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Cheese from Greece, Central and Western Macedonia and Thessaly

Manouri PDOΜανούρι

Manouri is a boundary entry, a whey cheese set by heat, not by microbes or rennet. Sheep or goat whey, enriched with cream, is heated to 88–90 °C with up to a quarter more milk or cream and 1 % salt. The curd is drained in cloth bags for 4–5 hours and kept at 4–5 °C until sold.

Fully documentedCheese4.9 h – 6.3 hPDO (EU register: protected from 21 June 1996; Greek Ministerial Decision 313028/11.1.94)Family: Whey cheese (heat-precipitated whey protein) family

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe PDO summary gives up to 25 % milk or cream and 1 % salt, without saying what they are measured against.
Whey from sheep or goat milk, or a mixture[manouri-eu-1994]
Sheep or goat creamAdded to bring the whey to at least 2.5 % fat[manouri-eu-1994]
Sheep or goat milk or creamUp to 25 %Added at 70–75 °C[manouri-eu-1994]
Salt (sodium chloride)1 %Added at 70–75 °C[manouri-eu-1994]
Starternone; the curd forms by heat

Total time across the recorded steps: 4.9 h – 6.3 h

Start
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What changes: Sheep or goat cream goes into the whey until it holds at least 2.5 % fat

Step 1 of 6
Enrich the whey with cream
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria

The whey is left over from making sheep or goat cheeses. Output: enriched whey.

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

Manouri is a boundary entry, a whey cheese set by heat, not by microbes or rennet. Sheep or goat whey, enriched with cream, is heated to 88–90 °C with up to a quarter more milk or cream and 1 % salt. The curd is drained in cloth bags for 4–5 hours and kept at 4–5 °C until sold. Made in 6 steps over 4.9 h – 6.3 h. The longest step, drain in cloth bags, takes 4–5 h (Greek Ministry of Agriculture). Salt is 1 % (Greek Ministry of Agriculture).

Key numbers
Main step4–5 hSet[manouri-eu-1994]Drain in cloth bags
Temperature88–90 °CSet[manouri-eu-1994]Heat with constant stirring
Salt1 %Set[manouri-eu-1994]Add milk or cream and salt on the way up

What makes this one different

Manouri is a heat-set whey cheese, like Myzithra and Anthotyros. Its rules add cream. The whey must reach at least 2.5 % fat before heating, and up to a quarter more milk or cream goes in on the way to 88–90 °C, which makes a rich, fresh cheese.

Milk
Whey of sheep or goat milk, enriched with sheep or goat cream and milk
Ripening
Fresh; kept at 4–5 °C
Fat in the whey mix
At least 2.5 % before heating

Related ferments

Safety

The rules describe no fermentation step. They require cold storage at 4–5 °C until sale, and bacteria still grow slowly in the cold.

History and sources

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

The EU application summarises Greek Ministerial Decision 313028/11.1.94 and says manouri has been made since at least the previous century, in the delimited area with traditional technology from the whey, milk and cream of local sheep and goat breeds raised there and fed on the local flora. The EU register lists the name as protected from 21 June 1996.

  1. [manouri-eu-1994] Greek Ministry of Agriculture, Application for registration of the PDO Manouri (summary of Ministerial Decision 313028/11.1.94), eAmbrosia attachment 72481 (EN); Greek original 63836spec
  2. [govari2023] Govari M., Vareltzis P. 2024, Effect of argon-based modified atmosphere packaging storage on Manouri cheese, International Dairy Journal 150:105846 (abstract, Europe PMC record)paper
  3. [eambrosia-manouri] European Commission, eAmbrosia register entry PDO-GR-0441 Manouri, EU protection date 21 June 1996 (Official Journal L 148, 21.06.1996)spec