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Cheese from Sudan

Gibna mudaffara (braided cheese)Mudaffara

Sudan's braided cheese, a semi-hard stretched-curd cow cheese flavoured with black cumin. The curd is soured until a test piece stretches into a long rope in hot water, then kneaded in hot water or whey, drawn into ropes, braided and kept in salted whey. It is the country's second most eaten cheese after the white gibna bayda.

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceRecipes of two university studies in Sudan; Altahir et al. also added calcium chloride. Sudan makes about 7,500 tons a year in small businesses.
Cow milk, raw or pasteurised[altahir2014][elgabali2023]
Starter of Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus0.02 % (Altahir) or 1 % (El Gabali) of the milk[altahir2014][elgabali2023]
Rennet1 tablet or stick per 50 kg of milk[altahir2014][elgabali2023]
Black cumin seed (Nigella sativa)0.5 % of the paste[altahir2014][elgabali2023]
Salted whey, for storage[altahir2014][elgabali2023]
StarterLactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus in the studies

Total time across the recorded steps: 14 h

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
shapes, not to countL. delbrueckiiS. thermophilus40 °C

What changes: Starter and rennet go into cow milk warmed to 40 °C

Step 1 of 6
Warm the milk and add starter and rennet
Time
Not documented
Temperature
40 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
L. delbrueckii
S. thermophilus
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

Sudan's braided cheese, a semi-hard stretched-curd cow cheese flavoured with black cumin. The curd is soured until a test piece stretches into a long rope in hot water, then kneaded in hot water or whey, drawn into ropes, braided and kept in salted whey. It is the country's second most eaten cheese after the white gibna bayda. Made in 6 steps over 14 h. The longest step, keep in salted whey, takes 12 h (El Gabali TMMA 2023) and runs at 4 °C (El Gabali TMMA 2023). Salt is 3 % (El Gabali TMMA 2023). Starter of Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus, which sours the curd until it stretches does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step12 hReported[elgabali2023]Keep in salted whey
Temperature4 °CReported[elgabali2023]Keep in salted whey
Salt3 %Reported[elgabali2023]Keep in salted whey

What makes this one different

A stretched-curd cheese braided into a plait and flavoured with black cumin, which keeps better than the white gibna bayda.

Composition
Of 54 Khartoum market samples, 55 % had 26–37 % fat and 83 % had 55–70 % total solids (Abdalla et al.)
Acidity
Acidity for kneading 0.54–0.60 %

Related ferments

Safety

In the study recipes the braids were kept in salted whey at 4 °C or 5 ± 2 °C. Proteolysis and pH changed more during storage in raw-milk cheese than in cheese from pasteurised milk. In a survey of 54 braided cheeses sold in Khartoum, 89 % had total viable counts of log 7.5–9.5 cfu/g and 89 % had coliform counts of log 2.0–2.80 cfu/g, and the authors call the samples highly contaminated. Some braids are made from raw milk. CDC says raw milk can carry Campylobacter, Cryptosporidium, E. coli, Listeria, Brucella and Salmonella. It says children under 5, adults over 65, pregnant women and people with weak immunity are at higher risk of serious illness.

Hazards the sources name: Coliform bacteria (log 2.0–2.80 cfu/g in 89 % of 54 braided cheeses sold in the Khartoum market; the authors call the samples highly contaminated).

History and sources

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

Braided cheese is believed to have come from the Mediterranean and is now made and eaten widely in Sudan, where it is also called majdula.

  1. [altahir2014] Altahir MO, Elgasim EA, Mohamed Ahmed IA 2014, Ripening of Sudanese Braided (Muddaffara) Cheese Manufactured from Raw or Pasteurized Milk: Effect of Heat Treatment and Salt Concentration on the Physicochemical Properties, International Journal of Food Science 2014:698263paper
  2. [elgabali2023] El Gabali TMMA, Jadain OAM, El Zubeir IEM 2023, Effect of addition of Syrian thyme (Thymus syriacus) on physiochemical and sensory quality of Sudanese Mudaffara cheese during storage, Journal of Food Science and Technology 60(2):517-527paper
  3. [abdalla2013] Sebit R, Abdalla MOM, Elsiddig HM, Elhaj NM, Suleiman TA 2013, Chemical and Microbiological Evaluation of Sudanese Braided Cheese (Mudaffara), University of Khartoum Journal of Agricultural Sciences 21(2)paper
  4. [cdc-raw-milk] US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Raw Milk (31 January 2025)gov