Cheeses from Central Portugal
There is a new Tourist and Gastronomic Route to discover in the Central region of Portugal, which invites you to embrace traditions and flavours, and already has 43 members, nine routes and more than 50 unique experiences.
The common denominator are the cheeses with the Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) from the Center of Portugal: Serra da Estrela Cheese PDO, Beira Baixa Cheese PDO and Rabaçal Cheese PDO.
The Route was presented on the 23rd of June, in Castelo Branco, by InovCluster – Association of the Agro-Industrial Cluster of the Center, an association whose main mission is to contribute to increasing the competitiveness of local and regional production systems and to the affirmation of the Central Region of Portugal at national and international level.
The Touristic and Gastronomic Route of Cheeses in the Center of Portugal is a project that aims to:
• Contribute to improving the attractiveness of the destination, stimulating the local economy and being an excellent opportunity for the development of these low-density territories;
• Communicate the territory’s tourist assets in a structured way and in a network, in order to gain scale and achieve better results in attracting new tourist flows;
• Raising awareness of the importance of consuming PDO cheeses from the Center region, highly differentiated products with added value, with a unique heritage, with a deep connection to the know-how of its people and with enormous importance for the local economy;
• Preservation of landscapes, traditions and flavors.
On the website and app (which you can download from the Play Store) dedicated to the Route, you can discover the proposed routes and all the tourist experiences. Thus, the Tourist and Gastronomic Route also gives the visitor the autonomy to build their own itinerary, extending the experience, or combining some of the proposals, according to interests and objectives:
From wearing the skin of shepherds and following the herds, to milking, passing through cheese-making workshops, visits to cheese factories, tastings, to gastronomic experiences, there is a set of unique and distinctive proposals that allow you to delve into the depths of the territories and understand why these cheeses with Protected Designation of Origin are unique.
These proposals are also complemented by other equally unique experiences, such as visits to museums, burel factories, trails, castles and villages.
The Centro Region Cheese Tourist and Gastronomic Route project is promoted by InovCluster and funded by “Turismo de Portugal” under the “Valorizar” program and complements the work carried out by the Center Region Cheese Enhancement Program.
Let’s ….. take a deep breath and feel the breeze of a reborn mountain range. Let’s dress up in the role of the shepherd and take the flock to the meadow. Let’s knead the cheeses with our own hands and see unique cheeses in the world be born.
Let’s….. taste the best flavors and discover a thousand and one ways to taste these cheeses and harmonize with the best wines in the territory.
Let’s ….. talk to the protagonists and hear the stories of those who don’t give up… those who, regardless of the difficulties, keep hope and sparkle in their eyes. They are the ones who dedicate each day to a way of life that is as difficult as it is special.
Let’s ….. Feel embraced by the story and the flavors, by the hands and faces of the protagonists.
Let’s… Feel at home.
