Istarski ovčji sir

Appearance & taste

The cheese is a cylinder 16 to 22 cm in diameter and 6 to 9 cm high, which weighs 1.8 to 4.5 kg depending on its size. The rind is smooth and evenly yellowish brown to brown; it may be protected with a colourless polymer coating. The paste is slightly elastic but firm enough to slice, to slightly crumbly. The cut surface is ivory to straw-coloured, mostly closed, sometimes with evenly distributed, irregular holes of up to 4 mm. The cheese has at least 60 % dry matter and at least 45 % fat in dry matter.

The specification describes the taste as full-bodied, salty and spicy, with a pronounced scent of sheep’s milk and of the plants the sheep feed on. Long-ripened cheese melts in the mouth, and its aromas develop more strongly; with longer ripening the scent of sheep’s milk becomes stronger because of the breakdown of fat.

The name “Istarski ovčji sir” or “Istrski ovčji sir” must stand out more clearly than any other wording, together with a common logo. Only cheese made exclusively from the milk of the native Istriana breed may carry the statement “100 % mlijeko istarske ovce” or “100 % mleko istrske pramenke”.

Production

The sheep, of whatever breed, are reared and graze in the area; they may be given supplementary dried clover, hay, cereals, meal and concentrates for dairy sheep, the latter up to 20 % of the daily ration. At most 40 % of the feed may come from outside the area, for roughage at most 20 % and only in the event of a shortage after bad weather. Silage is prohibited. The milk is cooled to at most 6 °C within two hours and processed within 48 hours.

The raw or pasteurised milk is coagulated with rennet; salt, lysozyme and starter cultures are permitted. The curd is cut into very small, pea-sized grains, heated and dried, then pressed into moulds. To this day the cheesemakers judge the size and dryness of the grains by experience, and pressing is done without a pressure gauge. All steps take place in the area, as do portioning, grating and packing, because these destroy the casein mark with each wheel’s serial number.

Origin & history

Most of the area is karst on calcareous dolomite, with shallow soils of low to medium fertility. Outside the mountain areas there is a mild sub-Mediterranean climate with hot, dry summers. The natural pastures are not very productive but rich in plants: the specification counts 100 species and subspecies, many of them aromatic wild Mediterranean plants. These pastures are enough for sheep, but not for cattle.

In Istria, cattle were used as working animals and not milked; the farmers therefore made cheese from sheep’s milk. This is how the Istriana breed came about, which gives the most milk in Croatia and Slovenia. Until the 1960s the flocks moved between mountain pastures in summer and the coast in winter, after which semi-extensive farming followed. The cheese was mostly made by the women; they developed a hard cheese that could be stored for a long time in the hot summers. In the past it ripened in well-insulated cellars. According to the specification, because of its high dry matter and salt content it does not spoil even at up to 19 °C, and storage at higher temperatures promotes the breakdown of protein from which its aroma compounds arise.