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Like a cap perched atop Portugal, Galicia is Spain’s westernmost region — its shores touch both the Atlantic Ocean on the west and the Sea of Cantabria on the north. To me, it is one of the most beautiful areas of one of the most beautiful countries in Europe, with a rugged, violent coastline that resembles Maine or Northern California, one that offers up some of the most fabulous and diverse seafood in all the world. Here you’ll find no Moorish architecture or sun-speckled olive groves nor the sheep and goats so prevalent throughout the rest of Spain. One is more apt to hear gallego, the ancient language of the region, than Castilian Spanish. Galicia also looks and feels more Celtic than Castilian, and indeed, it was the ancient Celts who first settled the land, followed by the Romans and others. The Gallegos, as they are called, naturally cull their living from either the sea — a dangerous profession in the rias, or inlets that accent the coastline — or from farming. In addition to a wide variety of vegetables and beef, dairy farming is widely practiced in the region’s interior, and the majority of cow’s milk produced goes into making cheese, three of which are known and loved throughout Spain.

Queso de Tetilla, a mild, creamy cow’s milk cheese, resembles either a small, perfectly shaped breast or a Hershey’s Kiss, depending on your inclinations (the name means “little tit or breast”). The natural rind is a lovely pale yellow with a white- to ivory-colored interior paste. It is popular as a simple table cheese, sliced or cut into small chunks and accompanied by membrillo (quince paste), and since it melts so well, it is also used for stuffing vegetables and for coating cooked foods. At César, a tapas bar in Berkeley, Calif., they use it grilled inside a baguette with ham and aioli for a delicious sandwich called a “Croque Señor.” Tetilla is made in the provinces of A Coruña and Lugo. Also from Lugo is a similarly shaped but more pear-like cheese called San Simon. It too is a mild creamy cow’s milk cheese but this one is lightly smoked over birch. A somewhat milder alternative to Spain’s other famous smoked cheese, Idiazábal, it is typically eaten as a tapa. Two lesser-known but equally interesting cheeses are Arzúa-Ulloa and Cebreiro. The former is made in a similar method to Tetilla but is left to ripen longer, resulting in a slightly stronger flavor and tanginess. It is wonderful paired with membrillo or any kind of sweet fruit pastry. Cebreiro is a mountain cheese made from a very old and closely guarded recipe. It is formed by gathering up the curds in cheesecloth and tying it off at the top, and then securing a strap or belt around the lower half. The result is a cheese that resembles a squashed chef’s hat, or some say a mushroom. It is more flavorful than the others, tangy like yogurt and is typically eaten on its own as a table cheese. Although generally mild in flavor, the cheeses of Galicia are well worth investigating if you’ve never tried them. Their unique shapes alone justify having them in the cheese case, along with a taste of this haunting and beautiful land by the sea.