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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Poland, Podhale

Bryndza Podhalańska PDOBryndza Podhalańska

Milk of Polish Mountain Sheep, with up to 40 % milk of Polish Red cows, is set with rennet at the shepherd's hut. The curd is lifted out, drained and left to ferment for about two weeks, then broken up and kneaded with salt into a soft, salty, slightly sour paste. It is made only from May to September, while the flocks are on the mountain pastures. Made in 7 steps over 14 days. The longest step, leave the cheese to ferment, takes 14 days (Ceklarz K. 2023). Lactococcus lactis and Lactobacillus casei does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step14 daysReported[ceklarz2023]Leave the cheese to ferment
Temperature70 °CReported[kawecka2019]Lift out the cheese and let it drip
Fully documentedCheese14 daysPDO (EU, 2007); the first Polish product with an EU protected nameFamily: Bryndza (Slovak / Podhale)More ripened sour-milk cheesesMore from Poland

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceTraditional process with no fixed amounts in the specification; the cheese is made from May to September only.
Ewe milk of the Polska Owca Górska (Polish Mountain Sheep)[bryndza-pl-sum2006]
Up to 40 % of the milkCow milk of the Polska Krowa Czerwona (Polish Red) · Optional[bryndza-pl-sum2006]
Rennet · Traditionally klag, calf stomach contents diluted with water; now a commercial rennet[bryndza-pl-sum2006][ceklarz2023]
Salt · Kneaded into the broken-up fermented cheese[bryndza-pl-sum2006]
Starternone added; the milk's own bacteria ferment the curd

Total time across the recorded steps: 14 days

Start
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What changes: Starting material: milk of Polish Mountain Sheep, sometimes with some cow milk

Step 1 of 7
Milk the flock at the hut
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactococcus lactis
Lactobacillus casei
Lactic acid bacteria

The sheep are milked by hand morning and evening on the high pastures, and the milk is made into cheese straight away.

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 Podhale bryndza is fermented and salted from the shepherds' own bundz. It must be mostly sheep milk, may take cow milk only from the native Polish Red breed and at most 40 %, and is made only in the summer grazing season.

Milk
Polish Mountain Sheep milk, with up to 40 % Polish Red cow milk
Composition
At most 60 % water, at least 40 % dry matter, at least 38 % fat in dry matter
Season
Made only from May to September

Related ferments

Safety

Bryndza is traditionally made from unpasteurised milk and ferments for only about two weeks. One market sample of bundz, the fresh cheese it starts from, carried Listeria monocytogenes DNA, so keep bryndza cold and eat it fresh.

Hazards the sources name: Citrobacter freundii, a faecal bacterium found in the same bryndza sample; Listeria monocytogenes DNA, found in one sample of bundz, the fresh cheese that bryndza is made from.

History and sources

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

Written mentions of bryndza in Podhale go back to 1527, and it was used as a means of payment and as part of rents and duties. Shepherds spent months on the high pastures living largely on sheep milk and its products. In 2007 it became the first Polish product registered as a PDO.

  1. [bryndza-pl-sum2006] European Commission 2006, Publication of an application for registration, 'Bryndza Podhalańska' PL/PDO/005/0450, summary, Official Journal C 230, 23.9.2006, p. 2spec
  2. [ceklarz2023] Ceklarz K. 2023, Oscypek na nowo. Między tradycją a turystycznym biznesem, Perspektywy Kultury 42(3), doi 10.35765/pk.2023.4203.29paper
  3. [kawecka2019] Kawęcka A., Pasternak M. 2019, Jakość mleka owiec górskich i bundzu owczego, Wiadomości Zootechniczne 57(3):9–16paper
  4. [nalepa2022] Nalepa B., Markiewicz L.H. 2022, Microbiological biodiversity of regional cow, goat and ewe milk cheeses produced in Poland and antibiotic resistance of lactic acid bacteria isolated from them, Animals 13:168paper