Castuera
BadajozExtremadura
Toponym derived from the Latin castorea ('place of beavers', substantivised from the adjective castoreus derived from castor, 'beaver'). The denomination, attested from the 13th century, commemorates the historical presence of the European beaver (Castor fiber) in the upper courses of the Zújar river before its peninsular extinction during the 15th century.
The European beaver (Castor fiber) inhabited peninsular rivers from the last glaciation until the 15th century, when intensive hunting for castoreum (an odoriferous substance highly valued in medieval perfumery and medicine) caused its local extinction. Hispanic toponymy preserves a dozen derivatives that attest to the old distribution of the beaver: Castorea, Castuera, Castroso, Costuera. The Extremaduran town was historical head of the Serena region —the largest cereal and sheep dehesa of Extremadura—. Its gastronomic patrimony focuses on Serena cheese, elaborated with merino Serena sheep milk and vegetable rennet of cardoon (Cynara cardunculus), one of the only three PDO cheeses in the Peninsula with vegetable rennet.
Evolution of the name
- castor / castorea Latin 1st–5th centuries
- Castuera medieval Castilian from the 13th century
Glossary
- Attested
- A form or word documented in writing in historical sources; opposed to "reconstructed" (forms proposed by comparative inference but not actually documented).
- Serena Cheese PDO
- Traditional cheese elaborated in the Serena region (Badajoz) with raw milk of merino sheep and vegetable rennet of wild cardoon (Cynara cardunculus), a curdling technique of pre-Roman origin preserved only in three peninsular cheeses (Serena, Torta del Casar and Ibores). The Protected Designation of Origin, recognised in 1996, limits production to 25 Extremaduran municipalities. Maturation of 60 to 120 days produces a soft and unctuous paste, traditionally consumed as torta with a spoon.
Sources
- González, M.J. — El castor europeo en la Península Ibérica
If you have a correction or an observation about this information,
please write to us through the form at the foot of the site.
We will grow more precise thanks to your contribution.
Camino Mozárabe