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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Slovakia, mountain and foothill sheep farms

Ovčí hrudkový syr – salašnícky

Fresh raw sheep milk is warmed to 30–32 °C in a wooden putera, set with microbial rennet in 30–45 minutes, cut to small grains and warmed again with hot water. The settled curd is pressed by hand into a lump in a cheesecloth, hung to drain for about two hours, then left 2–3 days in a warm room where its own lactic bacteria sour it to pH 5.2–4.9. The lump is sold as is or goes on to be milled into bryndza. Made in 8 steps over 2.1 days – 3.1 days. The longest step, ferment in the warm room, takes 2–3 days (European Commission 2016) and runs at 18–22 °C (European Commission 2016). Streptococcus lactis (Lactococcus lactis), Leuconostoc mesenteroides, Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus plantarum does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step2–3 daysSet[oj-2016]Ferment in the warm room
Temperature18–22 °CSet[oj-2016]Ferment in the warm room
AciditypH 4.9–5.2Set[oj-2016]Ferment in the warm room
Fully documentedCheese2.1 days – 3.1 daysTSG (traditional speciality guaranteed, with reserved name since 2016)Family: Uncooked or semi-cooked pressed cheese family (tomme, Saint-Nectaire, Reblochon, Morbier, Raclette)More pressed uncooked cheesesMore from Slovakia

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe specification gives one rate, 40 ml of rennet per 100 litres of milk. A lump weighs up to 5 kg. No salt is listed.
Fresh raw sheep milk · Milked by hand in the pen and worked at once in the salaš[oj-2016]
40 ml per 100 l of milkMicrobial liquid rennet (Rhizomucor miehei) · The maker adjusts it to the rennet's strength and the time of the milking season[oj-2016]
Hot drinking water · At 50 °C to warm the milk and at 65 °C to warm the cut curd[oj-2016]
Starternone added; the raw milk carries the acid-forming bacteria and yeasts named in the specification

Total time across the recorded steps: 2.1 days – 3.1 days

Start
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What changes: Starting material: fresh sheep milk, strained into cans at the hut

Step 1 of 8
Milk and strain
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Streptococcus lactis
L. mesenteroides
Lactobacillus casei
Lactobacillus plantarum
Lactic acid bacteria

Ewes are milked by hand into a pail with a filter; the milk is strained through cotton wool into cans and carried to the hut. Output: fresh 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

It is a short lactic ferment of a hand-pressed lump of curd, not a long-ripened cheese. After 2–3 warm days it is sold, or passed on as the raw material for bryndza.

Milk
Fresh raw sheep milk, made in spring and summer
Composition
Dry matter at least 40 %; fat at least 50 % of dry matter
Measured composition
Across producers, dry matter 35.52–55.15 % and fat 18.31–31.08 %
Size
Round lump up to 5 kg

Related ferments

Safety

Made from raw sheep milk and ripened only 2–3 days; the specification relies on souring to pH 5.2–4.9 and on milk and whey never falling below 29 °C during making.

History and sources

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

Older accounts quoted in the specification describe curdling with natural rennet (kľag) at about 32 °C for 10–30 minutes, pressing the curd into a lump in cloth and drying it for days on a wooden shelf before it went to the sheep owners. In the 20th century the cheese spread to all sheep-rearing mountain areas of Slovakia. It was registered as a TSG, and the name was reserved by a 2016 amendment.

  1. [oj-2016] European Commission 2016, Publication of an amendment application, 'Ovčí hrudkový syr – salašnícky' (TSG-SK-02135-14.4.2016), product specification, Official Journal of the EU C 388, 21 October 2016, p. 6spec
  2. [laukova2021] Lauková A., Tomáška M., Kmeť V., Strompfová V., Pogány Simonová M., Dvorožňáková E. 2021, Slovak local ewe's milk lump cheese, a source of beneficial Enterococcus durans strain, Foods 10(12):3091paper
  3. [zajac2025] Zajác P., Čapla J., Čurlej J., Tkáčová J., Partika A., Benešová L. 2025, Composition profile of traditional Slovak ewe lump cheese, Journal of Dairy Science 108(3):2227–2242 (abstract)paper