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Cheese from Slovakia, Liptov region

Liptovská bryndza PDOLiptovská bryndza

Raw sheep milk from Liptov is set with natural or industrial rennet into lump cheese, which ripens two to four weeks while lactic bacteria and yeasts work on it. The ripe lumps are sorted, pressed, ground in mills and mixed with salt or brine, then left to rest so the flavour sharpens. The result is a soft, spreadable, granular sheep cheese with no more than 2 % salt.

Fully documentedCheese14 days – 28 daysPDO 'Liptovská bryndza' (EU, applied 2024, registered by Regulation (EU) 2026/590 of 11 March 2026)Family: Bryndza (Slovak / Podhale)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe specification sets composition limits, not a recipe or batch size.
Lump sheep cheese (hrudka) made from raw sheep milk of the Liptov areaThe finished bryndza is 100 % lump sheep cheese[liptov-pdo]
Natural or industrial rennet (for the lump cheese)[liptov-pdo]
Salt, or a specially prepared salt solutionNot more than 2 % NaCl in the finished cheese[liptov-pdo]
Starterthe natural microflora of the lump cheese made from raw sheep milk

Total time across the recorded steps: 14 days – 28 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
shapes, not to countLactobacillusEnterococcusLactococcusStreptococcus

What changes: Rennet sets raw sheep milk into lump cheese

Step 1 of 5
Make lump cheese from raw sheep milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactobacillus
Enterococcus
Lactococcus
Streptococcus
Lactic acid bacteria

Sheep milk is set with natural or industrial rennet without heat treatment to make the lump cheese.

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

Raw sheep milk from Liptov is set with natural or industrial rennet into lump cheese, which ripens two to four weeks while lactic bacteria and yeasts work on it. The ripe lumps are sorted, pressed, ground in mills and mixed with salt or brine, then left to rest so the flavour sharpens. The result is a soft, spreadable, granular sheep cheese with no more than 2 % salt. Made in 5 steps over 14 days – 28 days. The longest step, ripen the lump cheese, takes 14–28 days (European Commission 2025). Salt is up to 2 % (European Commission 2025). Naturally occurring Lactobacillus, Enterococcus, Lactococcus and Streptococcus, with the yeasts Kluyveromyces marxianus and Geotrichum candidum does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step14–28 daysSet[liptov-pdo]Ripen the lump cheese
Saltup to 2 %Set[liptov-pdo]Grind and mill with salt

What makes this one different

Liptovská bryndza is 100 % lump cheese from raw sheep milk of the Liptov region and holds at most 2 % salt. Other bryndza may be milled from a mix with up to half cow-milk lump cheese.

Composition
Dry matter at least 50 %, fat in dry matter at least 50 %, protein 21 %, salt at most 2 %
Milk
Raw sheep milk; the breeds named are native and improved Wallachian, Cigaya, East Frisian and Lacaune, and crossbreeds

Related ferments

Safety

The specification says the cheese must not contain pathogenic micro-organisms. The lump cheese comes from raw sheep milk without heat treatment. The CDC advises people who are pregnant, aged 65 or over or immunocompromised to avoid any cheese made with raw milk, unless it is heated until steaming hot.

History and sources

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

The specification links the cheese to the Liptov basin between the High and Low Tatras, where meadows on limestone feed the sheep. Bryndza making moved from hand work to electric mills but kept the same principle of milling ripe lump cheese with salt. The name was entered in the international register of the World Intellectual Property Organization in Geneva on 22 November 1967 under the Lisbon Agreement. The PDO was applied for in 2024 and the application was published in the Official Journal on 21 November 2025. No statement of opposition was received, and the Commission entered the name in the EU register by Regulation (EU) 2026/590 of 11 March 2026, published on 18 March 2026.

  1. [liptov-pdo] European Commission 2025, Single document 'Liptovská bryndza', EU No PDO-SK-03316 – 12.8.2024, Official Journal C/2025/6349, 21.11.2025spec
  2. [reg2026] Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/590 of 11 March 2026 on the registration of the geographical indication 'Liptovská bryndza' (PDO), Official Journal L, 18.3.2026 (CELEX 32026R0590, Publications Office copy)spec
  3. [liptov-spec] Slovak product specification 'Liptovská bryndza' (summary of requirements under Article 49 of Regulation (EU) 2024/1143), Industrial Property Office of the Slovak Republicspec
  4. [kacaniova2021] Kačániová M., Terentjeva M., Kunová S., Haščík P., Kowalczewski P.Ł., Štefániková J. 2021, Diversity of microbiota in Slovak summer ewes' cheese "Bryndza", Open Life Sciences 16:277–286 (abstract)paper
  5. [cdc-listeria] CDC, Preventing Listeria infection (safer food choices; cheese made with raw milk)gov