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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Turkey, Diyarbakır province and its districts

Diyarbakır Örgü PeyniriDiyarbakır örgü peyniri

Raw sheep milk, mostly from spring, is set with calf rennet in about an hour. The drained curd ferments under a press until it reaches about pH 5, then small pieces are scalded in hot salted water, kneaded, pulled into strands and braided like hair. It is eaten fresh or ripened in strong brine in sealed tins for about three months. Made in 6 steps over 3 months. The longest step, ripen in brine in sealed tins, takes 3 months (TÜRKPATENT 2020) and runs at 4–6 °C (TÜRKPATENT 2020). Salt is 3 % (TÜRKPATENT 2020). Lactobacillus spp. and lactic streptococci, averaging 3.4 × 10^6 and 3.7 × 10^6 cfu/g in 105 market samples does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step3 monthsSet[tp-170]Ripen in brine in sealed tins
Temperature4–6 °CSet[tp-170]Ripen in brine in sealed tins
Salt3 %Set[tp-170][vural2010]Scald in hot salted water
AciditypH 5Set[tp-170][vural2010]Break, drain and press while it ferments
Fully documentedCheese3 monthsGeographical indication (mahreç işareti), TÜRKPATENT no. 170, protected from 15 February 2010Family: Pasta filata (stretched-curd) cheese familyMore stretched-curd cheesesMore from Turkey

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe registration describes the traditional method, not batch amounts. Each braid starts as about 200 g of curd.
Raw sheep milk · From Karakaş (an Akkaraman variety), Karacadağ Zom and Awassi sheep grazing local pastures; goat, cow or mixed milk when sheep milk is scarce[tp-170]
Liquid calf rennet · Commercial or, mostly, home-made[tp-170]
Salt · For the scalding water (about 3%) and the storage brine (about 10–12%)[tp-170]
Starter: none added; the curd ferments with the milk's own bacteria under the press

Total time across the recorded steps: 3 months

Start
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What changes: Starting material: freshly milked raw sheep milk, strained

Step 1 of 6
Strain fresh raw sheep milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactobacillus spp.

Made mostly in spring, from freshly drawn milk strained coarsely.

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

Örgü peyniri has the composition of white brined cheese but is made like kaşar, by scalding and stretching soured curd. Braiding the stretched curd like hair is what sets it apart, and it is stored in strong brine rather than left to form a rind.

Composition
GI registration: dry matter 42.2–62.33%, fat 19–26.5%, protein 21–29.8%, salt at most 9.29%
Size
Braids made from about 200 g of curd

Related ferments

Variants

  • Home-made örgü from white cheeseFresh unsalted sheep white cheese is softened 5–6 min in boiling water, kneaded, braided and firmed in cold water

Safety

The traditional cheese is made from raw milk. In 105 unpackaged market samples from Diyarbakır, E. coli was found in 65.71%, E. coli O157 in 7.62% and Listeria spp. in 2.86%. The registration stores the brined cheese at 4–6 °C.

Hazards the sources name: Escherichia coli in 65.71% and E. coli O157 in 7.62% of 105 unpackaged market samples; Listeria spp. in 2.86% of samples; no Salmonella found.

History and sources

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

Diyarbakır's chamber of commerce applied for the geographical indication in 2010; it was published in the Official Gazette in 2012 and amended in 2020 and 2022. Örgü makes up 60–65% of the cheese eaten in the region, according to sources cited in a 2010 study.

  1. [tp-170] TÜRKPATENT, Coğrafi işaret no. 170, Diyarbakır Örgü Peyniri (mahreç işareti), registered by the Diyarbakır Chamber of Commerce and Industry, with amendments of 2020 and 2022spec
  2. [vural2010] Vural A., Erkan M.E. and Güran H.Ş. 2010, The examination of the microbiologic quality in Örgü cheese (braided cheese) samples, Kafkas Universitesi Veteriner Fakultesi Dergisi 16 (Suppl-A), S53–S58, doi:10.9775/kvfd.2009.1342paper