Cabrales is a territory historically linked to mountain livestock and cheese making. Although Cabrales P.D.O. cheese is its most recognized product, other varieties are also produced in the council, reflecting the diversity of milks, techniques and cheese-making projects of the territory.

These smaller-scale, artisanal productions are part of the local gastronomic landscape and can be found in cheese dairies, specialized establishments and restaurants in the council.

"Continuous innovation"

Although Cabrales Cheese (PDO.) is the absolute king and monopolizes almost all the production of the council, there are some "rarities" and neighboring cheeses that are made in the same territory or in its immediate limits and that often go unnoticed.

Here are the other cheeses you can find in the Cabrales area:

1. El Gigante d'Asiegu (Asiego Cheese)

It is the great novelty within the council of Cabrales. Made by the Quesería Asiegu (in the village of Asiego), it is a cheese that breaks with the tradition of blue cheese.

• Type: It is an "alpine-type" cheese, pressed and semi-cooked paste (similar to a young Gruyère or French mountain cheeses).
• Characteristics: It has no blue mold. It is buttery, toasty and sweet. Sometimes they present a spectacular version with the rind covered with edible flowers.
• Curiosity: This same cheese factory also makes the only certified "Cabrales Ecológico".

2. Blue "De Autor" (Monovarietal)

The Cabrales PDO allows the blending of milks, but traditionally blue cheeses made only from one milk are not usually sold under specific commercial brands that seek to differentiate themselves from the standard.

• El Cabriteru (Arenas de Cabrales): This family cheese factory makes blue cheeses, but distinguishes itself by offering 100% goat's milk or 100% sheep's milk versions (Azul de Oveja and Azul de Cabra). Being single varietals, they have very different nuances to the traditional Cabrales blend: the goat's is more acidic and citric, and the sheep's is more buttery and enveloping.

3. Arangas cheese

It is an almost secret "jewel". It is made in the village of Arangas (municipality of Cabrales), specifically by the cheese factory of the Soberón family.

• Difference: Although it is a cave-ripened blue cheese (and technically could be a Cabrales), historically it has been considered a variant of its own with a distinct personality, sometimes milder or with a particular curing process in the caves of the Sierra del Cuera (north of the council) rather than those of the Massif Central.