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Fermentation Atlas

Skin- and vessel-ripened cheeses

Cheeses ripened in an animal skin or a clay pot, like tulum and çömlek.

14 entries listed here.

How these cheeses are made

The shared make of skin-, gut- and pot-ripened cheese family (tulum, motal, guda, çömlek, darfiyeh, bryndza bryndza-in-sheepskin). Each cheese below says what it does differently.

  1. Rennet coagulation of raw milk1–2 h · 30–35 °C
  2. Drain in cloth, press, pre-ripen curdat least 24 h
  3. Crumble, salt, pack tightly in skin or pot2–4 % salt
  4. Ripen in cave or cool cellar3–5.9 months · 4–12 °C

Compare them

CheeseRegionMilkRipeningRind
BouhezzaAlgeria, the Chaouia area of the eastRaw goat, cow or sheep milk, as lben and as whole milkMade and ripened over 1 to 6 months
ChogiGeorgia, Tusheti30 days – 2 months
MotalNorth-west IranRaw sheep milk (Iran) or goat milk (Armenia)About 3 months; Armenian pots can keep it over six months
Touloumotyri (skin cheese)Greeceup to 2 months
Brânză de burdufRomania, the CarpathiansSheep milk, sometimes with cow or buffalo milk; traditionally raw20 days – 2 months
Brânză frământată de TeacaRomania, TeacaBladder membrane, plain or cheese-wax coated; may be sold sliced
Çömlek peyniriCentral Anatoliacow/sheep milkmonths
DarfiyehLebanongoat milkmonths
Erzincan (Şavak) tulumErzincansheep milk, raw≥3 mo
Guda (Tushetian)Tushetisheep milk≥20 d
İzmir tulumAegeancow/sheep milk
Kariki (Tinos)Tinoscow milkmonths
Kope / Kupa (Kurdish skin cheese)Iranian Kurdistansheep milkmonths
Sir iz mišineDalmatian hinterland / Herzegovinasheep/cow milk≥2 mo

Bold names have a full page with the animated steps. Blank cells: no sourced value yet.

Short entries

What the sources record about each of these so far.

Brânză de burdufRomania, the Carpathians

Also called brânză de burduf, brânză frământată, brânză în coajă de brad, burduf cheese, bark cheese.

Sheep milk, sometimes mixed with cow milk, is set with lamb or calf rennet into a fresh curd (caș). The unsalted caș sours in a fir tub for up to two weeks, then is cut, ground with salt and kneaded. The paste is packed into a sheep stomach, a sheepskin or a tube of fir bark and eaten after about 20 days to 2 months.

Milk
Sheep milk, sometimes with cow or buffalo milk; traditionally raw
Casing
Sheep stomach, sheepskin or fir bark
Ageing
About 20 days to 2 months
  1. Set the milk with rennet
  2. Drain the caș under a weight
  3. Sour the caș in a fir tubup to 14 days
  4. Grind with salt and knead
  5. Pack into stomach, skin or bark
  6. Age in the casing20 days – 2 months
Brânză frământată de TeacaRomania, Teaca

Cow-milk kneaded cheese in pig bladders, where burduf uses sheep stomach or bark.

Rind
Bladder membrane, plain or cheese-wax coated; may be sold sliced
Size
Oval or irregular round, ~0.4–2 kg (set by the bladder)
  1. Prepare the milk
  2. Cut and drain the curd
  3. Mould and salt
Çömlek peyniriCentral Anatolia

clay pot

Milk
cow/sheep milk
Ripening
months

Made like Skin-, gut- and pot-ripened cheese family (Tulum, Motal, Guda, Çömlek, Darfiyeh, Bryndza bryndza-in-sheepskin).

DarfiyehLebanon

goatskin

Milk
goat milk
Ripening
months

Made like Skin-, gut- and pot-ripened cheese family (Tulum, Motal, Guda, Çömlek, Darfiyeh, Bryndza bryndza-in-sheepskin).

Erzincan (Şavak) tulumErzincan

Ripened in a skin or a plastic bag

Milk
sheep milk, raw
Ripening
≥3 mo

Made like Skin-, gut- and pot-ripened cheese family (Tulum, Motal, Guda, Çömlek, Darfiyeh, Bryndza bryndza-in-sheepskin).

Guda (Tushetian)Tusheti

sheepskin bag

Milk
sheep milk
Ripening
≥20 d

Made like Skin-, gut- and pot-ripened cheese family (Tulum, Motal, Guda, Çömlek, Darfiyeh, Bryndza bryndza-in-sheepskin).

İzmir tulumAegean

brined tulum

Milk
cow/sheep milk

Made like Skin-, gut- and pot-ripened cheese family (Tulum, Motal, Guda, Çömlek, Darfiyeh, Bryndza bryndza-in-sheepskin).

Kariki (Tinos)Tinos

ripened inside dried gourd shell

Milk
cow milk
Ripening
months

Made like Skin-, gut- and pot-ripened cheese family (Tulum, Motal, Guda, Çömlek, Darfiyeh, Bryndza bryndza-in-sheepskin).

Kope / Kupa (Kurdish skin cheese)Iranian Kurdistan

ripened in sheepskin or earthen jars with herbs

Milk
sheep milk
Ripening
months

Made like Skin-, gut- and pot-ripened cheese family (Tulum, Motal, Guda, Çömlek, Darfiyeh, Bryndza bryndza-in-sheepskin).

Sir iz mišineDalmatian hinterland / Herzegovina

ripened in sheep or goat skin

Milk
sheep/cow milk
Ripening
≥2 mo

Made like Skin-, gut- and pot-ripened cheese family (Tulum, Motal, Guda, Çömlek, Darfiyeh, Bryndza bryndza-in-sheepskin).

Numbers come from cited sources and carry a label that says how each is known. How this atlas is made