During this event, Fromago was promoted, as well as the Zamorano Cheese brand of the Regulatory Council of the Denomination of Origin.
Fromago continues to cross borders and last weekend it did so in Portugal, where the ‘Portugal Cheese Festival’ was held. In the region of Castelo Branco, where it has been located, not only has this fair been promoted, but also the Zamorano Cheese brand of the Designation of Origin Regulatory Council.
In this way, the fourth vice president and deputy of Economic Development, Food of Zamora and president of Ifeza, Emilio Fernández Martínez, and the general director of Institución Ferial de Zamora, Sergio de Fuentes Román, attended as representatives of Zamora promoting our star product.
This was the last visit carried out as part of the Zamora Global Missions Project, financed by the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, thus closing the five commercial actions of this edition.
The balance of this meeting in the neighboring country, which was celebrating its twenty-third edition, has been very satisfactory since the Portuguese fair has led to new registrations for Fromago 2024, especially from Portuguese and Galician producers.
The objective of the meeting was to bring together, in a single event, all those involved in the cheese production process with the aim of uniting the sector and related sectors in order to generate different synergies.
During the three days of the event, attendees and visitors have been able to enjoy various talks, conferences, meetings, a cheese competition, concerts and many activities related to the star product of the region and all those who have gathered on this occasion.
This year a total of 160 exhibitors took part, of which 60 were cheese producers, while the remaining 100 were producers of different products such as sausages, honey, sweets and handicrafts, as well as taverns and institutional stands.
Portuguese cheese tradition
The village of Alcains, where the fair is located, has an important agricultural tradition, linked to the production of fruit, oil, wine and, above all, cheese, which has made it a perfect area for the development of numerous gastronomic products.
In the Castelo Branco region, different types of cheese are produced, all of them artisanal and full of history and tradition. It is based on sheep’s milk from the Merino breed and goat’s milk from the Charnequeira or Serrana breeds.
Some of these types are:
- Beira Baixa cheeses, yellow: it is a cheese made with raw sheep and goat milk, with a strong and spicy flavor. It has a yellowish bull.
- Beira Baixa cheese, spicy: it is made from raw sheep’s and goat’s milk. With a spicy aroma, it has a grayish color, as well as a semi-hard paste.
- Cheeses from Beira Baixa, Castelo Branco: produced from raw sheep’s milk. It is a cured cheese, semi-hard or semi-soft, yellowish in color.
Cheese has become one of the hallmarks of this Portuguese area, which makes it the epicenter of many of the activities that take place throughout the year in the region, such as this cheese fair in Castelo Branco under the name ‘Portugal Cheese Festival’.
