A Brilliant Mistake

Sheep have been raised for their milk around Casar de Cáceres, a small town in Extremadura, at least as far back as the 13th century. At some unrecorded moment in time, when a shepherd was producing a batch of cheese from this milk, the maturation process went wrong. While the outside hardened, the inside stayed balanced between liquid and solid. Before throwing it away, he dipped in a finger — and was delighted to discover a texture and taste better than anything he'd made before. The Torta del Casar was born. For centuries, the delicacy remained a secret among locals who...