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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Germany, Hesse

Handkäse (mit Musik)Handkäse

Skim-milk sour-milk quark, set by acid alone without rennet and ripened for one to two weeks, is ground with ripening salts, salt and sometimes caraway and shaped into small loaves of 20–125 g. The loaves sweat in warm rooms for two to three days, then ripen again with a red smear for one to three days. Handkäs mit Musik is the cheese marinated in onion, vinegar and oil. Made in 5 steps over 10 days – 20 days. The longest step, ripen the sour-milk quark, takes 7–14 days (Regierungspräsidium Gießen (Hesse) 2022). Red-smear cultures (Brevibacterium linens) on the surface and Geotrichum candidum (white milk mould) on the Hausmacher Art type do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step7–14 daysSet[rpgi-flyer]Ripen the sour-milk quark
Temperature25–28 °CReported[yumda-handkase]Sweat in warm rooms
DocumentedCheese10 days – 20 daysPGI (EU, Hessischer Handkäse / Hessischer Handkäs, registered 2010)Family: Ripened acid-curd cheese family (Harzer, Olomoucké tvarůžky, Gamalost)More ripened sour-milk cheesesMore from Germany

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedNo amounts are published; the steps follow the Hessian state control office's description of the PGI.
Sour-milk quark (Sauermilchquark) · From cow milk only, ripened 7–14 days; it may come from outside Hesse[rpgi-flyer]
Ripening salts and table salt[rpgi-flyer]
Casein · Optional[rpgi-flyer]
Red-smear cultures[rpgi-flyer]
Caraway (optional)[rpgi-flyer][yumda-handkase]
Onions, vinegar and oil (to taste) · The "Musik" marinade, with pepper and salt, added for serving[rpgi-flyer][yumda-handkase]
Starter: the quark is soured by lactic bacteria; red-smear cultures are added for ripening

Total time across the recorded steps: 10 days – 20 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
7–14 daysshapes, not to countLactic acid bacteria

What changes: Acid-set skim-milk quark ripens for one to two weeks before it becomes cheese

Step 1 of 5
Ripen the sour-milk quark
Time
7–14 days
Set
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria
Brevibacterium linens
Geotrichum candidum

Output: ripened quark.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
crumbly, low-fat quark
Colour
white

Microbes at work in this step

lactic bacteria have already soured skim milk into quark with no rennet

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

Handkäse is made from quark soured by acid alone, not from rennet curd, and it ripens in days, not months. Every step must happen in Hesse, though the quark may come from elsewhere. Harzer is the same type of cheese from the Harz.

Milk
Cow milk only, made into acid-set sour-milk quark without rennet; low-fat
Ripening
Quark ripened 7–14 days; loaves sweat 2–3 days, then ripen 1–3 more days
Size
Small loaves of 20–125 g

Related ferments

Variants

  • Rotschmierekäse (Gelbkäse)Red smear only.
  • Hausmacher ArtAlso grows a white coat of Geotrichum candidum milk mould.
  • Handkäs mit MusikMarinated in onions, vinegar and oil.

History and sources

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

The Hessian state office says Handkäse was first mentioned in 1813, sold as a hand-shaped cheese at the markets of Mainz, and was a staple food of poor households.

  1. [rpgi-flyer] Regierungspräsidium Gießen (Hesse), Hessischer Handkäse g.g.A. — Überwachung und Kontrolle der geografischen Herkunftszeichen in Hessen (control office leaflet), 2022gov
  2. [eu-784-2010] Commission Regulation (EU) No 784/2010 of 3 September 2010 entering Hessischer Handkäse or Hessischer Handkäs (PGI) in the register, OJ L 234, 4.9.2010, pp. 5–6 (Spanish edition)spec
  3. [yumda-handkase] Yumda encyclopedia (LUMITOS AG), Handkäse (based on the German Wikipedia article)wiki