Liptovská bryndza

Appearance & taste

Liptovská bryndza is white to yellowish, but not yellow. The cheese is fine, spreadable and slightly grainy and must be neither sandy nor rubbery or greasy. It tastes delicate and pleasantly sour, of sheep’s cheese, slightly sharp and salty. According to the specification, the herbs of the mountain pastures give the milk and thus the cheese an aromatic, slightly spicy and mineral taste.

The cheese is made entirely from sheep’s milk lump cheese, contains at least 50 % dry matter, at least half of which is fat, and at most 2 % salt. It contains many naturally occurring microorganisms, including lactic acid bacteria and yeasts such as Geotrichum candidum.

Production

80 % of the sheep belong to the Valaška and Zošľachtená valaška breeds, which tolerate a harsh mountain climate, and to the high-yielding dairy breeds Cigája, East Friesian dairy sheep and Lacaune and their crosses. They graze on meadows in the mountains and their foothills on limestone, with white and red clover, red and meadow fescue, smooth meadow grass and golden oat grass; in winter they eat hay from these meadows.

Bryndza is not made directly from milk. First, freshly milked sheep’s milk that has not been heat-treated is curdled with natural or industrial rennet; the resulting lump cheese ripens for two to four weeks and ferments in the process. The ripe lump cheese is selected, pressed, broken up and ground in a mill. The fineness and speed of grinding determine the consistency and moisture. It is then mixed with salt or brine and left to rest so that the taste can develop. In the past the work was done by hand, today with electric bryndza mills; according to the specification, the principle has remained the same. All steps, from the milk to the finished cheese, take place in the area.

Origin & history

Liptov lies in the north of Slovakia, in the south-east of the Žilina region. In the middle lies the Liptov Basin, surrounded by the High Tatras in the east, the Western Tatras and the Choč Mountains in the north, the Low Tatras in the south and the Greater Fatra in the west. Meadows and pastures outweigh arable land, which according to the specification has encouraged sheep farming. In the mildest part the mean annual temperature is 6 °C. The limestone soils are rich in calcium and magnesium; besides the grasses, yarrow, wild thyme, cow-wheat, chicory and dandelion grow there.

Sheep farming has a long tradition in Slovakia: as early as the 11th century, sheep made up three quarters of all livestock. Knowledge of making and preserving the cheese was passed down through generations. On 22 November 1967 Liptovská bryndza was registered as an appellation of origin under the Lisbon Agreement with the World Intellectual Property Organization in Geneva; later, agreements between Czechoslovakia and Switzerland, Austria and Portugal also protected the name.