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Cheese from Serbia, Sjenica–Pešter plateau

Sjenički sir (Sjenica cheese)Sjenički sir

Fresh raw sheep milk, or a sheep and cow mix, is curdled with rennet at about 30 °C without starter, drained and pressed in cloth strainers, cut into slabs and dry-salted with coarse sea salt as it is stacked in tubs. The slabs ripen under the salted whey they release, for weeks to several months, into a soft, high-fat white cheese.

Fully documentedCheese30 days – 7 monthsGeographical indication registered in Serbia ('Ovčiji sjenički sir', 2012); not an EU PDOFamily: White brined cheese family (Feta PDO as template)

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceRennet is given per litre of milk; the sources give no other doses.
Fresh raw whole sheep milk, or a sheep and cow milk mix[ruzic2011][savic2024]
Rennet4–7 ml per litre of milk[ruzic2011]
Coarse dry sea salt[ruzic2011][savic2024]
Starternone; no starter cultures are added

Total time across the recorded steps: 30 days – 7 months

Start
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25–34 °C

What changes: Rennet goes into fresh, still-warm sheep milk

Step 1 of 4
Curdle the fresh milk
Time
50 min – 2 h
Reported
Temperature
25–34 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Milk is curdled fresh, just after milking, without reheating; evening milk may be left overnight, skimmed and heated.

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

Fresh raw sheep milk, or a sheep and cow mix, is curdled with rennet at about 30 °C without starter, drained and pressed in cloth strainers, cut into slabs and dry-salted with coarse sea salt as it is stacked in tubs. The slabs ripen under the salted whey they release, for weeks to several months, into a soft, high-fat white cheese. Made in 4 steps over 30 days – 7 months. The longest step, ripen under salted whey, takes 30 days – 7 months (Ružić-Muslić D 2011). Salt is 1.8–5.2 % (Ružić-Muslić D 2011).

Key numbers
Main step30 days – 7 monthsReported[ruzic2011][savic2024]Ripen under salted whey
Temperature25–34 °CReported[ruzic2011][savic2024]Curdle the fresh milk
Salt1.8–5.2 %Measured[ruzic2011]Ripen under salted whey
AciditypH 3.7–4.7Measured[ruzic2011]Ripen under salted whey

What makes this one different

A raw sheep-milk white cheese made with no starter on a high plateau. The uncut curd is pressed in cloth strainers, and the slabs are dry-salted in the tub and ripen under their own salted whey.

Composition
Moisture 49.36–57.46 % (mean 53.36 %); fat in dry matter mean 58.42 %; NaCl mean 2.86 % (12 cheeses)
Ripeness
Ripeness coefficient 12.05–40.93 % (mean 21.42 %) in 12 cheeses

Related ferments

Safety

Made from raw milk without starter. One Serbian paper says the low pH and long ripening hinder unwanted microbes, but it reports no pathogen tests. ANSES advises pregnant women, young children, people over 65 and people with weak immunity not to eat raw-milk cheeses other than pressed cooked ones such as Gruyère or Comté, because of Listeria, Salmonella and Shiga-toxin E. coli.

History and sources

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

The name 'Ovčiji sjenički sir' was registered with the Intellectual Property Office of Serbia in 2012, one of two Sjenica cheeses (sheep and cow) registered there.

Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
  1. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov
  2. [ruzic2011] Ružić-Muslić D., Petrović M.M., Petrović M.P., Bijelić Z., Pantelić V., Perišić P., Bogdanović V. 2011, Traditional production and characteristics of Sjenica cheese and Pirot kachkaval, Bulgarian Journal of Agricultural Science 17(5):664–672paper
  3. [savic2024] Savić Ž., Čukić A., Anđušić Lj., Milošević B. 2024, Changes of total proteins during maturation period of Sjenica cheese, Proceedings of the 26th International Congress FeMeSPRum, Novi Sad, doi 10.5937/FeMeSPRumNS24028Spaper
  4. [barac2019] Barać M., Vučić T., Žilić S. et al. 2019, The Effect of In Vitro Digestion on Antioxidant, ACE-Inhibitory and Antimicrobial Potentials of Traditional Serbian White-Brined Cheeses, Foods 8(3):94paper
  5. [filipovic] Filipović J., Potencijali unapređenja promocije i prodaje sjeničkog sira (article; University of Belgrade Phaidra repository)paper