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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Moldova, Ștefan Vodă and Căușeni districts

Brînză de Popeasca

Brînză de Popeasca is a soft white sheep cheese, with up to a quarter goat milk, kept in brine. The milk is set only with natural rennet from lambs a few days old, the curd is hung in sackcloth to drain, then cut and salted in well-water brine for a day. It matures in brine for at least 30 days. Made in 6 steps over 31 days. The longest step, mature in brine, takes at least 30 days (Public association of sheep and goat breeders…). Salt is 5–7 % (Public association of sheep and goat breeders…). Lactic bacteria of the sheep milk does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 30 daysSet[uk-spec]Mature in brine
Temperature33–37 °CSet[uk-spec]Pasteurise unsuitable milk and cool it
Salt5–7 %Set[uk-spec]Mature in brine
Fully documentedCheese31 daysAppellation of origin (Moldova, AGEPI DO-10, 2016); protected in Georgia, the EFTA states and the UK by agreementFamily: White brined cheese family (Feta PDO as template)More white brined cheesesMore from Europe

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe specification fixes the method and the finished cheese, not batch amounts.
Sheep milk · Mostly from crosses of Karakul with the local Tusca and Țigaie breeds; fat 6.0–10.0%, protein at least 4.0%; fat neither added nor removed[uk-spec]
Goat milk · Up to 25% of the milk; optional[uk-spec]
Natural lamb rennet · From lambs slaughtered for their skins in the first 2–4 days after birth, kept dried with salt; the only coagulant allowed[uk-spec]
Brine · Cold well water of moderate hardness with non-iodised kitchen salt[uk-spec]
Starter: none added; natural lamb rennet

Total time across the recorded steps: 31 days

Start
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What changes: Starting material: sheep milk with up to a quarter goat milk

Step 1 of 6
Receive and check the milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria

Milk comes from machine milking (raw-milk method) or hand milking (pasteurised-milk method) and is cleaned and cooled on arrival.

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

What makes this one different

The specification credits the cheese's taste to the mixed Karakul-cross and Țigaie flocks of the area. It is set only with home-dried lamb rennet and salted in brine straight after a short drain, so it stays sweeter and has fewer gas holes than sheep cheese from northern Moldova.

Composition
Moisture 45.0–60.0%, fat in dry matter 55.0–65.0%, NaCl 5.0–7.0%
Coagulant
Only natural rennet from lambs 2–4 days old, dried with salt

Related ferments

Variants

  • Brînză de Popeasca without goat milkSheep milk only; labelled "without goat's milk"
  • Brînză de Popeasca with goat milkUp to 25% goat milk; labelled "with goat's milk"

Safety

The specification sets salt at 5.0–7.0% and moisture at 45.0–60.0% in the finished cheese, and pasteurises any milk not fit to use raw. No safety study of this cheese was found.

History and sources

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

The specification says local herders have farmed sheep this way for over a century. Moldova's intellectual property agency AGEPI decided on 23 September 2016 to register the appellation for the sheep and goat breeders' association of the Ștefan Vodă district.

  1. [uk-spec] Public association of sheep and goat breeders of the Ștefan Vodă district, Summary technical specification of the appellation of origin 'Brînză de Popeasca' (UK GI register copy)spec
  2. [agepi-do10] AGEPI (State Agency on Intellectual Property of Moldova), register record DO-10 'Brînză de Popeasca', filed 15 April 2016, registered 23 October 2016gov