In 2006 I walked the Via de la Plata with my two daughters.. Via de la Plata is one of the many Camino de Santiago routes, in this case from Seville to Santiago. The two month hike included traversing Extremadura from south to north - over 300 km. It was a magical experience, week after week walking through dehesa, Mediterranean oak forests and wildflower pastures which as recently as medieval times covered the entire Mediterranean basin. We continually came across black Iberian pigs which feed on acorns, vast flocks of merino sheep, and herds of goats. While one doesn't hear the words organic or free range used in this part of Spain, one senses that this is the natural way to raise animals, unchanged since pre-Roman times 

On returning, we told my wife how beautiful and untouched Extremadura was. We raved about the remote renaissance and Roman towns such as Caceres, Plasencia, Merida, Zafra, Trujillo, etc and she suggested we drive down together so that she could see for herself. We did this in 2007 and impulsively bought a 3 ha smallholding of fruit trees in La Vera, a string of medieval villages in the shadows of the Gredos mountains, in north eastern Extremadura. 

Since then we have eaten so much of Extremadura’s wonderful produce, cheeses, jamon Iberico, figs, cherries, raspberries, chestnuts, asparagus, citrus, apricots, peaches, tomatoes, honey, olives, pimenton, etc . We have become friends with many of the producers who have all been unfailingly friendly and eager to promote their food, of which they are understandably proud. 

Walking through the region I tasted so many wonderful artisan cheeses but the most exciting for me is the Torta del Casar. Never before had I had a cheese with so creamy and smooth a texture yet such an interesting unforgettable flavour. I then learned it is the wild thistle used to make the cheese that imparts this special taste. 

We started The Extremaduran Warehouse with the idea of initially specialising in Extremaduran sheep and goat cheese. We receive refrigerated pallets of cheese direct from the cheesmakers into our Swindon cold room. 

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