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Cheese from Turkey, Gaziantep province

Antep PeyniriAntep peyniri

Antep peyniri is a semi-hard cheese of raw sheep or goat milk, set at udder warmth with rennet or, by shepherds, with fig latex. The drained curd is scalded for a minute in boiling whey at 80–90 °C, squeezed by hand into palm-shaped ovals and salted. Winter cheese is kept in strong brine in sealed tins for months; summer cheese is lightly salted and eaten within two weeks.

Fully documentedCheese2.1 months – 3.1 monthsPDO (menşe adı), TÜRKPATENT reg. no. 356, 2018-06-04Family: Whey-cooked rennet curd family (halloumi type)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe specification gives fig-latex amounts per ½ litre of milk but no full batch size. The ovals are 6–10 cm long.
Raw sheep milk, raw goat milk, or a 50/50 mixThe fat may not be reduced[turkpatent-gi]
Rennet, chemical rennet or fig latexFor fig latex, 4 or 5 unripe figs (kerik) are picked and their latex dripped into each ½ litre of milk[turkpatent-gi]
Rock salt2–4 % for winter cheese, 1–2 % for summer cheese[turkpatent-gi]
Brine of 15–20 % saltFor winter cheese; strength judged with a fresh raw egg[turkpatent-gi]

Total time across the recorded steps: 2.1 months – 3.1 months

Start
Drag the bar or press Play

What changes: Starting material: raw sheep or goat milk, still warm from milking

Step 1 of 8
Collect raw milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Traditionally set where the animals are milked. Output: raw sheep or goat milk.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Antep peyniri is a semi-hard cheese of raw sheep or goat milk, set at udder warmth with rennet or, by shepherds, with fig latex. The drained curd is scalded for a minute in boiling whey at 80–90 °C, squeezed by hand into palm-shaped ovals and salted. Winter cheese is kept in strong brine in sealed tins for months; summer cheese is lightly salted and eaten within two weeks. Made in 8 steps over 2.1 months – 3.1 months. The longest step, keep in cold store, takes 2–3 months (TÜRKPATENT 2018) and runs at 3–5 °C (TÜRKPATENT 2018). Salt is 2–4 % (TÜRKPATENT 2018).

Key numbers
Main step2–3 monthsSet[turkpatent-gi]Keep in cold store
Temperature3–5 °CSet[turkpatent-gi]Keep in cold store
Salt2–4 %Set[turkpatent-gi]Dry-salt the ovals

What makes this one different

The curd is scalded briefly in boiling whey and then shaped by squeezing it in the palm, which gives each piece its hand shape. Shepherds could set the milk with fig latex instead of rennet.

Size
Irregular palm-shaped ovals 6–10 cm long
Composition, brined
Moisture 40.00–49.50 %, fat 20.50–23.30 %, protein 20.25–20.30 %, salt 3.25–9.90 %, pH 6.2–6.5
Composition, fresh
Dry matter 45.00–50.00 %, fat 18.50–19.00 %, salt at most 1.00 %, pH 6.2–6.5
Water activity, lab-made cheese
0.95 in a Gaziantep cheese prepared in the laboratory (abstract)
Aroma
49 aroma-active compounds, including acetoin, 2-nonanone, ethyl decanoate and caryophyllenes from thyme and mint grazed in the hills

Related ferments

Variants

  • Summer salting1–2 % dry rock salt for about 2 hours, then kept unbrined in the fridge at 3–5 °C and eaten within 10–15 days; mostly made by families for their own use.
  • Fig-latex setMilk set with the latex of unripe figs, as shepherds did on the hills.

Safety

The milk is raw. The curd is scalded for 1 minute in 80–90 °C whey, but no source we read tests whether that clears the milk's pathogens. WHO says most brucellosis in the general population comes from raw milk or its products such as fresh cheese, mostly from sheep and goats. ANSES advises pregnant women, people over 65, people with weak immunity and young children to avoid raw-milk cheeses other than cooked pressed ones. The specification gives a pH of 6.2–6.5, so the cheese depends on salt and cold. Winter cheese is held in 15–20 % brine at 3–5 °C. Summer cheese has only 1–2 % salt and no brine, so it must stay in the fridge at 3–5 °C and be eaten within 10–15 days. A weak brine or a warm shelf removes those controls, and the sealed tins are not a tested home method.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

The specification says the milk was once set only with fig latex. Families in Gaziantep still salt a lightly salted summer batch for their own table.

Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
  1. [turkpatent-gi] TÜRKPATENT, Coğrafi işaret no. 356 'Antep Peyniri / Gaziantep Peyniri / Antep Sıkma Peyniri' (menşe adı), registered 4 June 2018, applicant Gaziantep Ticaret Borsasıspec
  2. [ertekin2023] Ertekin M., Uğurlu Ö., Salum P., Erbay Z. 2023, Effects of milk types used in Antep cheese production on some cheese organoleptic quality parameters and brine composition during 5-month ripening, Journal of Food Science (abstract)paper
  3. [kaya1996] Kaya S., Öner M.D. 1996, Water activity and moisture sorption isotherms of Gaziantep cheese, Journal of Food Quality 19(2):121-132, doi:10.1111/j.1745-4557.1996.tb00409.x (abstract)paper
  4. [who-brucellosis] WHO, Brucellosis, fact sheetgov
  5. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenirgov