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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Turkey, Tekirdağ province

Malkara Eski Kaşar Peyniri

Malkara eski kaşar is an aged stretched-curd cheese made from a fixed mix of goat, sheep and cow milk taken from April to July. The pressed, soured curd is scalded in salt water at 78 °C, kneaded with sea salt into 13 kg millstone-shaped wheels, pre-ripened three weeks on wooden shelves, then sewn into hemp sacks and kept at 0–1 °C for at least 90 days. Made in 10 steps over 3.7 months. The longest step, ripen cold in the sack, takes at least 3 months (TÜRKPATENT (Turkish Patent and Trademark Offi…) and runs at 0–1 °C (TÜRKPATENT (Turkish Patent and Trademark Offi…). Salt is 3–8 % (TÜRKPATENT (Turkish Patent and Trademark Offi…). Lactic acid bacteria of the raw milk, counted through making and ripening in traditional kaşar does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 3 monthsSet[malkara-gi]Ripen cold in the sack
Temperature0–1 °CSet[malkara-gi]Ripen cold in the sack
Salt3–8 %Set[malkara-gi]Scald in hot salt water
AciditypH 5.8–5.9 → 4.8Set[malkara-gi]Press and let it sour (teleme)
Fully documentedCheese3.7 monthsDesignation of origin (menşe adı), TÜRKPATENT reg. no. 261, registered 6 December 2017Family: Pasta filata (stretched-curd) cheese familyMore stretched-curd cheesesMore from Turkey

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe amounts describe one wheel in the registration. About 13 kg of curd goes into each mould to give an 11 kg ripe wheel.
30–35%Goat milk[malkara-gi]
20–35%Sheep milk[malkara-gi]
30–50%Cow milk · All three milks must be used together; milked 1 April to 31 July from animals grazing the area's grass pea (Lathyrus), wild clovers and thyme; pH at most 6.20[malkara-gi]
Rennet · Preferably natural calf-stomach rennet; otherwise ready-made cheese rennet[malkara-gi]
150–300 g per wheelCoarse clean sea salt · Kneaded into the curd, plus 10–30 g dry salt at each turning[malkara-gi]
3–8%Salt water for scalding[malkara-gi]
StarterThe registration names no starter; the milk's own lactic bacteria sour the pressed curd.

Total time across the recorded steps: 3.7 months

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
pH up to 6.2

What changes: Starting material: raw goat, sheep and cow milk from spring pastures, mixed

Step 1 of 10
Collect and mix the three milks
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
pH up to 6.2
Set
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria

Milk is tested for acidity, fat, solids and antibiotics, cleaned, and mixed so the cheese has at least 60% dry matter and 45% fat in dry matter.

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

Malkara eski kaşar must use goat, sheep and cow milk together, only from spring and early summer, and it ripens three months at 0–1 °C sewn into hemp sacks. The registration links terpenes found in the cheese, such as alpha-pinene, to the grass pea (Lathyrus) the animals graze.

Rind
Hard, thick, dirty-straw to dark-straw yellow
Size
Millstone wheel of at least 11 kg, with one flat face a third of the diameter
Shelf life
Up to 18 months in the sack; 12 months vacuum-packed; 6 months in protective atmosphere

Related ferments

Variants

  • Sliced and packedVacuum-packed (12 months) or packed in protective atmosphere (6 months)

Safety

The milk is only warmed to 30–55 °C, but the curd is scalded at 78 °C with a core of at least 72 °C. In a study of traditional raw-milk kaşar, stretching killed the E. coli found in some raw milk, but the steps did not remove all microbes.

Hazards the sources name: Escherichia coli (in 2 of 12 raw-milk samples for traditional kaşar; killed by stretching).

History and sources

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

The registration cites Evliya Çelebi's Seyahatname, which names Malkara as famous for its kaşkaval. The town stood on the old road from Thessaloniki to Istanbul. A 1937 survey listed the kaşar dairies of Thrace.

  1. [malkara-gi] TÜRKPATENT (Turkish Patent and Trademark Office), Coğrafi işaret no. 261, Malkara Eski Kaşar Peyniri, designation of origin registered 6 December 2017 (amendment notice of 1 October 2019)spec
  2. [cetinkaya2006] Çetinkaya F. and Soyutemiz G.E. 2006, Microbiological and chemical changes throughout the manufacture and ripening of kashar, a traditional Turkish cheese, Turkish Journal of Veterinary and Animal Sciences 30(4), 397–404 (abstract; general kaşar, not Malkara)paper