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Cheese from Türkiye

Hellim (Turkey)Hellim peyniri

A boundary cheese set with rennet and cooked in whey. Hellim is the Turkish name of halloumi, and the Cyprus PDO covers both names. The Cyprus PDO describes cooking the curd in whey above 90 °C for at least 30 minutes, then folding it over mint, salting it and keeping it in brine or salted whey; a 2011 survey of hellim from Turkish manufacturers found 34–56 % water.

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedNeither the PDO single document nor the Turkish survey gives a recipe or doses.
Milk; the Cyprus PDO requires more sheep or goat milk than cow milk[halloumi-pdo]
Rennet (the PDO excludes pig rennet)[halloumi-pdo]
Fresh or dried mint leaves (Mentha viridis), in the PDO cheese[halloumi-pdo]
Salt, and brine or salted whey for storage[halloumi-pdo]
Start
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What changes: The milk is heated before it is set

Step 1 of 6
Heat-treat the milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
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

A boundary cheese set with rennet and cooked in whey. Hellim is the Turkish name of halloumi, and the Cyprus PDO covers both names. The Cyprus PDO describes cooking the curd in whey above 90 °C for at least 30 minutes, then folding it over mint, salting it and keeping it in brine or salted whey; a 2011 survey of hellim from Turkish manufacturers found 34–56 % water.

What makes this one different

Hellim is the Turkish name of halloumi, which the Cyprus PDO protects together with the Greek name. The PDO requires more sheep and goat milk than cow milk and adds mint. Cooking the curd in hot whey, not fermentation, gives its firm texture that does not melt.

Process in the Cyprus PDO (halloumi/hellim made in Cyprus, not a Turkish measurement)
Milk pasteurised or heated above 65 °C; curd heat-treated in whey at over 90 °C for at least 30 minutes; mature cheese left in salted whey for at least 40 days. The amendment's justification describes current practice as cooling to 7 °C and 24 to 72 hours in brine.
Composition (hellim from Turkish manufacturers, 2011 survey)
Water 34.07–55.92 %, average pH 5.91 ± 0.36, fat 25.43 ± 1.7 %, protein 22.81 ± 5.62 % (abstract)
Composition (Cyprus PDO)
Fresh - moisture at most 52 %, fat at least 43 % of dry matter, salt at most 3 %; mature - moisture at most 37 %, salt at most 6 %

Related ferments

Safety

The PDO names cooking the curd in whey above 90 °C for at least 30 minutes as part of the process, and requires the milk to be pasteurised or heated above 65 °C. The amendment's justification describes current practice as cooling to 7 °C after cooking, 24 to 72 hours in brine at low temperature, then storage below 7 °C; it is described as practice, not set as a requirement.

History and sources

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

The Cyprus PDO single document says 'Hellim' is the Turkish name of 'Halloumi', and that Turkish Cypriot producers use both names or just 'Hellim'. As evidence it cites the Halkin Sesi newspaper (1959 and 1962) and export packaging bearing both names. The oldest written reference to halloumi it cites is 'calumi' in a codex dated 1554. The EU register lists Halloumi and Hellim together as one PDO, entered in the register by an act published in the Official Journal on 13.4.2021.

Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
Process times
The sources we found give no figure for how long any of its steps take.
Temperature, salt and pH
The sources we found give no temperature, salt or pH figure for any of its steps.
  1. [halloumi-pdo] European Commission, single document 'Χαλλούμι (Halloumi) / Hellim', PDO-CY-01243-AM02 (17.11.2022), in the communication of an approved standard amendment, Official Journal C 53, 13.2.2023, C 53/5spec
  2. [halloumi-reg2021] Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/591 entering 'Χαλλούμι (Halloumi) / Hellim' (PDO) in the register, Official Journal L 125, 13.4.2021spec
  3. [ergonul2011] Ergönül B., Günç Ergönül P., Seçkin A.K. 2011, Chemical and textural attributes of Hellim (Halloumi) cheese marketed in Turkey, Mljekarstvo 61(2):168–174 (abstract)paper