Ġbejna tan-nagħaġ

Appearance & taste

Ġbejna tan-nagħaġ has the shape of a truncated cone with a flat or slightly concave top. A cheese is 1.5 to 5 cm high, measures 5 to 7 cm at the bottom and 2.4 to 5.5 cm at the top, and weighs 30 to 110 g. It has no rind; the surface may be hatched, depending on the pattern of the mould.

The fresh variety “friska” is white, shiny and moist, with a creamy, soft paste. It smells of fresh milk and slightly of sheep and tastes sweet and slightly salty. The air-dried variety “niexfa” is ivory to straw-yellow, semi-firm to firm, sometimes with small holes or cracks; it smells slightly sour and tastes sweet to slightly sour, with a moderate to strong aftertaste. The “tal-bżar” variety is pale straw-yellow to ochre, with ground black pepper sticking to its moist surface. It tastes moderately to strongly sour, spicy and peppery.

The cheese is sold only whole, singly or several together in transparent plastic or glass containers sealed with a band. The label gives the name and, in italics, the variety.

Production

The milk comes exclusively from the islands, from sheep of the Maltese breed and its crosses with Friesian or other breeds. At least 55 % of the feed ration is local hay from legumes and cereals, supplemented by concentrate and, depending on availability, by carob and prickly pear shoots. At most 45 % of the feed (as dry matter) may come from outside, because there is little rain on the islands and land is scarce.

With a draining time of 24 hours, 6.8 to 8 l of sheep’s milk are needed for 1 kg of cheese. The steps are milking, filtering, reheating the milk where necessary, adding the coagulating enzyme, coagulation, filling into moulds, turning and draining. The temperature of the milk, the amount of enzyme and the waiting time until the curd forms determine whether the cheese holds its shape and how many holes and cracks develop. Additions such as vinegar or pepper are only applied to the surface afterwards.

The ripening period is short. Where possible the cheese is dried naturally, in purpose-built cabinets on the roof of the dairy; when there is a humid south wind, producers switch to other drying methods. Because the cheese has no rind, it is packed on the islands. Only the “niexfa” variety may be grated, and only within six weeks of production at the place of production.

Origin & history

The Maltese Islands lie almost in the middle of the Mediterranean, with hot, dry summers and mild, damp winters; the annual average rainfall is 553 mm. The soils are calcareous, and there are no rivers or freshwater lakes. According to the specification, the dry land suits sheep, which make use of marginal land. The salty air deposits salt on the plants and also affects the air-drying of the cheese. Forage plants such as barley, sulla, grass peas and vetches grow on poor land together with wild legumes and clover; according to the specification, this flora is reflected in the taste and texture, above all in the sweetness of “friska” and “niexfa”.

There are no written records of the method; the knowledge is passed down in families from generation to generation. Grazing sheep are documented on the islands since the Middle Ages, and the first reports of cheesemaking date from the 15th and 17th centuries. For a long time households kept small flocks for their own needs; today larger, commercial flocks are gaining importance, but most producers are small family businesses. The name is Maltese and, with “għ” and “ġ”, contains two letters found only in this language; in an idiom, “qisek ġbejna” means something like “calm”.