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Cheese from Slovakia, Orava river basin

Oravský korbáčik PGIOravský korbáčik

Lump cheese, set from raw or pasteurised cow milk with a lactic culture and left to ferment, is grated and kneaded in water at 70–95 °C into a stretchy mass. The mass is pulled into thin strands, cooled 2–10 minutes in cold water, salted in saturated brine and plaited by hand into little whips 10–50 cm long. Some are cold-smoked at about 30 °C until golden.

Fully documentedCheese2 min – 10 minPGI 'Oravský korbáčik' (EU, registered by Regulation (EU) 243/2011); the sister PGI 'Zázrivský korbáčik' (Regulation (EU) 238/2011) covers a steamed cheese plaited into a whip by the same method in ZázriváFamily: Pasta filata (stretched-curd) cheese family

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe specification fixes limits, not amounts. A basic pack holds 5–10 korbáčiky; a bundle (zväzok) holds 50.
Lump cheese from raw or pasteurised cow milk with a lactic acid cultureAt least 48 % dry matter, at least 35 % fat in dry matter, pH 4.9–5.2[orava-pgi]
Hot water for steaming[orava-pgi]
Cold drinking water for cooling the strands[orava-pgi]
Salt, as a saturated brine[orava-pgi]
Hardwood smoke (smoked kind only)[orava-pgi]
Starterlactic acid culture added to the milk for the lump cheese

Total time across the recorded steps: 2 min – 10 min

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
shapes, not to countLactic acid bacteriapH 4.9–5.2Milk proteinGel (curd)

What changes: Lactic bacteria sour the pressed lump cheese until it is ready to stretch

Step 1 of 7
Ferment the lump cheese
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
pH 4.9–5.2
Set
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria
Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

lactic bacteria sour the renneted curd

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

Lump cheese, set from raw or pasteurised cow milk with a lactic culture and left to ferment, is grated and kneaded in water at 70–95 °C into a stretchy mass. The mass is pulled into thin strands, cooled 2–10 minutes in cold water, salted in saturated brine and plaited by hand into little whips 10–50 cm long. Some are cold-smoked at about 30 °C until golden. Made in 7 steps over 2 min – 10 min. The longest step, cool the strands in cold water, takes 2–10 min (European Commission 2010). Salt is up to 5.5 % (European Commission 2010). Thermoresistant lactic acid bacteria of the genera Lactococcus, Streptococcus and Lactobacillus, from the lump cheese does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step2–10 minSet[orava-pgi]Cool the strands in cold water
Temperature70–95 °CSet[orava-pgi]Grate and steam in hot water
Saltup to 5.5 %Set[orava-pgi]Wind, cut and salt in brine
AciditypH 4.9–5.2Set[orava-pgi]Ferment the lump cheese

What makes this one different

Korbáčik is a pasta filata cheese made from fermented lump cheese, not from fresh curd, and it is pulled into thin strands that are plaited by hand into a whip. Parenica uses the same steamed mass rolled into a flat ribbon; mozzarella-type cheeses are shaped into balls.

Size
Whips 10–50 cm long, plaited from strands 2–10 mm thick
Composition
Dry matter at least 40 %, fat in dry matter at least 25 %

Related ferments

Variants

  • Smoked korbáčikCold-smoked at about 30 °C until golden; up to 5.5 % salt
  • Zázrivský korbáčikA separate PGI for a steamed cheese plaited into a whip by the same method in the municipality of Zázrivá, which has its own specification

Safety

Medveďová et al. name Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli as the more frequent contaminants of lump cheeses made from raw milk, and call steaming the only step that inactivates unwanted microbes. In their laboratory test, steaming at 63.6 °C for 7.2 min lowered coagulase-positive staphylococci by about 0.6 log and E. coli by about 1.2 log CFU/g, so steaming is not a full kill; adding lactic acid cultures to the curd slowed their growth beforehand. The specification sets the steaming water at 70–95 °C, hotter than in that test, and sets the pH of the lump cheese at 4.9–5.2.

Hazards the sources name: Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, named as the more frequent contaminants of lump cheeses made from raw milk.

History and sources

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

Oral tradition dates home-made korbáčiky in Orava to the second half of the 19th century, when making and selling cheese was the only source of income for local sheep and cattle farmers. The name was registered as a PGI in 2011.

  1. [orava-pgi] European Commission 2010, Single document 'Oravský korbáčik', EC No SK-PGI-0005-0774-04.05.2009, Official Journal C 188, 13.7.2010, p. 15; registered by Regulation (EU) 243/2011spec
  2. [medvedova2020] Medveďová A., Koňuchová M., Kvočiková K., Hatalová I., Valík L. 2020, Effect of Lactic Acid Bacteria Addition on the Microbiological Safety of Pasta-Filata Types of Cheeses, Frontiers in Microbiology 11:612528paper
  3. [zazriva-pgi] European Commission 2010, Single document 'Zázrivský korbáčik', EC No SK-PGI-0005-0656-30.10.2007, Official Journal C 188, 13.7.2010, p. 20; registered by Regulation (EU) 238/2011spec