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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Slovakia, Gemer-Malohont

Klenovecký syrec

Klenovecký syrec is a semi-hard cheese from sheep or cow milk soured with a lactic culture first isolated from Slovak sheep milk. Blocks of firm curd are scalded in hot water so the surface becomes pliable, pressed into wooden moulds that stamp a cross or four-leaf ornament, soured to pH 5.2, brined and ripened about three weeks. It is sold plain, smoked, coated in wood ash or coloured green. Made in 9 steps over 21 days. The longest step, ripen on shelves, takes at least 20 days (Industrial Property Office of the Slovak Repu…) and runs at 14–16 °C (Industrial Property Office of the Slovak Repu…). Salt is 14 % (Industrial Property Office of the Slovak Repu…). Lactococcus, sometimes with Lactobacillus, from a culture isolated at Slovak sheep huts does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 20 daysSet[klen-spec]Ripen on shelves
Temperature14–16 °CSet[klen-spec]Ripen on shelves
Salt14 %Set[klen-spec]Brine
AciditypH 5.2Set[klen-spec]Press in carved moulds and let it sour

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe amounts describe the dairy method in the specification. A cheese weighs 1–4 kg, as a loaf 10–25 cm across or a block of 10–14 × 12–16 × 8–12 cm.
Sheep or cow milk · Whole; raw at the shepherd's hut or farm; cow milk is pasteurised at no more than 72 °C when it has been stored longer[klen-spec]
Lactic culture of Lactococcus (and sometimes Lactobacillus) · Isolated from raw sheep milk and sheep cheese at Slovak salaš huts[klen-spec][klen-oj2014]
10 g per 100 l of milkCalcium chloride · Dairy method, with pasteurised milk[klen-spec]
Rennet[klen-spec]
Salt · As a 14% brine[klen-spec]
StarterLactococcus (sometimes with Lactobacillus) culture isolated from Slovak salaš sheep milk and cheese

Total time across the recorded steps: 21 days

Start
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5–10 °C

What changes: Starting material: whole sheep or cow milk, strained and kept cool

Step 1 of 9
Cool and strain the milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
5–10 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactococcus
Lactobacillus

On the farm, fresh warm whole milk goes straight into the cheese kettle after straining.

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

The specification sets it apart from Slovak oštiepok. Klenovecký syrec is much larger, ripens longer and has a different shape and surface, a loaf or block stamped with a cross or four-leaf ornament. The curd is only scalded on the outside, so it is partly a stretched-curd cheese. It may be smoked, ashed or coloured green.

Rind
Closed surface stamped with a toothed circle around a cross or four-leaf ornament
Size
1–4 kg; loaf 10–25 cm across or block 10–14 × 12–16 × 8–12 cm

Related ferments

Variants

  • Údený (smoked)Golden yellow to golden brown, smoke aroma, slightly more salt (given as 1%)
  • Neúdený (unsmoked)White to cream
  • Ash-coated or greenRubbed with fine wood ash or coloured with a green plant colour; never smoked
  • Z ovčieho mliekaMade from sheep milk; the label must say so

Safety

Farm cheese is made from raw milk. ANSES names Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella and Shiga-toxin-producing E. coli as the risks of raw-milk cheeses and advises pregnant women, young children, people over 65 and people with weak immunity not to eat them.

Hazards the sources name: Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella and Shiga-toxin-producing E. coli (raw-milk risks named by ANSES; farm cheese is made from raw milk).

History and sources

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

A record of 1850 is the oldest written trace the specification cites. In his 1924 book Sýrařství, Otakar Laxa described a round sheep cheese from Klenovec that was exported to Germany in the 1760s. A 1919 analysis gave 46.4% water and 21.5% fat. In Hungarian times the cheese went to Vienna and Budapest.

  1. [klen-spec] Industrial Property Office of the Slovak Republic, Špecifikácia "Klenovecký syrec", application for registration of a PGI under Regulation (EC) No 510/2006spec
  2. [klen-oj2014] European Union, Single document "Klenovecký syrec" (PGI), SK-PGI-0005-1008, Official Journal C 269, 15 August 2014, p. 2 (Polish text)spec
  3. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov