Most of the great Portuguese cheeses are raw sheep's milk cheeses set with thistle flowers instead of animal rennet: Serra da Estrela, Azeitão, Nisa, Évora and Serpa. Add São Jorge, a hard cow's milk cheese from the Azores, and Rabaçal, a sheep and goat cheese from near Coimbra, and you have the names worth learning first. Portugal has around a dozen DOP cheeses, most still made by small dairies.
We sell them next to around 250 Portuguese wines in our shop in Graça, so here is the counter version: what each one tastes like, how to serve it, what to open with it.
Why does Portuguese cheese taste different?
Because of a thistle. Many of Portugal's sheep's milk cheeses are curdled with the dried flowers of the cardoon (Cynara cardunculus, cardo in Portuguese). The purple stamens are dried, soaked in water, and that liquid sets the milk.
Thistle works slowly and breaks down the proteins in its own way. The paste can go soft, almost spoonable, with a faint bitter, herbal edge behind the milk. Taste that bitter note once and you will spot it on every board after.
Which Portuguese cheeses should you know?
DOP (Denominação de Origem Protegida) is the Portuguese name for the EU's PDO label. It fixes the area, the milk, the method and a minimum ripening time. Here are the ones we get asked about.
Serra da Estrela
The famous one. It comes from the mountains of the Beira region, the highest ground in mainland Portugal. The DOP rules allow raw milk from two local sheep breeds (Bordaleira Serra da Estrela and Churra Mondegueira), thistle and salt. Nothing else.
The young cheese ripens for at least 30 days. Its paste is closed and buttery and slumps when you cut it. The Velho (old) version needs at least 120 days and turns firmer and more crumbly, with a deeper, slightly spicy taste.
Azeitão
From the Setúbal peninsula, south of Lisbon, near the Arrábida hills. Same family as Serra da Estrela, raw sheep's milk and thistle, but smaller and ripened for a few weeks. The paste is creamy, tangy and a bit salty. This is the cheese Lisbon people pick up for a dinner at home. We keep the Vitor Fernandes Queijo de Azeitão DOP in the shop.
São Jorge
A completely different animal, literally. It is raw cow's milk from the island of São Jorge in the Azores, made in big wheels of several kilos and ripened for at least three months. Firm paste, small holes, sharp and nutty with a peppery finish. Older wheels get crumbly. Put the Queijo São Jorge Aged 24 Months next to the Queijo São Jorge Aged 4 Months and you will see how far the same cheese can go.
Nisa, Évora and Serpa
The Alentejo has three DOP sheep's milk cheeses, all made with thistle. Nisa, from the north of the region, is firm and yellowish, with small eyes and a clean acidity. We sell the Queijos Santiago Queijo de Nisa DOP. Évora is small and semi-hard, earthy and salty, with a bite at the end. Serpa, from the south, is the soft one: buttery paste, stronger smell.
Rabaçal
From the hills south of Coimbra. Rabaçal mixes raw sheep's and goat's milk into a small, semi-soft cheese with a mild, fresh taste and a hint of goat. If you find Serra da Estrela too strong, start here.
What about goat's cheese?
Portugal makes good goat's cheese too, from the Cabra Transmontano DOP in the north-east to younger dairies with a more modern style. Ours come from Granja dos Moinhos: the Granja dos Moinhos Goat's Cheese Log (Bûche) is fresh and lemony, and the dairy also makes aged goat rounds.
For a soft sheep's cheese without a DOP label, try the Amanteigado Soft Sheep's Milk Cheese. Amanteigado just means "buttery", and you will see it on a lot of labels. Everything we have is in the Portuguese cheeses collection.
How do you serve Portuguese cheese?
Take it out of the fridge at least an hour before. Cold sheep's cheese tastes of almost nothing.
| Cheese type | How to serve it |
|---|---|
| Soft (young Serra da Estrela, Azeitão, Serpa) | Cut a lid off the top rind and scoop the inside with a spoon. Spread it on bread, not on crackers that snap. |
| Hard (São Jorge, aged Évora, Serra da Estrela Velho) | Thin slices or small shards. |
| A full board | Mild to strong: goat, young sheep, aged sheep, aged cow. Bread, a few olives, quince paste or fig jam. |
| Leftovers | Wrap in paper, not plastic, and keep in the vegetable drawer. Eat a cut soft cheese within a few days. |
What wine goes with Portuguese cheese?
Our rule is simple: wine from the same region as the cheese. It works more often than it should.
| Cheese | Style | Wine to try |
|---|---|---|
| Serra da Estrela (young) | Raw sheep, soft, buttery | Dão white (Encruzado) or a fresh Dão red |
| Serra da Estrela Velho | Raw sheep, firm, intense | Dão red, Touriga Nacional |
| Azeitão | Raw sheep, creamy, tangy | Moscatel de Setúbal |
| Nisa, Évora | Raw sheep, firm, salty | Alentejo red |
| Serpa | Raw sheep, soft, strong | Alentejo red or a 10 Year Old Tawny Port |
| São Jorge | Raw cow, hard, peppery | Tawny Port or dry Madeira |
| Fresh goat's cheese | Goat, fresh, lemony | Vinho Verde (Alvarinho, Loureiro) |
Two pairings we come back to all the time. Azeitão with Horácio Simões Moscatel de Setúbal: same peninsula, and the orange-peel sweetness of the wine against a salty, slightly bitter cheese is hard to beat. Then Serra da Estrela with a red from the Dão, the wine region at the foot of the same mountains. The António Madeira Dão Red has the freshness and fine tannin to cut the fat without flattening the cheese.
With goat's cheese, skip the red. A crisp white like the Casa de Canhotos Alvarinho White has the acidity for a young log. More bottles are in our Portuguese wines collection.
Where to taste Portuguese cheese in Lisbon
At POP, Rua da Senhora do Monte 38C in Graça, 30 metres from the Miradouro da Senhora do Monte. We serve cheese and charcuterie boards with our wines, and you can buy the cheeses to take home. The counter changes with what our producers have ready, so ask to taste before you buy. We are open Sunday to Wednesday 14:00 to 21:00 and Thursday to Saturday 14:00 to 22:00. For groups or private events, write to us.
Questions we get asked
What is the most famous Portuguese cheese?
Queijo Serra da Estrela DOP. It is a raw sheep's milk cheese from the Serra da Estrela mountains, set with thistle flowers, sold soft and creamy after at least 30 days or as the firmer Velho after at least 120 days.
Are thistle rennet cheeses vegetarian?
The coagulant is a plant, so a cheese made only with milk, thistle and salt has no animal rennet. Check each label, as recipes vary between producers.
How do you eat Serra da Estrela cheese?
Let it reach room temperature, cut a circle off the top rind and scoop the soft inside with a spoon, or spread it on bread. The firmer Velho is sliced like any hard cheese.
What wine goes with Portuguese cheese?
Start with wine from the same region: Dão reds with Serra da Estrela, Moscatel de Setúbal with Azeitão, Alentejo reds with Nisa or Évora. Aged São Jorge from the Azores is very good with Tawny Port.
What is the difference between Serra da Estrela and Azeitão?
Both are raw sheep's milk cheeses set with thistle. Serra da Estrela comes from the central mountains and is bigger. Azeitão is smaller, from the Setúbal peninsula near Lisbon, ripened for a few weeks, with a tangier, saltier taste.