Cave Exhibition of Cabrales cheese

Latitude: 43.2992439 Length: -4.8188672
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Cabrales cheese truly deserves such a tribute, in the form of a living museum and ethnographic exhibit . It is difficult to highlight the virtues of this dairy product without mentioning the shepherds of the Picos de Europa and the people of these lands in general, for the tradition belongs to them, from the time the livestock graze in the mountains until the rennet matures in the cavernous crevices of this rugged, limestone region.

Why visit the Cave-Museum?

The most popular cheese in Asturias is revealed in a unique underground journey. The cave is located just outside the town of Arenas, on the right bank of the road leading to Poncebos, on the banks of the emblematic Cares River , at the very entrance to the National Park. The first thing you encounter is a perfect replica of a typical mountain cabin , and this is no coincidence, as it is under these rustic roofs that the tradition of cheesemaking began and continues to thrive.

Here, the first stages of Cabrales cheese production take place. We discover in the household items and tools that everything has a magical Alpine feel, where the livestock occupies a unique place, as their careful, locally sourced feed is essential for the milk to bear the Cabrales name. The cabin also reveals its role as both a dwelling and a place of hard work in the mountain pastures.

The tour can be followed independently, following the explanatory panels and graphic material inside the cave, or during a guided, perfectly illustrated tour that lasts approximately half an hour.

The detailed account goes through the names and purpose of each of the elements used in the production of Cabrales cheese : pots (for heating the milk), "cuayar" (the stomach of a suckling kid which, once dried over a fire and after macerating for two days, secretes a liquid called rennet), the beechwood spoon used to cut the "cuayada" obtained by adding the rennet to the milk, "árniu" (mold for the cheese pieces), a wooden letter or mark that is placed under the mold to mark the cheese and differentiate it in the aging cave, "canastra" (an oval-shaped basket covered with fern where the cheeses are placed for transport to the cave)...

The names and stages of the process become intertwined in a single, unified semantics that ultimately refers to a shared essence, one that has the dual virtue of inspiring the people of Cabrales with the final product and delighting palates around the world with the finished product. This connection finds one of its main channels of expression in the second part of this cave museum, a totemic corner, the most natural and secluded temple of cheese, which we discover by looking up into a narrow, dimly lit gallery, where the cheese matures on shelves of fine wood . In this hollow, the texture of the cheese and the walls of the cave seem to evolve into a perfect harmony of colors and reliefs.

Beforehand, however, someone will have explained the preliminary work in cheese dairies , both in traditional ones and in more modern ones, where the equipment has been updated to meet hygiene requirements. The latter have a replica inside the cave, and the modern machinery for keeping the milk at the right temperature is particularly noteworthy; a large metal tank where rennet is poured to obtain the curd, which is then cut with a kind of metal lyre to separate it from the whey. These "arnios" are now made of plastic.

The aim of this museum initiative , launched by the Regulatory Council of the Designation of Origin and managed by the Foundation for the Promotion and Dissemination of Cabrales Cheese, is, as mentioned, to showcase all the converging aspects of Cabrales cheese: cultural, gastronomic, ethnographic, and physical ; these are the elements that make this exquisite product of such pedigree and well-deserved worldwide fame truly special. If you have the chance, take a trip back in time in this way and return to the present with a deeper understanding of its origins and a better appreciation for this historic cheese.