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Sheep farming and cheese already existed in La Mancha in the Iron Age. This is proven by sheep bones and moulds. However, although the flavoursome Spanish sheep’s cheese was already very popular with the Greeks and Romans, for a long time it remained merely a by-product of sheep farming. The animals were important because of their wool. Initially, the cheese was only a tasty and long-lasting travelling snack for the shepherds. With the end of the nomadic economy, Manchego cheese also gained economic importance. Nowadays, many Spanish cheeses are under threat from the import of cheap mass-produced goods. Despite the cheap competition, Manchego has been able to assert itself and has carried the seal of the protected designation of origin “Denominación de Origen” D. O. since 1984.

Genuine Manchego cheese is made from the pure milk of the Manchego sheep. The milk is heated and curdled with rennet. After draining, the mass is moulded and pressed until the whey has drained off. The resulting curd is placed in moulds and soaked in brine for 2 days. After drying, it is left to mature for at least 60 days at a specified temperature and humidity. If only raw milk is used for the cheese, it can be labelled ‘artesanal’. The weight of Manchego is 2 to 3.5 kilos and the fat content is around 50%. The imprint of a flower and the herringbone-like markings on the sides are characteristic of a genuine Manchego cheese.

It is offered in 4 degrees of maturity:

• Fresco: Very young, soft, ivory-coloured cheese, which is marketed after a minimum ripening period of 60 days
• Semicurado: Medium-ripened, fairly compact cheese with a ripening period of up to six months for artisanal production and two to four months for industrial production
• Curado: Ripe, firm semi-hard cheese with more than six months ripening time
• Añejo: Old cheese with a maturing period of 7, 12 or even 24 months

If you order a manzanilla in Spain, you may be served two quite different drinks. In Andalusia, manzanilla usually refers to a type of sherry that comes from Sanlúcar de Barrameda. However, manzanilla or infusión de manzanilla also refers to camomile tea, which can sometimes lead to confusion.

Matador stands for the highest rank a torero can achieve. He is the one who kills the bull.

Bread bites – a “mini edition” of the bocadillos

The Moors (also: Moriscos) are the mostly forcibly baptised Arabs who remained in the country (after the Reconquista = reconquest of Arab Spain by the Christians). Despite forced conversions, the expropriation of Muslim religious institutions and resettlement in the territories of Castile and Aragon, the Spanish crown issued expulsion decrees against all resident Muslims between 1608 and 1614, resulting in the mass expulsion of 275,000 Moors. These emigrated to North Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia – Maghreb). Only around 25,000 “new Catholics” remain in Spain.

The term Moors (Spanish: Moros) is used to refer to the Islamised Berbers and Arabs who came from North Africa and established a highly cultured empire in Spain in 711 AD. It was not until around 800 years later that the Catholic Monarchs (Ferdinand and Isabella) conquered the kingdom of Granada.

• 711, Europe: The Arabs cross over to Europe at Gibraltar, conquer the whole of Spain and invade France.
• 756, Spain: The founding of an independent, Spanish-Moorish Emirate of Córdoba by the Umayyad Abd Ar Rahman I marks the beginning of the end of the Islamic empire. The Umayyad dynasty was the first caliphal dynasty, ruling from Damascus from 661 to 750. In 750, the Abbasids
• 785, Spain: Construction of the Great Mosque in Córdoba begins and is completed in 990.
• 823, Spain: Arabs from Andalusia occupy Crete. From here, Islamic corsairs disturb the Aegean island world.
• 930, Spain: Abd Ar Rahman III, Caliph of Córdoba, conquers Toledo.
• 988, Spain: The Spanish Umayyads lose their territories in North Africa, but gain numerous cities in northern Spain.
• 1031, Spain: The Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba breaks up into independent emirates.
• 1085, Spain: King Alfonso VI of Castile conquers Toledo.
• 1086, Spain: With the help of the Almoravids, the Moors defeat King Alfonso VI at Salaka. The Almoravids are a royal dynasty of the Berber tribe of Senhadja that emerged from the Islamic religious movement. By the mid-11th century, the Almoravids had brought western North Africa under their rule. In 1086, Jussuf Ibn Taschfin seized control of Arab Spain. The Almoravids ruled in Spain and Morocco until they were overthrown by the Almohads in 1147.
• 1096, Spain:
• 1118, Spain: King Alfonso I of Aragon conquers Zaragoza from the Moors.
• 1147, Spain: The Almohads advance from North Africa to Spain. Seville becomes the capital and cultural centre. The Almohads were an Islamic ruling dynasty that emerged from the religious reform movement of Ibn Tumart, who appeared as the Mahdi among the Berber tribes of Morocco and organised them to rebel against the Almoravids. His successor, Abd Al Mumin, conquered north-west Africa as far as Tunis and Arab Spain, and is considered the founder of the dynasty. At the beginning of the 13th century, the Almohads lost control of Spain. In Morocco, they were overthrown by the Marinids in 1279.
• 1195, Spain: Alfonso VIII of Castile is defeated by the Almohad caliph Mansur in the Battle of Alarcos.
• 1212, Europe The Almohad army is destroyed by Spanish knights near Tolosa (Toulouse).
• 1236, Spain: Córdoba is reconquered by King Ferdinand III of Castile.
• 1248, Spain: Seville is conquered by King Ferdinand III of Castile. He forces Granada to submit to his sovereignty.
• 1492, Spain: Granada, the last stronghold of the Moorish kingdom of the Nasrids, is conquered by the Catholic Monarchs (Isabella and Ferdinand). Moors and Jews are forced to convert to Christianity or flee Spain. The Nasrids were the last Islamic dynasty in Spain, ruling the kingdom of Granada from 1238 to 1492.

The Mozarabs were the heavily Arabised Christians living under Muslim rule. They had to pay a poll tax, but lived in their own residential areas with their own jurisdiction and administration. With the increasing orientalisation of Andalusia, the emigration of the Mozarabs to the Christian kingdoms of the north increased from the 10th century onwards. This trend was further intensified in the 12th century, when the Almoravids and Almohads exerted increasing pressure on the Mozarabs to convert to Islam. Mozarabs were also resettled in Morocco in order to remove population groups that were close to the Christian conquerors. The Mozarabs who immigrated to the Christian kingdoms established a link between Latin-Christian and Muslim-Arab culture. In the process, the Mozarabs had a considerable influence on folk poetry in northern Spain and southern France. Furthermore, the Mozarabs introduced new techniques into architecture, such as vaulting and arch construction.

Mozarabic: Mozarabic is the term used to describe the style of Christian artists, often found in southern Spain, which is interspersed with Islamic elements.

The term Mudéjars refers to the Muslim population that remained in Andalusia after the Reconquista and had a considerable influence on architecture (Mudejar style). The Mudéjars built numerous palaces, monasteries and churches for the Christians, while creatively preserving strictly Islamic forms. Arabic architectural forms, such as horseshoe arches, stalactite vaults and stucco ornaments, were combined with the Gothic style and later with the Renaissance style.

The muleta is the famous red cloth with which the torero provokes the bull in the last phase of the bullfight. Only the matador is allowed to use the muleta.