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Cheese from Slovenia, the Bovec area in the upper Soča valley, Julian Alps

Bovški sir PDOBovški sir

Bovški sir is a hard, full-fat cheese from Bovec made in the summer grazing season from raw sheep's milk, mostly from the local Bovec sheep, with up to 20% goat's or cow's milk allowed. The curd is cut to pea size, scalded at 44–49 °C, pressed for 4–6 hours, salted and ripened for at least 45 days.

Fully documentedCheese46 days – 47 daysPDO (EU, registered by Regulation 753/2012; specification amendments approved in 2023); Slovenian geographical indication since 2004Family: Hard pressed ewe cheese family (Manchego and Pecorino Romano as templates)

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe specification fixes limits, not a recipe. A wheel is 17–26 cm across, 8–12 cm high and weighs 1.8–4.5 kg.
Raw sheep milkAt least 80% of it from the native Bovec sheep breed and its crosses[bovski-spec2023]
Goat or cow milkup to 20% of the milkOptional; mostly from the native Drežnica goat; the share must be stated on the label[bovski-spec2023]
StarterOptional; home-made (a small amount of milk ripened warm for at least 12 hours) or selected cultures[bovski-spec2023]
Rennet suited to hard cheeseHome-made or bought[bovski-spec2023]
SaltDry salt or brine[bovski-spec2023]
Starteroptional home-made or selected starter

Total time across the recorded steps: 46 days – 47 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
35–36 °C

What changes: Raw sheep milk is warmed in the kettle to about body heat

Step 1 of 8
Warm the milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
35–36 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

A home-made starter, made by keeping a little milk warm for at least 12 hours, or a selected culture may be added to speed fermentation.

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

Bovški sir is a hard, full-fat cheese from Bovec made in the summer grazing season from raw sheep's milk, mostly from the local Bovec sheep, with up to 20% goat's or cow's milk allowed. The curd is cut to pea size, scalded at 44–49 °C, pressed for 4–6 hours, salted and ripened for at least 45 days. Made in 8 steps over 46 days – 47 days. The longest step, ripen, takes at least 45 days (Društvo rejcev drobnice Bovške 2023. Potrjena…).

Key numbers
Main stepat least 45 daysSet[bovski-spec2023]Ripen
Temperature35–36 °CSet[bovski-spec2023]Warm the milk

What makes this one different

Bovški sir is tied to one native breed, the Bovec sheep, which must give at least 80% of the sheep's milk. It is made only in the summer pasture season and its curd is scalded at 44–49 °C, which gives a hard cheese ready in as little as 45 days.

Milk
Raw sheep milk, mostly from Bovec sheep; up to 20% goat or cow milk
Season
Made during the summer grazing season, while the animals are in milk on pasture
Ripening
At least 45 days; over a year for grating cheese
Size
17–26 cm across, 8–12 cm high, 1.8–4.5 kg
Composition
At least 60% dry matter and at least 45% fat in dry matter

Related ferments

Safety

Bovški sir is made from raw milk. Its curd is scalded at 44–49 °C and pressed, and the cheese is ripened at least 45 days. The specification requires milk quality checks under the law in force. No other safety limits are set. ANSES advises pregnant women, young children, people over 65 and people with weak immunity not to eat raw-milk cheeses other than pressed cooked ones such as gruyère or comté, because of Listeria, Salmonella and enterohaemorrhagic E. coli. The ANSES page gives no temperature for that exception, so do not assume this hard cheese, scalded at 44–49 °C, fits it.

History and sources

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

The 2011 EU application summary says the first records of cheese in the Bovec area date to the 14th century, and that the name Bovški sir (Italian Formaggio di Plezo vero) first appears in an 1756 price list from Videm (Udine). The specification says that after the local ironworks closed, some estimates put the village of Trenta alone at over 3,000 goats and twice as many sheep; it cites the 1822 Franciscan cadastre for that period. A district assembly decree of 1951 began a gradual cut in goats (at most 5 per farm), and a 1952 order of the Slovenian government banned goat grazing in forests. Slovenia issued a rule on the geographical indication Bovški sir in 2004 (Official Gazette 47/2004). The EU entered the name in the PDO register by Regulation 753/2012 of 14 August 2012, and Regulation 2023/742 approved amendments to the specification in 2023. The 2011 summary gave a ripening time of at least 60 days; the 2023 specification gives at least 45 days.

Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
  1. [bovski-spec2023] Društvo rejcev drobnice Bovške 2023. Potrjena specifikacija za »Bovški sir« z zaščiteno označbo porekla, št. 324-01-47/2002/68 (Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food, Slovenia)spec
  2. [ul-2004] Ministrstvo za kmetijstvo, gozdarstvo in prehrano (Slovenia) 2004, Pravilnik o označbi geografskega porekla Bovški sir, Uradni list RS št. 47/2004 (30 April 2004)spec
  3. [bovski-oj2011] European Commission 2011, Publication of an application pursuant to Article 6(2) of Regulation (EC) No 510/2006, Bovški sir (PDO), summary, Official Journal of the European Union C 364, 14.12.2011, p. 25spec
  4. [bovski-reg753] European Commission 2012, Implementing Regulation (EU) No 753/2012 of 14 August 2012 entering a name in the register of protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications (Bovški sir (PDO)), Official Journal of the European Union L 223, 21.8.2012, p. 2spec
  5. [bovski-reg742] European Commission 2023, Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/742 of 31 March 2023 approving non-minor amendments to the specification for Bovški sir (PDO), Official Journal of the European Union L 98, 11.4.2023, p. 4spec
  6. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov