Lički škripavac

Appearance & taste

Lički škripavac is cylindrical or rectangular and weighs at least 240 g. As it does not ripen, it has no rind; the surface is milky white. The inside is smooth, with no or only a few holes, which form when whey stays in the cheese during moulding. The texture is soft and rubbery, the taste milky-sweet and slightly salty. The cheese contains at least 50 % dry matter and at least 45 % fat in dry matter.

It typically “squeaks” when eaten. Depending on the milk, this property lasts for the first 5 to 7 days. It can be brought back by placing the cheese in its unopened vacuum pack in water at 40 to 50 °C for up to 2 minutes; a note to this effect and the packing date appear on every pack. The cheese also carries a shared round logo: light blue at the top, blue in the middle and green at the bottom, with the white words “LIČKI” and “ŠKRIPAVAC” and a stylised Lika cap in the centre.

Production

Raw or pasteurised whole cow’s milk is curdled with rennet and a starter culture, and then the whey is separated off. The cheese is salted, moulded and pressed. All steps, from obtaining and renneting the milk through salting and moulding to pressing, take place in the area.

According to the specification, the “squeaky” property is due to the milk’s high content of milk fat and milk protein and thus to the feed of the cows in this area.

Origin & history

The area covers most of Lika-Senj County with the towns of Gospić, Otočac and Senj and several municipalities, plus the municipality of Gračac in Zadar County and the town of Ogulin and some municipalities in Karlovac County.

Unlike many cheeses that were made for the long journey to the towns, Lički škripavac came about because snow and drifts in the long winters made the roads impassable and the remote villages could not bring anything to the towns. The livestock farmers of the region made it solely for their own needs, especially for the winter months, when they often could not leave their houses. The tradition is kept up by the people of Lika and of the Velika Kapela and Velebit mountains on the coastal side. In 2008 the Croatian Ministry of Culture added the cheese to the list of protected cultural assets. Since 1998 it has been shown every year on the first weekend of October at the exhibition “Jesen u Lici” (Autumn in Lika) in Gospić, where producers also demonstrate the traditional way of making it.