“If you want a little drink, though hot, pure, here I bring a Calabaza de lo caro, with I don’t know how many slits of Tronchón cheese, which will serve as a striking and thirst-awakener, if you happen to be sleeping.”

Chapter LII of “El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha“. Miguel de Cervantes.

If there is any gastronomic product that represents Maestrazgo, it is Tronchón cheese. It has been made since ancient times and, although it is not possible to establish the date when it was first produced, we know that in the 17th century it already enjoyed a certain fame, since in 1615, when the 2nd part of“El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha” was published, it was mentioned in a couple of chapters. This indicates that Cervantes was familiar with Tronchón cheese, and given how slowly news traveled at that time, it must be assumed that he was already a celebrity at least a hundred years earlier.

In Tronchón cheese was always made at home, but it was not until 1990 when Carlos Grau bought machinery and, in just two years, a cheese factory was up and running on the first floor of his house. Those were the beginnings. Gradually it grew, changed location and became known at fairs and markets, championing the name of Tronchón and Maestrazgo with this rich product.

Today you can get to know the cheeses of Tronchón, of which three varieties are produced: cured goat and sheep cheeses, and semi-cured sheep cheese. Learn how they are made, how they are cured and how delicious they taste.

Take the opportunity to get to know a product that is valued and recognized wherever it goes, and that has put Tronchón on the map through its cheese.