Telemea de Ibăneşti

Appearance & taste

Telemea de Ibănești is sold in rectangular or cube-shaped pieces; pieces with a square base weigh 0.3 to 1.0 kg, rectangular ones 0.3 to 0.7 kg. The cheese is a compact, bound mass of evenly soft, buttery consistency, slightly brittle without falling apart. It is white throughout, sometimes with slightly yellowish nuances. It contains less than 62 % water and less than 38 % fat in dry matter.

The taste is pleasantly sweet and sour and slightly salty; taste, smell and aroma become stronger with ripening. According to the specification, the aromas are pronounced and typical of the mountain pastures. The cheese is made all year round and sold as “fresh”, ready to eat 24 hours after production, or as “ripened” after at least 20 days.

Production

The milk comes from cows kept extensively in the Gurghiu valley. They eat only green fodder and hay from the area, on pasture in spring and summer and hay from the valley’s meadows in autumn and winter; they are not given concentrates. The grazing period lasts at least six months a year. Pastures and hay meadows are fertilised only with manure.

The milk is coagulated with microbial rennet and starter cultures in less than an hour. The curd is finely cut with a tool called a “harp” and mixed with the “wooden stave”, a wooden tool, so that it does not stick to the vat. The cheese is salted in brine from the salt-water well of Orșova, which contains more calcium and magnesium than a brine made from drinking water and salt. According to the specification, the cheese owes its consistency to it; the brine prevents the surface from softening and the cheese from swelling, makes it dry more slowly and means less salt is needed. Immediately after salting, the pieces are vacuum-packed or placed in containers with brine so that they do not dry out and crumble. Keeping the cows, collecting the milk, obtaining the brine, cheesemaking, salting and ripening take place in the area.

Origin & history

The area is part of the valley of the river Gurghiu. The higher altitudes have a humid, cool mountain climate, the lower ones a temperate continental climate, and the valley is rich in plants, including many endemic and rare species. The varied relief provides green fodder for the summer and hay for the winter. The mountains in the north of the valley and the hills in the basin of the Orșova valley consist of deposits with salt inclusions; salt mines were worked here in Roman times, and the salt lake Băile Jabenița formed after a mine collapsed. The inhabitants use the salt-water springs to preserve dairy, meat and vegetable products.

The cows have always been kept by families for whom milk processing was an important source of income. According to the specification, historical evidence, some of it going back to the 17th century, shows the cheese to be a culinary tradition of the area; the way it is made has been passed on from generation to generation.