Oravský korbáčik

Appearance & taste

Oravský korbáčik is a plait 10 to 50 cm long made of cheese strings 2 to 10 mm thick, traditionally called “vojky”. Each string consists of separate fibres; they are elastic to firmer, but not hard, and give the cheese a high tensile strength. During ripening it becomes less elastic. The cheese contains at least 40 % dry matter and at least 25 % fat in dry matter.

Unsmoked, it is white to creamy white and without a smoky taste; smoked, it is yellowish to golden yellow, with a typical smoky aroma and about 1 % more salt. Structure and consistency are the same in both varieties. It tastes of milk and cheese, salty and slightly sour. The label states whether it is smoked or not.

Production

The basis is lump cheese made from raw or pasteurised cow’s milk with a sour milk culture, with at least 48 % dry matter and 35 % fat in dry matter. According to the specification, where it is made is not decisive for the quality. The ripened, partly over-ripe lump cheese is cut, grated, steamed in water at 70 to 95 °C and mixed with a wooden spoon or by machine until a compact, mouldable mass forms. This is kneaded, pulled and folded by hand until it is supple and smooth.

By hand or with two notched, counter-rotating rollers, the dough is drawn into strings, which immediately drop into cold drinking water for 2 to 10 minutes. They are then wound onto a reel, cut open at one end, tied in the middle with a cheese string, salted in saturated brine and drained on wooden or stainless steel rods. At least two strings folded in the middle are braided by hand into a plait for up to two thirds of their length and tied off with a string. Smoking takes place at about 30 °C in cold smoke from hardwood until the cheese is golden yellow. It is packed in the area in food film so that the braid does not come undone.

Origin & history

Orava is a mountain region in the north-west of Slovakia with a cool, harsh climate and good conditions for keeping and grazing sheep and cattle. Most inhabitants lived from arable farming and keeping cattle, goats and sheep, and processed the milk above all into cheese of various shapes. According to the specification, the region has kept its agricultural character to this day.

According to oral tradition, cheese plaits were already made here in the second half of the 19th century; steamed cheese for sale was then the only source of income for sheep and cattle breeders. The name refers to the little whip (“korbáč”) traditionally braided from willow twigs at Easter in Slovakia. A trade in steamed cheese also emerged in the region, whose traders were named after their wares, such as “korbáčkári”; trade licences of such traders are kept in the archives. Around the middle of the 20th century the production method was regulated by a standard. To this day the plaits are offered at markets and for weddings, christenings, Christmas, carnival and Easter.