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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from North Macedonia, Mavrovo National Park on Bistra mountain

Mavrovo Reka mountain-pasture kashkaval (Galichki kashkaval)Галички кашкавал

In summer, raw milk from sheep on the Bistra mountain pastures is set with rennet at about 38 °C, cut, pressed, and left at room temperature until the curd (baskija) sours to about pH 5.3. The soured curd is sliced, stretched in brine at 73–75 °C and moulded into wheels, which ripen into a hard sheep kashkaval. No starter culture is added. Made in 7 steps over 45 min. The longest step, add rennet, takes 45 min (Santa D 2021) and runs at 38 °C (Santa D 2021). Salt is 2.3 % (Santa D 2021). The raw milk's own lactic acid bacteria (no starter is added), which take the curd from pH 6.2 to about 5.3 before stretching does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step45 minReported[santa2021]Add rennet
Temperature38 °CMeasured[santa2021]Add rennet
Salt2.3 %Measured[santa2021]Unmould and ripen
AciditypH 5.5 → 5.28Measured[santa2021]Sour the curd (baskija) at room temperature
Fully documentedCheese45 minSlow Food Presidium (Mavrovo Reka mountain pasture cheeses, shown at Cheese 2011)Family: Pasta filata (stretched-curd) cheese familyMore stretched-curd cheesesMore from Europe

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe Galičnik plant studied works up to 800 litres of milk a day, in summer only, from the second half of June to the first half of August.
Raw sheep milk · Morning and evening milk from the dairy's own flock; 8.10 % fat and 5.56 % protein on average[santa2021]
Rennet[santa2021]
Hot brine · For stretching, at 73–75 °C[santa2021]
Starter: none; the raw milk's own bacteria, plus rennet

Total time across the recorded steps: 45 min

Start
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26.9 °CpH 6.6

What changes: Starting material: raw milk from sheep on the Bistra summer pastures

Step 1 of 7
Collect the sheep milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
26.9 °C
Measured
Salt
None given
Acidity
pH 6.6
Measured
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria

Milk from the morning and evening milkings of the dairy's own sheep, grazing pastures at 1,000–1,500 m in summer. Output: raw sheep milk.

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

This kashkaval is made only in summer, in the mountain villages, from the raw milk of sheep on the high pastures, with no starter culture. The curd sours by itself on the table for hours and is then stretched in hot brine.

Milk
Raw sheep milk from summer mountain pastures; no starter
Stretching
In hot brine at 73–75 °C, at a curd pH of about 5.3
Composition
At six months: total solids 60.81 %, fat 26.02 %, protein 27.85 %, fat in dry matter 42.77 %, salt 2.31 %
Output
Under 10 tonnes of kashkaval a year (2011)

Related ferments

Variants

  • Belo sirenjeThe white brined cheese of the same pastures, made in larger amounts (about 50 tonnes a year in 2011).

Safety

Made from raw sheep milk with no starter. The curd is stretched in brine at 73–75 °C, and the cheese leaves the mould at about 52 °C and pH 5.05, then ripens for months. ANSES advises pregnant women, people over 65, people with weak immunity and young children to avoid raw-milk cheeses.

Hazards the sources name: Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella and enterohaemorrhagic E. coli, the main hazards ANSES names for raw-milk cheeses.

History and sources

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

Galičnik and Lazaropole have been the heart of kashkaval making for centuries. Flocks once wintered near Thessaloniki and came up to the Bistra pastures in spring. By 2011 depopulation and low prices had cut output to under 10 tonnes of kashkaval a year, and the Slow Food Presidium for these cheeses made its first international appearance at the Cheese fair in Bra.

  1. [santa2021] Santa D., Srbinovska S. and Simonovska T. 2021, Dynamics of acidity (pH) and temperature during the production of traditional Macedonian Galichki kashkaval, Agriculture and Forestry 67(3):99-107paper
  2. [obc2011] Martino F. 2011, Slow food. On grass and transhumance in Western Macedonia, OBC Transeuropa (16 September 2011)web
  3. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov