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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Greece

Touloumotyri (skin cheese)τουλουμοτύρι

Touloumotyri is a Greek white cheese of raw sheep or goat milk, made like feta and then cut up and packed into a salted goatskin bag (touloumi). Brine or salted boiled milk is added and the bag is closed, then turned and topped up while the cheese ripens up to 60 days in a cool store. It is seen as a forerunner of feta, and few makers still use real skins. Made in 5 steps over 2.3 months – 2.5 months. The longest step, ripen in the skin, takes up to 2 months (Pappa E.C 2023). Salt is 5–10 % (Pappa E.C 2023). Lactobacilli, the dominant group, with Lactobacillus plantarum among the most frequent species does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepup to 2 monthsReported[pappa2023]Ripen in the skin
Salt5–10 %Reported[pappa2023]Add brine or salted milk and close the bag
AciditypH 5.2Reported[pappa2023]Ripen in the skin

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedTraditional process with no fixed batch size; the review gives salt strengths but no amounts.
Raw sheep or goat milk, or a mix[pappa2023]
Rennet and the other feta ingredients · The cheese is first made the same way as feta[pappa2023]
A goatskin or sheepskin bag · Goatskins are preferred because they last longer[pappa2023][modernfarmer]
Coarse salt · To cure the skin[pappa2023]
Brine of 10 % salt, or boiled milk salted to 5 % · Poured into the filled bag, and topped up often[pappa2023]
Starter: as for feta

Total time across the recorded steps: 2.3 months – 2.5 months

Start
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Close-up: salt moving into a piece

What changes: Coarse salt cures a goatskin for 10–15 days before it becomes a bag

Step 1 of 5
Cure the skin
Time
10–15 days
Reported
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactobacilli
Lactobacillus plantarum

The skin is then shaved, cleaned with brine and turned so the hair side is inside the bag. Output: a cured skin bag.

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 starts as a feta-style cheese but is ripened in a salted skin bag with brine or salted milk, turned and topped up, and opened to let gas escape. The cured skin is turned so the shaved hair side is inside the bag, next to the cheese.

Composition
pH 5.17, moisture 54.1 %, salt 3.8 % (Anifantakis 1991, as cited in Pappa and Kondyli 2023)
Vessel today
Few makers still use skins; most use wooden or plastic barrels

Related ferments

Safety

The milk is raw. The cheese ripens in brine of 10 % salt; the finished cheese measured pH 5.17 with 3.8 % salt. Keep it cool.

History and sources

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

The review describes it as a forerunner of feta. Its making has fallen sharply because preparing skins is hard work, and it is now made in small amounts and found locally.

  1. [pappa2023] Pappa E.C., Kondyli E. 2023, Descriptive characteristics and cheesemaking technology of Greek cheeses not listed in the EU geographical indications registers, Dairy 4(1) 43–67, section 3.3.2 and Tables 7–8paper
  2. [modernfarmer] Modern Farmer, 'Why not dig into some skin cheese?' (2014)web