San Simón da Costa 
San Simón da Costa is a smoked cow's milk cheese from the Terra Chá region of Galicia, Spain. It is pressed into a pear shape, smoked over birch wood, and has held Protected Designation of Origin status since 2008.
Key Facts
| Country of Origin | Spain |
| Specific Origin | Terra Chá, Galicia, Spain |
| Protection | PDO (2004) |
| Milk Type | Cow |
| Milk Treatment | Raw or pasteurized |
| Fat Content | 40% to 60% in dry matter |
| Rind | Smooth, hard, waxy, brown, 1 to 3 mm thick |
| Texture | Semi-hard and creamy, with small irregular holes |
| Flavor | Mild, slightly salty, smoky |
| Aroma | Birch smoke |
| Colors | White to yellow paste |
| Forms | Pear-shaped; large 13 to 18 cm, 0.8 to 1.5 kg; small 'bufón' 10 to 13 cm, 400 to 800 g |
| Age | At least 30 days ('bufón') or 45 days |
| Rennet Type | Animal |
What is San Simón da Costa Cheese?
San Simón da Costa comes from Terra Chá, in the province of Lugo in northwestern Spain. It may go back to the Castro culture of Galicia, the Celtic tribes of the A Carba and O Xistral ranges. The first written mention is from 1857, in the newspaper La Aurora del Miño, which covered an agricultural exhibition in Madrid where businessmen from Lugo showed forty local products. In 1893 the Vilalba town hall approved sending two of the cheeses to the Chicago World's Fair. European PDO status followed in 2008.
Production is limited to nine municipalities of Terra Chá, with Vilalba at the center. The milk is cow's milk, raw or pasteurised, from Galician Blonde, Swiss Brown, Holstein Friesian and crossbred herds grazed on local forage. Animal rennet or authorised coagulants set the curd, which is cut into grains of 5 to 12 mm. The cheese is molded, pressed for at least three hours and salted in brine. Small cheeses, called bufón, age a minimum of 30 days and larger ones 45. At the end the wheels are smoked with birch wood stripped of its bark, which gives the cheese its color and its smoky note.
The shape is a pear with a small nipple at the top. The rind runs 1 to 3 mm thick, smooth and waxy and brown. Inside, the paste is semi-hard and creamy with small irregular holes, white when young and yellow with age. The flavour is mild with a hint of spiciness, slightly salty, carrying the aroma of birch smoke. Fat content sits between 40% and 60% on a dry matter basis, and dry matter must reach at least 55%.
It is sold in two sizes: large cheeses of 13 to 18 cm and 0.8 to 1.5 kg, and the bufón at 10 to 13 cm and 400 to 800 g. Output is roughly 400 tonnes a year and reaches markets in Europe, Japan and the United States.
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