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Cheese from Georgia, Imereti

Imeruliიმერული ყველი

Cow milk, with up to 20 % buffalo or goat milk, is set at 32–34 °C. The grains are stirred 20–25 minutes, 30 % of the whey is drawn off and the curd is warmed a second time to 37–41 °C. The curd presses under its own weight in forms for 3–4 hours, goes into brine at 8–12 °C and can be sold a day later.

Fully documentedCheese3.5 h – 4.7 hGeographical indication, Georgia, registration no. 15 (24 January 2012)Family: White brined cheese family (Feta PDO as template)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe specification gives temperatures and times but no quantities. A cheese weighs 0.5–1.5 kg.
Cow milk, with up to 20 % buffalo or goat milk[uk-imeruli]
Brine[uk-imeruli]

Total time across the recorded steps: 3.5 h – 4.7 h

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
32–34 °C

What changes: The milk sets at 32–34 °C into curd grains

Step 1 of 5
Set the milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
32–34 °C
Set
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

At a glance

Cow milk, with up to 20 % buffalo or goat milk, is set at 32–34 °C. The grains are stirred 20–25 minutes, 30 % of the whey is drawn off and the curd is warmed a second time to 37–41 °C. The curd presses under its own weight in forms for 3–4 hours, goes into brine at 8–12 °C and can be sold a day later. Made in 5 steps over 3.5 h – 4.7 h. The longest step, fill forms and self-press, takes 3–4 h (Ministry of Agriculture of Georgia 2012).

Key numbers
Main step3–4 hSet[uk-imeruli]Fill forms and self-press
Temperature32–34 °CSet[uk-imeruli]Set the milk

What makes this one different

Unlike feta-type cheeses it can be sold a day after brining, not ripened for months. The curd is warmed a second time to 37–41 °C, and part of the whey is drawn off before shaping.

Shape
Low cylinder 3–5 cm high and 14–17 cm across, rindless; also a log 18–20 × 8–10 × 6–7 cm
Composition
Moisture at most 52 %, fat in dry matter at least 45 %, salt 2–5 %
Shelf life
Can be sold a day after brining; keeping it on the farm for more than 7 days is not recommended
Milk
Cow milk at least 3.6 % fat, acidity at most 20 °T; mixed milk at least 4.2 % fat, acidity at most 21 °T (table in the specification)

Related ferments

Safety

A fresh, briefly brined cheese with up to 52 % moisture. The specification advises not keeping it on the farm for more than 7 days, and it gives no milk heat treatment. For a sense of the hazards of white cheese sold in open markets, a 2003 survey of 60 samples of Lori, an Armenian cheese, in Yerevan found E. coli O157:H7 and Listeria monocytogenes in 2 samples each. If the milk is raw, ANSES tells pregnant women, young children, people over 65 and people with weak immunity to avoid such cheese, apart from cooked pressed kinds such as Gruyère.

History and sources

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

Registered as a geographical indication in 2012. The specification let the name be used until 1 January 2021 for the same cheese made elsewhere in Georgia; after that date cheese made outside Imereti can be named Akhali kveli, Chkinti kveli or another name.

Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
  1. [uk-imeruli] Ministry of Agriculture of Georgia, specification 'Imeruli Kveli', registered in Georgia as a geographical indication no. 15 (24 January 2012), copy on the UK GI registerspec
  2. [origin-imeruli] oriGIn, 'Imeretian cheese', copy of the Georgian geographical indication no. 15 specificationweb
  3. [truzyan2014] Truzyan, N., 2003 (November), Baseline assessment of the microbial contamination of Lori cheese sold in Yerevan markets, Master of Public Health thesis, American University of Armeniapaper
  4. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov