By Jinggoy I. Salvador
If you love cheese, then you know Olive Puentespina, Davao’s queen of cheese. It’s an honorific she doesn’t acknowledge. She would likely say, “All I did was create cheese because Marvin, Jolina and Rica, my husband’s three goats I took under my care, were fast multiplying.” What to do with the milk? Bottle and sell it? Make soap? Make cheese! And the rest is history, as the proverbial phrase goes.
Olive’s journey to cheese royalty is unlike any monarchical protocol where the next in line inherits the crown. She worked her way to where she is now by learning the ABCs of dairying and cheese making under the tutelage of many, including Swiss masters. Her thirst for knowledge brought her to the US, Mongolia, Canada, Switzerland, Italy, and in each destination she learned more.
Back home, the kitchen was where all the magic started. In 2005, Olive dove into the process.“Developing a new cheese is not easy but is definitely exciting. Some fresh cheeses took me months to develop, most aged cheeses a year or two because it takes time to age them into the perfect morsel. The most important process is knowing the character of each component so you can manipulate them to contribute to the product you envision,” she shares.
A year after, in 2006, the fromager’s cheeses debuted under the Puentespina Farm enterprise of the family matriarch. The first cheese variety she created, the Feta, along with other dairy products were delivered directly to restaurants, hotels, resorts and an airline. In 2008, the company was incorporated giving birth to the Malagos Farmhouse brand, and a few years after, the first retail store in Davao was inaugurated.
Today, the cheesemaker is proud to say that her handmade cheeses— GMP certified by the FDA—graces the tables of state dinners and retails in over 80 establishments across the country. Olive believes that she started European style artisan cheese making in the Philippines.
For Olive, the Chevre is one of her best and most exciting creations. It made her dive deep into the different cheese bacteria and the processes that needed to work together to create the aroma, the texture and the taste of Malagos Farmhouse Chevre.
The Chevre may be a favorite of the brand’s institutional partners, but the bestseller has always been the Mango Sublime. It’s a fresh French-style cheese that Olive created for the long-haul business class flights of the Philippine flag carrier. “A quintessential French fresh cheese but with an iconic Philippine fruit,” she says, and adding to the top-selling list, “Another is our Sophia, a soft feta, aged in garlic infused olive oil.”
When asked the number of cheeses she conceived and does she have a favorite, she replies, “The cheeses that I have created from 2005 to 2024 numbers around 27 and I am so proud of each. The cheeses hit different people in certain ways.”
As the awareness for artisanal cheeses grew, the inkling to establish a cheese tasting room started in the cheesemaker’s consciousness.
Named after the Puentespina patriarch, the first Leon’s Lounge opened its doors in 2014 in the far corner of the corporate address along Bolcan Street in Agdao. It was in this modest sized room that Olive welcomed guests who wanted to experience enjoying artisanal Filipino-made cheeses. Each session is pre booked, set at “five thirsty” in the afternoon, seven kinds of cheeses are featured and the inspiration behind each creation is shared. The cheeses are served with breads, salad, local seasonal jams and a whole lot of stories from operating a farm-to-fork dairy enterprise to travels and inspirations.
“One of the things I am proud of is we welcome everyone to our table. If only the walls can speak, they will paint a very colorful collage of personalities who enjoyed the tasting sessions. But my lips are sealed. How many over the years? Not to many, over a thousand for sure. But all left with happy faces and full bellies.”
Recently, a new and bigger tasting room was opened in the same address. The new location was the clinic of her late husband. “So many beautiful memories there, for the family and those who received the unique healing of Dr. Bo. I wanted to honor his memories and build new ones in the space,” shared Olive. The room was refurbished and repurposed into the new lounge that included bigger retail space for the cheeses. The latest Leon’s Lounge can accommodate eight to 25 guests comfortably for private tastings and parties.
The future of Malagos Farmhouse cheeses? Her daughter, Ingrid, is now on board and following her mother’s footsteps. She is developing a new line this year which will include cheeses, butter and whey-based products. As to when, Olive cannot preempt the news but it will be announced when all are ready. Leon’s Lounge will display these new creations by Ingrid Puentespina, along with the original collection.
“It will be an exciting new era for Malagos Farmhouse, home of Davao’s artisan cheeses,” declares Davao’s cheese queen.
