets, often to specialists who would age them further and sell them in the cities.
Two of the three indigenous goat breeds allowed by the Ibores PDO are in danger of extinction, one of them numbering fewer than 1,000 head. But perhaps the cheese's new PDO status - it was granted in 2005 - and Ibores' rapidly growing sales will bring more attention to this potential loss.
A dry white wine, such as Sancerre, could work with Ibores, but I preferred red wine with it. The 2004 Abadia Retuerta Rivola Sardon de Duero, a blend of 60 percent Tempranillo and 40 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, has the tannic structure and concentration the cheese needs and lovely aromas of licorice and black fruits.
Next up: Clochette, a bell-shaped French goat cheese.
Janet Fletcher is a Chronicle staff writer. E-mail her at jfletcher@sfchronicle.com.
Origin information: San Francisco Chronycle