The hand-crafted production of caseorum in Mallorca, cheese to you and me, was first documented in the 13th century, during the time of the Regne de Mallorca (Kingdom of Mallorca). For some reason, since then the production of milk products has been centred around the south east of the island, between Manacor and Felanitx, Llucmajor, Campos del Port and Es Llombards (Santanyí). Apparently, cheese brands like Piris, Grimalt, Prilac or Burguera use between 4 and 12 litres of milk, depending on the type of cheese, for the production of one kilogramme of cheese. Traditionally, cheese in Mallorca was produced from a mixture of milk from vaca (cow) and oveja (sheep), with sometimes cabra (goat) milk being added for good measure. Today, most Mallorcan cheeses sold seem to be made of milk from cows only. I, however, prefer the vaca/oveja variety.

Sadly, La Crisis seems to be the cause for the Piris company to now terminate their business. Piris was founded in Campos in 1944 but, recently announced their imminent shut-down. A small cheese maker in Son Mesquida (near Felanitx), whose name I do not now recall, also closed down a couple of years ago, and so did El Caserío in neighbouring island, Menorca, in 2008. Perhaps we do not eat enough cheese.

The photo was taken in Palma de Mallorca, Baleares, Spain. The date: October 14th, 2010. The time was 11:52:06.