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Cheese from Croatia, Bjelovar-Bilogora county

Bjelovarski kvarglkvargl

Raw cow milk sours on its own at room temperature for 2–3 days, the cream is skimmed, and the curd is warmed, drained and mixed with salt and ground paprika. Hand-shaped pointed cones dry for up to two days and are smoked for up to 3 hours; the finished cheese has a pH of 4.9 or lower.

Fully documentedCheese4.7 days – 6.3 daysPGI (Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/237)Family: Ripened acid-curd cheese family (Harzer, Olomoucké tvarůžky, Gamalost)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe specification sets the method but no amounts of salt or paprika. Each cone is shaped from up to 130 g of the mix.
Raw whole cow milk, used within 48 hours of milking[spec-hr]
Salt[spec-hr][eu-sd]
Ground red paprika[spec-hr][eu-sd]
Garlic (sometimes)[spec-hr][eu-sd]
Beech or hornbeam wood or sawdust, for smoking[spec-hr]
Starterspontaneous (the milk sours naturally at room temperature)

Total time across the recorded steps: 4.7 days – 6.3 days

Start
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What changes: Raw whole cow milk is strained into pans

Step 1 of 9
Strain the raw milk into pans
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Raw cow milk sours on its own at room temperature for 2–3 days, the cream is skimmed, and the curd is warmed, drained and mixed with salt and ground paprika. Hand-shaped pointed cones dry for up to two days and are smoked for up to 3 hours; the finished cheese has a pH of 4.9 or lower. Made in 9 steps over 4.7 days – 6.3 days. The longest step, let the milk sour and curdle at room temperature, takes 2–3 days (Udruga proizvođača sira 'Bjelovarski kvargl'…) and runs at 20–25 °C (Udruga proizvođača sira 'Bjelovarski kvargl'…).

Key numbers
Main step2–3 daysSet[spec-hr]Let the milk sour and curdle at room temperature
Temperature20–25 °CSet[spec-hr]Let the milk sour and curdle at room temperature

What makes this one different

Same family as Turoš and Prgica, cones of soured cow curd with paprika, but kvargl alone is smoked (up to 3 hours) and has the most pointed cone. Its drying takes about two days, where Turoš dries for seven.

Size
Pointed cone 40–65 mm across and 70–100 mm high, 60–110 g
pH
Finished cheese pH 4.9 at most
Milk fat
14.5 g per 100 g at most

Related ferments

Safety

The milk is raw. The specification sets a finished pH of 4.9 at most and cold storage for up to 15 days. A 2004 survey of 14 samples found enterobacteria, including E. coli, yeasts and moulds among the most common contaminants. ANSES advises pregnant women, young children, people over 65 and people with weak immunity not to eat raw-milk cheeses other than hard cooked ones, because of Listeria, Salmonella and enterohaemorrhagic E. coli.

Hazards the sources name: Enterobacteria including Escherichia coli (among the most common contaminants in 14 samples).

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

The specification cites older records saying that 200 years ago people in the Bjelovar area kept cattle and made cheese. It says small local producers developed the air-drying and smoking so that fresh cow cheese would keep longer. Bjelovar has held a 'Cheese days in the city of cheese' fair since 2006. The name was registered as a PGI in 2020.

  1. [spec-hr] Udruga proizvođača sira 'Bjelovarski kvargl' 2019, Specifikacija proizvoda 'Bjelovarski kvargl', oznaka zemljopisnog podrijetla (product specification), published by the Croatian Ministry of Agriculturespec
  2. [eu-sd] Single document 'Bjelovarski kvargl', EU No PGI-HR-02382, Official Journal of the European Union C 320, 24.9.2019, p. 9 (Publications Office copy)spec
  3. [eu-reg] Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/237 of 14 February 2020 entering 'Bjelovarski kvargl' (PGI) in the registerspec
  4. [kirin2004] Kirin S. 2004, Kvargli, Mljekarstvo 54(4):315–325 (abstract)paper
  5. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov