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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Slovakia, the village of Zázrivá in Orava

Zázrivský korbáčik

Zázrivský korbáčik is a steamed cheese from the Orava village of Zázrivá. Soured cow-milk lump cheese is grated and steamed in hot water, kneaded into a smooth dough and pulled into thin strings called vojky, which are cooled, brined and braided by hand into a little whip 10–50 cm long. It is sold plain or cold-smoked. Made in 8 steps over 2 min – 10 min. The longest step, pull into strings and cool, takes 2–10 min (Špecifikácia 2006). Salt is up to 5.5 % (Špecifikácia 2006). Heat-tolerant lactic acid bacteria of the genera Lactococcus, Streptococcus and Lactobacillus does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step2–10 minSet[zaz-spec]Pull into strings and cool
Temperature70–95 °CSet[zaz-spec]Grate and steam
Saltup to 5.5 %Set[zaz-spec]Brine
AciditypH 4.9–5.2Set[zaz-spec]Start from soured lump cheese

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe specification gives process limits, not amounts. Each braid is 10–50 cm long, made from strings 2–10 mm thick.
Lump cheese (hrudkový syr) · From raw or pasteurised cow milk with a lactic culture; at least 48 % dry matter, at least 35 % fat in dry matter, pH 4.9–5.2; its origin is not restricted[zaz-spec]
Hot water · For steaming, at 70–95 °C[zaz-spec]
Cold drinking water · For setting the strings[zaz-spec]
Saturated salt brine[zaz-spec]
Hardwood smoke · Smoked type only[zaz-spec]
Starter: lactic culture in the lump cheese; mainly heat-tolerant lactic bacteria survive in the finished cheese

Total time across the recorded steps: 2 min – 10 min

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
pH 4.9–5.2

What changes: Starting material: soured, partly ripened lump cheese

Step 1 of 8
Start from soured lump cheese
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
pH 4.9–5.2
Set

The lump cheese is made from raw or pasteurised cow milk with a lactic culture and left to sour and partly ripen. It is closed, smooth and white to cream.

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

Unlike steamed cheeses pressed into moulds, the dough is pulled into strings only a few millimetres thick and braided by hand. The smoked type carries about one percentage point more salt.

Milk
Lump cheese from raw or pasteurised cow milk
Ripening
None after braiding; springiness falls as it ages
Size
Braided whip 10–50 cm long, strings 2–10 mm thick
Composition
Dry matter at least 40 %; fat in dry matter at least 25 %; salt at most 4.5 % (5.5 % smoked)

Related ferments

Variants

  • Neúdený (plain)White to cream, no smoke; salt at most 4.5 %.
  • Údený (smoked)Cold-smoked at about 30 °C to golden-yellow; salt at most 5.5 %.

Safety

In Slovak steamed cheeses made from raw-milk lump cheese, steaming is the only step that kills unwanted bacteria. In one study, steaming at about 64 °C for about 7 minutes cut E. coli and coagulase-positive staphylococci only modestly; adding lactic starter cultures to the lump cheese held their growth down.

Hazards the sources name: Coagulase-positive staphylococci (Staphylococcus aureus) and Escherichia coli, frequent in raw-milk lump cheese and only partly reduced by steaming.

History and sources

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

Oral tradition places home making of korbáčiky in Zázrivá in the second half of the 19th century, when cheese was the main income for local herders. The name comes from the small willow whip (korbáč) braided at Easter. Zázrivá also became a trading centre, with dealers named after the cheese they bought, such as korbáčikári. It was registered as a PGI in 2011.

  1. [zaz-spec] Špecifikácia, Nariadenie Rady (ES) č. 510/2006, žiadosť o zápis 'Zázrivský korbáčik' (CHZO), Slovak Industrial Property Officespec
  2. [medvedova2020] Medveďová A. et al. 2020, Effect of lactic acid bacteria addition on the microbiological safety of pasta-filata types of cheeses, Frontiers in Microbiology 11:612528paper