This Portuguese whey cheese is made from either sheep or goat milk whey left over from the cheesemaking operations in the Beira Baixa historical region, now Castelo Branco. The delicate, unfermented travia has a grainy but spreadable texture, and a pleasant, sweet lactic flavor.
In Portugal, travia is one of the breakfast favorites, and it is usually enjoyed fresh, spread over toasted sourdough bread, sprinkled with sugar and ground cinnamon.
Terrincho cheese is a ripe, semi-hard cheese made from the milk of the Churra da Terra Quente breed of sheep, which graze on the grasslands and marshes of Terra Quente in the municipalities of Bragança, Vila Real, Viseu, and Guarda.
This breed of sheep, colloquially referred to as terrincho, has spread to such an extent that it now accounts for 98% of the sheep population in the region. To produce the cheese, the milk is filtered, heated, and curdled with animal rennet.
Zimbro is a Portuguese cheese produced in the Serra da Estrela mountains. The cheese is made from raw sheep's milk and thistle rennet. It's aged for 60 days in order to produce a thick, pudding-like interior that hides beneath its washed rind.
The interior is kept in place as the cheese is traditionally bound with strips of white cloth. The aromas are clean, while the flavors range from herbal and fruity to sweet and slightly sour. The top of the cheese is typically sliced off, and the interior can then be scooped.
TasteAtlas food rankings are based on the ratings of the TasteAtlas audience, with a series of mechanisms that recognize real users and that ignore bot, nationalist or local patriotic ratings, and give additional value to the ratings of users that the system recognizes as knowledgeable. For the “3 Worst Rated Portuguese Sheep's Milk Cheeses” list until April 19, 2025, 1,083 ratings were recorded, of which 600 were recognized by the system as legitimate. TasteAtlas Rankings should not be seen as the final global conclusion about food. Their purpose is to promote excellent local foods, instill pride in traditional dishes, and arouse curiosity about dishes you haven’t tried.