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Cheese from Romania, Teaca village

Brânză frământată de Teaca

Raw cow milk is renneted warm, the curd is broken by hand, drained and left a few days to ferment and turn yellow. The fermented curd is minced and kneaded with salt, mixing salted and unsalted curd, then packed tightly into pig bladders that are sewn shut. Makers judge each stage by touch, sight and taste rather than fixed times and temperatures.

Fully documentedCheese2 days – 3 daysPGI (EU No PGI-RO-03380; application OJ C/2026/2804, registered by Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/2017)Family: Skin- and pot-ripened cheese family (Tulum, Çömlek)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedTraditional process with no fixed amounts; the specification stresses that makers dose curd and salt by eye and hand. Each cheese weighs about 0.4–2 kg, set by the size of the bladder.
Raw (unpasteurised) cow milk[teaca-oj]
Rennet (lamb or milk-fed calf rennet in one maker's account)[teaca-oj]
SaltLayered by the fistful between hand-wide layers of minced curd[teaca-oj][revista-ferma]
Natural pig bladdersThe casing; sewn shut, sometimes coated with food-grade cheese wax[teaca-oj]

Total time across the recorded steps: 2 days – 3 days

Start
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What changes: Rennet goes into the warm raw milk in a vat

Step 1 of 6
Filter and rennet the warm milk
Time
40 min
Reported
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

The milk must feel warm; in summer it is strained and set straight away, in winter warmed a little. The specification says curdling is judged by touch and sight (the 'ball test'), not fixed times or temperatures.

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

Raw cow milk is renneted warm, the curd is broken by hand, drained and left a few days to ferment and turn yellow. The fermented curd is minced and kneaded with salt, mixing salted and unsalted curd, then packed tightly into pig bladders that are sewn shut. Makers judge each stage by touch, sight and taste rather than fixed times and temperatures. Made in 6 steps over 2 days – 3 days. The longest step, let the curd ferment, takes 2–3 days (Revista Ferma). Salt is up to 3.5 % (European Commission 2026).

Key numbers
Main step2–3 daysReported[revista-ferma]Let the curd ferment
Saltup to 3.5 %Set[teaca-oj]Mince and knead with salt

What makes this one different

A kneaded cheese made from cow milk, where Romanian burduf cheeses mostly use sheep milk and fir bark or stomach casings. The curd is fermented until yellow, minced, salted in layers and sewn into pig bladders.

Rind
Bladder membrane, plain (semi-glossy to matt) or coated with food-grade cheese wax (glossy); may be sold sliced
Size
Irregular oval or round, about 0.4–2 kg, set by the bladder
Composition
Fat 22–28%, fat in dry matter 40–60%, protein 18–25%, salt at most 3.5%

Related ferments

Safety

Made from raw cow milk. The specification caps salt at 3.5 % of the finished cheese. CDC advises pregnant women, newborns, adults 65 or older and people with a weakened immune system to avoid any cheese made from raw milk.

Hazards the sources name: Staphylococcus aureus, found at 3.82 log cfu/g early in the ripening of burduf, a related Romanian cheese, and 0.27 log cfu/g after the second period (not studied in Teaca).

History and sources

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

A German monograph quoted in the PGI single document records that Teaca was granted permission to hold a weekly market on Mondays in 1734. The document says selling kneaded cheese at markets has long been a tradition. An 82-year-old man from Teaca recounts how his mother made the curd, left it to drain and ferment, then minced it and kneaded it with salt.

Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
  1. [teaca-oj] European Commission 2026, Publication of an application for registration of a geographical indication, single document 'Brânză frământată de Teaca' (PGI-RO-03380), Official Journal of the EU C/2026/2804, 19 May 2026 (EU Publications Office copy)spec
  2. [revista-ferma] Revista Ferma, 'Brânza frământată de Teaca. Ana lu' Pilu face brânză după o rețetă străveche' (maker's account cited in the PGI single document)web
  3. [reg2026-2017] Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/2017 of 2 September 2026 on the registration of the geographical indication 'Brânză frământată de Teaca' (PGI) in the Union register of geographical indications, OJ L, 9.9.2026 (EU Publications Office copy)spec
  4. [tabaran2016] Tabaran A., Dan S.D., Reget O.L., Cordea D.V., Magdas A.D., Mihaiu M. 2016, Microbiological quality evaluation of various types of traditional Romanian cheese through advanced methods, Bulletin of the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, Veterinary Medicine 73:418 (abstract; used only for the related burduf in the microbe list)paper
  5. [cdc-listeria] US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Preventing Listeria Infectiongov