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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Hungary, Győr-Moson-Sopron county

Győr-Moson-Sopron megyei Csemege sajtCsemege sajt

Csemege sajt is a full-fat, salted, semi-hard cow cheese from north-west Hungary, with many small holes and a pleasantly aromatic, slightly acid taste. Dairy writers of 1915–1940 describe the Moson county Csemege (or Illmici) cheese as a smaller, flatter and softer relative of the Óvári cheese, set at 29–30 °C, warmed to 39–42 °C and ripened four to six weeks in a warm cellar. Made in 6 steps over 28 days – 42 days. The longest step, ripen in a warm cellar, takes 28–42 days (Csiszár J. 1940) and runs at 18–20 °C (Csiszár J. 1940).

Key numbers
Main step28–42 daysReported[csiszar1940]Ripen in a warm cellar
Temperature18–20 °CReported[csiszar1940]Ripen in a warm cellar
DocumentedCheese28 days – 42 daysPGI (EU, Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/541; file PGI-HU-02303); the first Hungarian cheese with a PGIFamily: Washed-curd cheese family (Gouda as template)More washed-curd cheesesMore from Hungary

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe historical figures describe wheels of about 3 kg, 28–30 cm across and 7 cm high. The PGI specification's amounts could not be retrieved.
Cow milk · Full-fat[xpatloop2020]
Rennet[csiszar1940]
Salt · The PGI cheese is described as a salted cheese[xpatloop2020]
Starter: not recorded in the sources found

Total time across the recorded steps: 28 days – 42 days

Start
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What changes: Starting material: full-fat cow milk

Step 1 of 6
Take cow milk
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

What makes this one different

Csemege (Illmici) cheese was made alongside the Óvári cheese of Mosonmagyaróvár by a similar method, but as a smaller, flatter and softer wheel. A 1940 manual records that the Óvári method itself later drifted toward the Csemege way of making.

Milk
Full-fat cow milk
Size (historical)
About 3 kg; 28–30 cm across, 7 cm high

Related ferments

Safety

No safety data or study of this cheese was found.

History and sources

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

The Óvári cheese was first made in Moson county dairy cooperatives on the model of Tilsiter, and the Moson Csemege, also called Illmici, was made alongside it. Újhelyi's 1915–16 report calls it smaller, flatter, softer and better than Óvári. The Traditional Hungarian Cheese Association applied for the PGI around 2016, and the EU registered it in 2020.

  1. [csiszar1940] Csiszár J. 1940, Az óvári sajt készítése, Mosonvármegye könyvnyomda, Mosonmagyaróvár (digitised by the Hungarian Electronic Library, MEK 28946), introduction and production tablebook
  2. [eamb-csemege] European Commission, eAmbrosia GI register record 'Győr-Moson-Sopron megyei Csemege sajt', PGI-HU-02303, registered by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/541 (OJ L 121, 20.4.2020)archive
  3. [xpatloop2020] XpatLoop 2020, Hungarian cheese registered with Protected Geographical Indication label (21 April 2020)web