Arrabidays|Days created with your favourite activities
Escape Directory|Guide to the best on Lisbon's south side
Inside was a small room displaying certificates of merit for their cheese, and a counter. She smiled warmly as I pointed to the cheese I wanted to buy and she weighed and wrapped it. Next door is a viewing gallery where you can watch them hand make the Queijo de Azeitao. Soft and squidgey and eaten at room temperature, this round cheese is packed with flavour and gaining a fame and recognition that belies its short history.
At the traffic lights in Quinta do Anjo we stopped for lunch at Alcanena restaurant. Unimpressive from the outside it soon opens to reveal a high ceilinged country style room popular with the locals. A table of cheeses, another of hams, baskets of bread and a large variety of very well cooked regional dishes to taste and compare.
The cheese museum in Azeitao is where I ventured after lunch to discover more. Quinta Velha, on the N10, is a small family run business offering explanation and a chance to make your own azeitao cheese. This is made totally organically with their own sheeps milk warming it by an open fire and curdling it with the purple petals of the thistle grown in the Arrabida hills.
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CheeseDay
