I know, I know, it's been barely 3 months since I last did a post about a Spanish cheese. What can I say? The only new-to-me cheese I've seen recently was another kind from that country. Specifically, some soft sheep's milk cheese called Wooly Wooly, from the Mitica line, produced by the Central Quesera Montesinos SLU company.
Central Quesera Montesinos SLU, or CQM as I'm going to abbreviate it for the rest of this article, started in 1978, and is based out of the community of Jumillo, which in turn is located in the Spanish region of Murcia. Currently the business's products are exported to over 20 countries worldwide, including China, Australia, Israel, Latvia, Portugal, the U.K., and, obviously, since I bought some without using my passport, the U.S. CQM specializes in goat milk cheeses, but also makes and markets those made from the milk of cows and sheep. Their other products are various fresh cheeses, cottage cheeses, sour cheeses, processed cheeses, blended milk cheeses, and something called "horeca and IQF," (which appear to be mostly goat milk cheeses in a rolled shape). CQM is distributed by an American company called Forever Cheese, out of New York. This company imports foods from mostly Mediterranean nations, such as Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Croatia. It mostly deals in cheeses, but also handles cheese accompaniments, such as nuts, dried fruit, cured meats, rice, sauces, jams, vinegars, honey, and chocolate. Forever Cheese was begun in 1998, by Michele Buster and Pierluigi Sini.
Mitica Wooly Wooly soft sheep's milk cheese: This was a short log shape, white in color. As advertised, the texture was very soft. Reminiscent of cream cheese, as it was also easily spreadable. I had some plain, and then some on a sub roll with ketchup. The taste was very good. Rich, and nicely sourish. I think I liked it slightly better on the roll, but plain was more than decent, too. So, this was another triumph, and another food to highly recommend. Speaking of cream cheese, as I was earlier, I bet this Wooly Wooly would be a fine topping for a bagel, among other things.
Murcia isn't one of the larger Spanish regions, but it has produced a few notable people. Francisco Rabal (1926-2001), born in Aguilas, was a famous actor, mostly in Spanish productions. Highlights of his career include roles in "Belle de Jour" (1967), "Los Santos Inocentes" (1984), "Goya en Burdeos" (1989), and two horror movies I've seen--the so-bad-it's-good quasi zombie movie "Nightmare City" (1980), and the sincerely effective Lovecraft-inspired story "Dagon" (2001). The Totana-born Barbara Rey also acted, probably most famously in the 1976 television show "Palmares," but also in movies like "The Girl in the Red Cabaret" (1973), "Zorrita Martinez" (1975), and "...And Give Us Our Daily Sex" (1979). Also in a movie I've seen, and even briefly mentioned in an earlier post, the third "Blind Dead" movie "The Ghost Galleon" (1974) (see my post on March 21, 2020). Additionally, two guys from this region became tennis pros. Nicolas Almagro, now retired, finished with a career record of 397-278. He won 13 singles titles, and reached the quarterfinals of 4 majors (3 French Opens, 1 Australian Open). His peak rating was #9 in 2011. He was born in the Murcian town of Murcia. Carlos Alcaraz is already looking like he'll be an eventual Hall of Famer. Only 20 years old, he's already won 10 singles titles, including the major 2022 U.S. Open. He also set the record for being the youngest male player to be ranked #1 in the world, at the age of 19 years, 4 months, and 6 days (eclipsing Lleyton Hewitt) in September of 2022. Currently he's "fallen" to the #2 ranking in the world. His career record is 120-34, although this will obviously change drastically. Alcaraz was born in the town of El Palmar.
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