Skip to main content
Support

Browse by category

All categories
Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Cyprus, Tilliria

Halitzia TilliriasΧαλίτζια Τηλλυρίας

Halitzia is a white brined cheese from Tilliria in northwest Cyprus, made from heat-treated fresh goat milk, rennet and salt. The pressed curd is cut into small pieces, salted, and rested in salted whey, where the pieces swell into the pebble shapes that give the cheese its name. It matures at least 40 days in salted whey. Made in 7 steps over 42 days. The longest step, mature in salted whey, takes at least 40 days (Cyprus Ministry of Agriculture 2025). Lactic acid bacteria, the main group, stable through ripening does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 40 daysSet[cy-gastronomy][ec-cy2023]Mature in salted whey
Temperatureat least 65 °CReported[cy-gastronomy]Heat-treat the goat milk

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedHousehold and small-dairy tradition with no fixed batch size; the Department of Agriculture describes the method, not the amounts.
Fresh goat milk · Filtered, then pasteurised or heated above 65 °C for at least 30 minutes, and cooled[cy-gastronomy][ec-cy2023]
Rennet[cy-gastronomy][ec-cy2023]
Salt · Rubbed on the pieces, and in the whey they rest and mature in[cy-gastronomy]
Salted whey[cy-gastronomy]
Starter: The traditional method adds no starter; one study also made it with starters from pasteurised milk.

Total time across the recorded steps: 42 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
at least 65 °C

What changes: Fresh goat milk is filtered and heated above 65 °C for half an hour, then cooled

Step 1 of 7
Heat-treat the goat milk
Time
at least 30 min
Reported
Temperature
at least 65 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria
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

Most white brined cheeses are cut into blocks or slices. Halitzia is cut into small chunks that swell in salted whey into pebble shapes, and it matures in whey rather than in a plain salt brine.

Rind
None; pure white chunks with irregular holes

Related ferments

Safety

The milk is pasteurised or held above 65 °C for at least 30 minutes. In a ripening study, coliforms and coagulase-positive staphylococci fell during ripening, and staphylococci were not found at the end.

Hazards the sources name: Coliforms and coagulase-positive staphylococci (fell during ripening; staphylococci not found at the end).

History and sources

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

The Commission approved the name as a PGI on 7 December 2023. The making is still often passed down in families and done at home or in small businesses in Tilliria. A 2019 study called it a long-forgotten white-brined cheese.

  1. [cy-gastronomy] Cyprus Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, Department of Agriculture, Gastronomy in Cyprus (2025), pp. 27–28gov
  2. [ec-cy2023] European Commission Representation in Cyprus, European Commission approves a geographical indication from Cyprus (7 December 2023)gov
  3. [papademas2019] Papademas P. et al. 2019, Conventional and omics approaches shed light on Halitzia cheese, a long-forgotten white-brined cheese from Cyprus, International Dairy Journal 98, 72–83 (abstract)paper