Beatriz Rodríguez and Francisco Wagner

Beatriz Rodríguez and Francisco Wagner

Beatriz Rodríguez and Francisco Wagner are shepherds, cattle farmers, and producers of Gamonéu del Valle cheese in Parda, Cangas de Onís. The Gamonéu cheese is a traditional blue cheese from Asturias and parts of the Picos de Europa, Its creation dates back to ancient times and forms an important part of Asturian cultural heritage, both tangible and intangible. Beatriz and Francisco are recognized as the first producers of organic/ecological Gamonéu del Valle cheese. Their product has Protected Designation of Origin status and has been certified by COPAE since 2021. The aim of Beatriz and Francisco's cheese small factory, called “Queseria de la Casa Vieya,” is to produce 100% artisanal (using ancestral techniques) and organic cheese using three types of milk: goat's milk, sheep's milk, and cow's milk. To achieve this goal, they maintain a traditional system of small-scale grazing and livestock farming with a few Casina cows, 32 sheep, and 60 “Bermeya” goats.

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Beatriz Rodríguez and Francisco Wagner

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Beatriz Rodríguez and Francisco Wagner are shepherds, cattle farmers, and producers of Gamonéu del Valle cheese in Parda, Cangas de Onís. The Gamonéu cheese is a traditional blue cheese from Asturias and parts of the Picos de Europa, Its creation dates back to ancient times and forms an important part of Asturian cultural heritage, both tangible and intangible. Beatriz and Francisco are recognized as the first producers of organic/ecological Gamonéu del Valle cheese. Their product has Protected Designation of Origin status and has been certified by COPAE since 2021. The aim of Beatriz and Francisco's cheese small factory, called “Queseria de la Casa Vieya,” is to produce 100% artisanal (using ancestral techniques) and organic cheese using three types of milk: goat's milk, sheep's milk, and cow's milk. To achieve this goal, they maintain a traditional system of small-scale grazing and livestock farming with a few Casina cows, 32 sheep, and 60 “Bermeya” goats.

LAPONTE_PR_06

2058

queserialacasavieya@gmail.com

facebook,https://www.facebook.com/lacasavieyaquesugamoneu/?locale=es_ES;

Spanish phone code: 34 / 608 58 69 92

other (specify),other (specify)

Beatriz and Francisco learned mainly through self-teaching and constant work and experimentation, which gave them a lot of experience over the years. Neither of them has family members who have been involved in cheese making, so they did not inherit the artesanal job from anyone. However, there was an important formative part that Francisco mentions: "We were lucky enough to attend the shepherding course in the Picos de Europa, which unfortunately no longer exists. We went to the last course and learned all the theoretical part, which is very important to acquire. The methodology of the course was that you went up into the mountains and lived with the shepherds to learn as much as possible. There were two important trainers named Cándido Asprón (a renowned and award-winning cheesemaker from Asturias) and Jesús." However, Francisco mentions that even though you receive a lot of theoretical training, the most important part comes in practice, and in that process they spoiled a lot of cheese, made mistakes, and had some problems. After spending some time with their first cheese productions, they received a visit and mentoring from the famous cheesemaker Cándido Asprón, who reviewed the ways in which they were preparing the cheese and gave them advice on things they needed to fix or change to improve their production. Since then, Beatriz and Francisco have improved and refined their cheese-making techniques until they obtained recognition and certificates for their Designation of Origin product.

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Carmen Pérez Maestro

In addition to the knowledge required to make cheese, it is very important to have knowledge about grazing: the correct ways to take animals to pasture, protect them from predators, keep them safe, and knowledge about the health and nutritional needs of goats, sheep, and cows. Another important area of knowledge is that of the territory: knowing which communal pastures are accessible, climate change (droughts and high temperatures) that affect the availability of food for animals and affect cheese production, since cheese is very vulnerable to high temperatures and excessive humidity. Beatriz and Francisco work with living elements, from the rural territory to their animals and the bacteria found in their cheeses. It is important to know how to manage and identify the needs of these living beings.

They have been living in Cangas de Onís for more than 10 years. Although they are not from Parda in Cangas de Onís, both are Asturians and have always had a strong connection with the rural area. They decided to start raising livestock and making cheese because they used to own a bar and a gas station. They mention that they were not happy running those businesses due to the issue of “self-exploitation” and that for them, happiness means living in the countryside and dedicating themselves to something meaningful.

To produce Gamoneu cheese, cows, goats, and sheep are needed in order to mix three types of milk, and a vital or important material is communal pastures, which are public pastures where their animals can obtain all the food they need. Another important aspect is to have access to the high caves to storage the cheese.

full-time paid job

N/A

N/A

Cheeses are made using three types of milk: cow’s, sheep’s and goat’s milk. To achieve the best quality, Beatriz and Francisco make sure that most of the milk used in their cheeses comes from sheep and goats, as these provide a great deal of flavour and complexity, which makes the product stand out from the rest. Nowadays, Gamoneu cheese is produced mainly with cow’s milk, which does not have the same flavour or the same quality. The animals live freely and are milked by hand. The milk is then processed, curdled and drained to obtain the cheese. This is followed by the cheese “curing” process: the cheeses are smoked for 12 to 15 days at Beatriz and Francisco’s home and then taken up to the mountains, where they are stored in a cave at an altitude of 1,300 metres to continue the maturation process. The minimum maturation time is one and a half months, although some cheeses are matured for much longer

Main tools: milk cooling tank (to keep the milk at exactly 5 degrees Celsius), a basin for mixing the milk, some simple tools such as a ladle for stirring the milk, natural rennet, a blanket for draining the cheese, a knife for cutting the cheese, and a thermometer for monitoring the temperature. Tools needed after the cheese has been prepared: a very small stove for smoking the cheese and wooden structures for placing the cheese in the smoking chamber.

No special relationship with the tools is mentioned

Energy from the cooling tank and wood for the cheese smoker. This is not excessive energy use, as they produce cheese in small quantities; it is not industrial production.

No waste is generated during the process

Yes, the cheese dairy is a two-storey building located near the artisans’ home. On the ground floor, the raw materials are processed to make the cheeses, and the finished products are stored there. On the upper floor, the drying and smoking processes take place.

Gamonéu cheese: this is a traditional blue cheese from Asturias and the Picos de Europa mountains. Unlike other blue cheeses from Asturias (such as Cabrales cheese), Gamonéu cheese is smoked and has a rind that prevents the blue mold from penetrating too deeply, giving it a harder texture that crumbles easily. The key to producing good Gamonéu cheese is to use a higher percentage of sheep and goat milk (local breeds adapted to the landscape whose milk is richer in fat) and a lower percentage of cow milk.

Beatriz and Francisco have a huge passion for everything that goes into making Gamonéu cheese: traditional livestock farming and grazing systems, living in a rural area surrounded by nature, continuing ancestral legacies, protecting Asturian cultural heritage through a 100% artisanal cheese, and helping to keep an important part of Asturian identity alive.

For Beatriz and Francisco, it is very important that their cheese reaches people who will appreciate it and who will not try to lower the price, as its production is an arduous process that involves a lot of work to achieve the highest quality standards. That is why Beatriz personally distributes her cheese to people in the local community, to a restaurant in Cangas de Onís that she trusts, and she has a WhatsApp profile where people she knows can personally order cheese from her. She also attends specific craft markets: those that sell authentic artesanal products.

Cheese sales only

N/A

The local community from Cangas de Oníse/ Pople from Asturias who knows the value of their cheese / People from the rest of Spain and few tourists who are "fans" of cheese.

Yes, their Gamoneu cheese has the COPAE certificate. This certification means that their product is artesanal, ecological and localy produce under high quality standards.

No. Currently, they prioritize the local community to have access to their handmade products. Francisco mentioned that he does not like tourism, and Beatriz said that the most they have done is attend some craft markets. However, both maintain a critical perspective on these markets, since not all vendors sell authentic artisanal products... but rather poor-quality or industrial-quality products that are passed off as traditional regional products. Beatriz mentions that they cannot offer their cheese in these spaces because it detracts from the value that its ecological and artisanal production truly represents. Francisco acknowledges that tourism increases sales of their cheese, but they prefer that local people or people who truly appreciate cheese and its history be their main consumers. Beatriz adds that they produce very little cheese and cannot sell it to hotels, supermarkets, or other high-demand tourist spots because they would not be able to meet that demand. In any case, they are not interested in expanding their project through tourism, increasing production, and meeting demand because they would lose their artisanal production process and their ecological seal. In addition, Beatriz mentions an important point: "I am the one who visits specific places such as a local restaurant, or goes directly to the neighbors, or shows up at authentic artisan markets to sell the cheese, because not everyone will take care of the cheese like we do. For example, supermarkets would store the cheese in a standard refrigerator with the wrong temperature, the wrong humidity level, etc., and my cheese would be ruined! Not everyone is going to take good care of a product that you have put so much effort and work into, which is why we prefer to distribute the cheese ourselves.

Francisco: "A mí eso del turismo no me gusta nada. Sí, es verdad que con el turismo se vende más queso, pero nosotros no estamos interesados en vender en masa porque no todo el mundo lo aprecia. Preferimos venderlo a locales o gente que sepa apreciarlo." ......................... Beatriz: Nosotros producimos pequeñas cantidades de queso, somos muy cuidadosos con la difusión o publicidad que le damos a nuestro producto porque no podríamos satisfacer una alta demanda. Y de todos modos, no es lo que queremos, porque queremos seguir produciendo de forma artesanal, ecológica y para eso es necesario hacerlo en pequeña escala"

They do belong to some associations (the Bermeya goat association for cheese production, the COPAE association that certifies the product, the mountain management association, etc.), but they do not collaborate directly with anyone. Nor do they make cheese together with anyone else. Their cheese factory is their own individual project.

Challenge 1) Finding public land (known as “communal pastures”) that meets ecological certification requirements so that animals can graze at different times of the year. There are very complicated bureaucratic processes and environmental protection laws that restrict farmers and shepherds from using the land. This poor administrative management and lack of policies are preventing Gamoneu cheese from being reduced to production in the valley and not in Puerto, which are high mountain areas where animals can also graze and Gamoneu cheese from Puerto can be produced. Challenge 2) In this other high mountain area Puerto, there are no cheese factories where Francisco and Beatriz can work and make their own cheese. According to Francisco, there are only two cheese factories in the Principality of Asturias, and they are managed by the same people who have always managed them. In these areas, there are abandoned spaces and huts that could be used to live in and keep animals, but there are no cheese factories.

Beatriz: "Nosotros queremos trashumar y llevar a los animales a Puerto para hacer queso allá, pero también es muy difícil encontraler pastos comunales, porque le quitan al pastor y al ganadero el derecho de llevar a sus animales a pastar. Además ahora hay mucha zona protegida que empeora las políticas de acceso." .................Francisco: "El problema es, que queremos hacer queso no solo en El Valle, pero también en Puerto, pero no hay queserías. Algunos pondrán la excusa de que es por el frío o el clima duro que no se puede acceder a Puerto, pero no, es por falta de queserías. Solamente hay dos queserias y son del principado de Asturias."