Queso de Tronchón

Queso de Tronchón is Aragonese, from the Maestrazgo, and it is not just any sheep-and-goat cheese set on a board. It is small, round, mellow when young, and marked by that hollowed crown in the top, the shape that tells you what it is before the knife does.

For the home cook, the work is mostly choosing and serving it properly. Buy a young Tronchón if you can, made with sheep's and goat's milk, then let it sit out until the chill leaves it. Cold cheese tastes like very little. At room temperature the paste softens, the milk comes forward, and the rind smells clean and pastoral instead of shut down from the fridge.

If you can't find Tronchón where you are, choose a young Spanish sheep-goat cheese from Aragón, Castilla-La Mancha, or Valencia rather than an aged Manchego. It won't have the same dimpled crown, and it may be firmer, but the mild, lactic balance is closer. Serve it with membrillo, quince paste, or a little rosemary honey. No hace falta haber pisado España. You need good cheese, enough time out of the cold, and a knife that does not crush it.

In the Margin beside this one I have only written: do less. Don't bury it under nuts, jams, and clever things. A young cheese like this is modest, and modest food complains when you dress it like a parade.