Simões Queijaria Artesanal

Rui "Bolinhas" Simões, 57 years old, was not always a cheese producer. "For a long time I was a civil locksmith, but I had sheep and sold the milk to other producers," he recalls. But one day his wife became unemployed and the need became an art. And an artist. Learned from the one who claims to be the best. "The master Mario Padanha was the spring. He taught me everything, it was the last bastion of the handmade Azeitão Cheese," he says. Today, Simões is unanimously recognized as one of the best producers in the area. He makes about 1500 cheeses a day, whose whey allows him to make even curd cheese and fresh cheese. The butter that also sells "is a joke". But one that’s worth a try. The thistle used in the cheeses comes from Serpa and put in the sauce even before entering the mixture - the liquid that is released is then used in the curd. It is important, he says, to control maturation. "Cheeses spend at least ten days in the first chamber. They are turned every day. Then they go another 6 to 7 days to another with 70% humidity." Despite the controlled temperature, the weather on the street influences their behavior. "The cheeses in here guess the weather out there. If there is rain, I am plotted: I have to come and cover them”.