This hard cheese is made from various combinations of sheep and goat milk, usually in the proportions of 20-80% or 40-60%. The milk for this cheese is taken from traditionally-fed sheep and goats raised in the Tolosa region. First, the milk is heated and curdled using animal rennet or plant extract.
The curd is then molded into cheeses, which are salted and left to mature for a few weeks, resulting in a cheese with a rough, thin, firm yellow-orange crust and a semi-hard, ivory-colored interior. The flavor is sharp and piquant, and the cheese has a medium to high moisture content.
Chanakh is a typical Armenian soft cheese that is soaked in chans (pots) filled with brine. Its flavor is salty, fresh, mild, and slightly spicy, while the texture is brittle. The cheese often has small eyes on its surface. It is regularly used as a table cheese, and it is recommended to pair it with fruits, vegetables, and white or red wines.
Djath Sharri or Šarski sir is a salty cheese from Kosovo made with sheep's and cow's milk. Originally, it was made only with sheep's milk since cows were not able to climb the highland. In color, it ranges from white to yellow, and has a typical aroma of dill, a herb that is quite common in the highlands. Šarski sir is produced in two varieties – hard (traditional) and soft.
The cheese is typically sold in wooden or plastic buckets, and it is then consumed on its own, paired with bread, or added to pies and salads.
Queso de Burgos is a Spanish cheese made from pasteurized or unpasteurized cow's and sheep's milk. The cheese has a pure white color, and it is traditionally shaped into a wheel with characteristical ridges on top. Its texture is silky and creamy, while the flavors are very mild, fresh, milky, and slightly acidic.
It is recommended to pair it with honey, walnuts, and dry white wines.
Accasciato is a semi-hard Italian cheese made from sheep’s milk or a combination of sheep’s and cow’s milk. It has a firm texture and a fresh aroma, while its flavor is best described as sweet. Although it can be consumed fresh, the cheese is typically matured anywhere from 40 to 60 days.
During the maturation period, it develops a soft, pale yellow rind. Accasciato is known as slumped cheese because it crumbles once it gets removed from the molds.
Brunost is a Norwegian and Scandinavian brown processed cheese made from cow's and goat's milk whey. Technically it's not a cheese at all because it's made from a secondary product. The whey is boiled down to a caramelized sugar. Depending on the length of the boiling, the cheese can be less or more dark and rich in color.
The blend is placed into bags and left to cool so that the sugars crystallise. Once chilled, it is packaged into a block and it's then ready to be enjoyed. Brunost has a dense texture, while the flavors are sweet and caramel-like. It is recommended to serve it on rye toast with strawberry jam.
VARIATIONS OF Brunost
This is one of the five kinds of Greek cheeses that can be made entirely from goat's milk, however, it is usually made from sheep milk or a blend of sheep and goat milk. This soft, grainy cheese has been produced for many years exclusively in Grevena Prefecture and the Voio area in Kozani Prefecture.
In the past, it was produced in western Macedonia by local shepherds, who would rennet their milk in the morning and leave the curd to rise during the day. Its name is even derived from this method – anevato means 'the cheese that rises'.
Named after its town of origin, Bra is a sheep, goat and cow's milk cheese produced in the mountainous Piedmont provinces of Cuneo and Villafranca Piemonte in Turin. Bra is often used as a grating cheese and it is available in three varieties: Tenero (tender, soft), Duro (hard), and Bra d'Alpeggio - the Alpine version of Bra produced only during summer pastures and the most prized one.
Bra has an intense aroma and quite a piquant flavor which becomes even more pronounced as the cheese ripens.
Sir iz mijeha is a Herzegovinian cheese that's encased in a large sheepskin sack. It's made from raw sheep's or cow's milk, or a combination of both. The sheep's milk comes from the Pramenka breed, while the cow's milk comes from Busa and Gatacko breeds.
The size of the sheepskin sack dictates the size of this cheese, which can weigh from 30 to 70 kilograms. Sir iz mijeha is aged from 2 months to a year, and during the process it becomes white or pale yellow in color. The cheese has strong aromas of sheepskin and it's traditionally served as an appetizer with boiled potatoes, ham, and uštipci (fried dough).
Pair with
Traditionally produced in the Apennines, namely the Emilia-Romagna's provinces of Forlì-Cesena, Rimini, Ravenna and Bologna, and the provinces of Pesaro-Urbino, Ancona, Macerata and Ascoli Piceno in the region of Marche, Fossa di Sogliano is a semi-hard cheese made from either sheep's milk (Pecorino), cow's milk (Vaccino), or both of them combined (Misto).
This cheese typically matures for about 30 days before being left to ripen in the so-called 'fossa', a large pit dug into the ground and lined with straw. This way, Fossa cheese develops a strong aroma of mould and truffles, and quite a piquant flavor with a slightly bitter aftertaste.
Pair with
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