Jihočeská Zlatá Niva

Appearance & taste

Jihočeská Zlatá Niva has the shape of a wheel 18 to 20 cm in diameter and about 10 cm high and weighs about 2.8 kg. The surface is cream-coloured to light brown, partly waxy, and bears traces of washing or scraping; bluish-green mould runs through the whole cheese. The cheese paste is cream-white, evenly marbled greenish to bluish-green and shows traces of the piercing. It is paste-like, evenly ripened and finer than Jihočeská Niva with 50 % fat in dry matter; foreign mould is not permitted.

Taste and aroma are salty, pungent, aromatic and strong, typical of the noble mould Penicillium roqueforti. The cheese contains 52 % dry matter, 60 to under 65 % fat in dry matter and 2.5 to 6 % salt. It is sold as a whole or half wheel or in portions.

Production

Only cow’s milk from the area is used, which is processed in the dairy and standardised to a fat content of 5.35 %. Added to it are milk cultures, rennet, calcium chloride, table salt and cultures of Penicillium roqueforti. After coagulation the curd is filled into wheel-shaped moulds; whey is drained off at a set temperature, and the microflora develops. Salting is done in two steps: first in a brine bath, then the cheese is rubbed or sprinkled with coarse salt.

In the past the cheese ripened exclusively in natural cellars cut into limestone rock; because of rising production, air-conditioned cellars were added in 2005. Ripening lasts at least six weeks; then the surface is washed or scraped off. Production and ripening take place in the area; packing is done directly at the producing plant, in aluminium or special foil or in portions in plastic trays.

Origin & history

According to the specification, South Bohemia is one of the least polluted areas of the Czech Republic and has always been mainly agricultural. The pastures lie in protected areas in the Novohrad Mountains, the Blanský les and the Bohemian Forest; the area around Český Krumlov and the mountains of the Bohemian Forest have been a UNESCO biosphere reserve since 1990. The species-rich meadows are home to, among others, the locally endemic black rampion, Pannonian gentian, cross gentian, alpine lovage, arnica and Bohemian gentian.

The cheese has been made by the same process at the plant in Český Krumlov since 1951. It is named after the meadows and pastures of the Bohemian Forest from which the milk comes. According to the specification, the local people’s experience with this blue cheese has been passed down from generation to generation.