The traditional smoking of Canarian cheeses: an ancient conservation technique and its contribution to the organoleptic characteristics

Paper presented at the III Ibero-American Symposium on the Conservation of Local Animal Genetic Resources and Sustainable Rural Development

Abstract

It is very important to study the effect of the smoking process in the cheeses due to the effect of this technique on the odor/flavor properties of these food products. This process was firstly characterized by means of an intensive inquiry in the La Palma Island. Afterwards, there was a selection of some specific cheeses slmoked with different smoking materials, in order to evaluate how there factors can affect the odor/flavor properties of the cheeses. 87.3% of the cheese artisans used smoked materials approved by the D. O., pine wood, pine needle, prickly pear and shell of almond. Attending to sensorial qualities, some differences were found in the valuation of the external aspect and the cut of the cheeses. The best scored cheeses were the ones smoked with shell of almond. On the other hand, the worst scoredd cheeses were the ones smoked with pine needle. The odors and flavors related with the lactic and torrefactive families were detected in all the studied cheeses. Moreover, some elements from the fruit family were also found in cheeses smoked with prickly pear and shell of almond. It can be concluded that the kind of material used for the smoking process has a determinant role in the odor/flavor properties of the resulting cheese.