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Fermentation Atlas

Whey-cooked cheeses

Curd cooked in hot whey at 90 °C or more, as for halloumi.

15 entries listed here.

How these cheeses are made

The shared make of whey-cooked rennet curd family (halloumi type). Each cheese below says what it does differently.

  1. Rennet coagulation (no starter)30–45 min · 30–34 °C
  2. Cut, reheat, press1–2 h · 38–40 °C
  3. Cook curd pieces in hot wheyat least 30 min · at least 90 °C
  4. Salt, add mint, fold
  5. Brine in salted wheyat least 24 h · 15–20 °C

Compare them

CheeseRegionMilkRipeningRind
Akanthou cheese (Akanthiotiko tyri)Cyprus, Akanthou village3–4 years
Antep PeyniriTurkey, Gaziantep province2–3 months
Cacioricotta di bufalaItaly, Lazio2–12 monthsFairly thin; white or straw, turning brown with age
BelicinoItaly, Sicilia12 hNone; white, moist, basket-marked
Cacioricotta caprino del CilentoItaly, Campania2–3 daysNone when fresh; thin, rough with basket marks when aged
Formaggio di colostro ovinoItaly, Sardegnaup to 8 daysNone; white-straw, smooth or slightly rough
NabulsiPalestineSheep or goat milk, like most traditional cheeses of the region3–9 months
Tumazzu di vaccaItaly, Siciliaat least 45 daysClean or oil-treated, rough, basket-marked, straw to brown
Canestrato vacchinoItaly, SiciliaNone or clean, basket-marked, yellowish white
Casu cottu (di capra)Italy, SardegnaNone; white, basket-marked
Formaggio di capra "padduni"Italy, Sicilia45 minNone; snow white
Halloum (Levant)Lebanon/Syriacow/sheep/goat milk
Halloumi / Hellim PDOCyprussheep/goat/cow milkMature halloumi spends at least 40 days in brine-whey
Hellim (Turkey)cow/sheep/goat milk
Pafitiko tyri (Pafos cheese, flaouna cheese)Cyprus, Pafos district4–5 daysHard and yellowish, with the imprint of the talari basket

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.

Canestrato vacchinoItaly, Sicilia

Large basket-moulded cow (or mixed-milk) cheese scalded in hot whey, sold under different names as it ages from tuma to stagionato.

Rind
None or clean, basket-marked, yellowish white
Size
5.0–20.0 kg; Ø 18–35 cm, height 12–28 cm
  1. Prepare the milk
  2. Set the curd35 °C
  3. Cut and drain the curd
  4. Mould and salt
Casu cottu (di capra)Italy, Sardegna

Unsalted goat cheese whose moulded forms are scalded in hot whey ('cooked cheese'); made for Easter and village feasts.

Rind
None; white, basket-marked
Size
1.0–1.5 kg; cylinder
  1. Prepare the milk
  2. Set the curd
  3. Cut and drain the curd
  4. Mould and salt
  5. Ripen
Formaggio di capra "padduni"Italy, Sicilia

Also called Badduni, Balluni, Palluni.

Small fresh goat ball ('pallone') scalded in hot whey; the fresh counterpart of the 3 kg aged Formaggiu ri capra; made Feb–Oct.

Rind
None; snow white
Size
~300 g; irregular ball
  1. Prepare the milk
  2. Set the curd45 min · 37 °C
  3. Cut and drain the curd
  4. Mould and salt
Halloum (Levant)Lebanon/Syria
Milk
cow/sheep/goat milk

Made like Whey-cooked rennet curd family (halloumi type).

Halloumi / Hellim PDOCyprus

The model cheese of the whey-cooked family: pressed curd cooked in hot whey, then salted and folded with mint.

Milk
sheep/goat/cow milk
Setting
Rennet at 30–34 °C for 30–45 min
Cooking
The pressed curd cooks at 90 °C, then is cooled to 7 °C and put in brine
Ripening
Mature halloumi spends at least 40 days in brine-whey
Size
A piece weighs 220–270 g

Made like Whey-cooked rennet curd family (halloumi type).

  • Amendment notice for the Halloumi / Hellim PDO, OJ C 53/2023, p. 5 (seen through a search excerpt)
  • Wikipedia, Halloumi
Hellim (Turkey)
Milk
cow/sheep/goat milk

Made like Whey-cooked rennet curd family (halloumi type).

Pafitiko tyri (Pafos cheese, flaouna cheese)Cyprus, Pafos district

Also called Παφίτικο τυρί, Pafos cheese, Paphos cheese, flaouna cheese.

Sheep milk, goat milk or a mix is heated and set with rennet; the curd is cut, stirred and slowly reheated, then pressed by hand into 'talaria' baskets woven from a marsh plant. The filled baskets are cooked for 30 minutes in hot whey, as halloumi is, and the cheese is turned, salted and dried for 4–5 days. It is made from February to April and is the traditional cheese for Easter flaounes.

Season
Made from February to April, when milk is plentiful, for Easter
Rind
Hard and yellowish, with the imprint of the talari basket
  1. Heat the milk and add rennet
  2. Cut and stir5–10 min
  3. Reheat while stirring30–45 min
  4. Press into talaria baskets
  5. Cook the baskets in hot whey30 min
  6. Turn and salt
  7. Dry4–5 days

Safety: The published description gives no milk treatment, salt level or storage conditions.

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