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Cheese from Czechia, Haná region around Olomouc

Olomoucké tvarůžky PGIOlomoucké tvarůžky

Olomouc cheese starts from a fat-free sour curd (tvaroh) made from pasteurised skim milk without rennet. The stored curd is salted to about 4.5%, mixed with ripening cultures, pressed into small discs, rings or sticks, dried warm for a few days, washed with brine and ripened again until a golden-yellow smear covers it. Unlike most cheeses, it starts from curd rather than from milk.

Fully documentedCheese21 days – 12 monthsPGI (EU), registered 2010Family: Ripened acid-curd cheese family (Harzer, Olomoucké tvarůžky, Gamalost)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe review describes an industrial process and gives targets (acidity, salt, dry matter), not batch amounts. Each piece weighs about 20–30 g.
Fat-free industrial sour curd (tvaroh) made from pasteurised skim cow milk[martin2025]
Salt, to about 4.5%[martin2025]
Ripening culture of Pediococcus acidilactici, Candida valida and Brevibacterium linens[martin2025]
Water, if needed to bring dry matter to 32–34%[martin2025]
Starterthe curd is soured by lactic acid from dairy microorganisms, without rennet; a ripening culture (P. acidilactici, C. valida, B. linens) is mixed into the stored curd

Total time across the recorded steps: 21 days – 12 months

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
shapes, not to countLactic acid bacteria22–28 °CMilk proteinGel (curd)

What changes: Lactic bacteria sour the warm skim milk until it sets into curd

Step 1 of 9
Sour the skim milk into curd
Time
16–18 h
Reported
Temperature
22–28 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria
Pediococcus acidilactici
Candida valida
Brevibacterium linens
Yeasts
Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Lactic bacteria sour the milk until the casein sets without rennet

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

Olomouc cheese starts from a fat-free sour curd (tvaroh) made from pasteurised skim milk without rennet. The stored curd is salted to about 4.5%, mixed with ripening cultures, pressed into small discs, rings or sticks, dried warm for a few days, washed with brine and ripened again until a golden-yellow smear covers it. Unlike most cheeses, it starts from curd rather than from milk. Made in 9 steps over 21 days – 12 months. The longest step, store the curd, takes 14 days – 12 months (Martín-Del-Campo S.T 2025). Salt is 4.5 % (Martín-Del-Campo S.T 2025). Pediococcus acidilactici, Candida valida and Brevibacterium linens, added to the curd as the ripening culture; B. linens gives the golden-yellow smear does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step14 days – 12 monthsReported[martin2025]Store the curd
Temperature22–28 °CReported[martin2025]Sour the skim milk into curd
Salt4.5 %Reported[martin2025]Salt and mix with ripening culture
AciditypH 7.3Measured[samkova2025]Pack and keep cold

What makes this one different

Made from stored fat-free sour curd instead of from milk, so it has almost no fat. A short warm yeast phase, a brine wash and a bacterial smear ripen the small pieces in roughly 6 to 12 days (2–4 days of drying, then 4–8 days of smear ripening).

Raw material
Fat-free sour curd (tvaroh), not milk; no rennet, colours or flavourings
Composition
Fat at most 1%; dry matter at least 33% (Samková) or 34–38% (review)
Shape
Discs, rings or sticks of about 20–30 g, or irregular pieces
Finished pH
Retail cheeses averaged pH 7.27

Related ferments

Safety

The curd is made from pasteurised milk. Smear-ripened cheeses can build up biogenic amines; a 2025 study of 85 samples found the levels in Olomouc cheese low compared with earlier studies and judged the cheese no serious problem for most consumers. The study kept samples at 5 °C.

History and sources

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

The EU entered the name in its register as a PGI by Commission Regulation (EU) No 702/2010 of 4 August 2010. Germany and Austria objected. The Commission found that the German name Olmützer Quargel and the Czech name Olomoucké tvarůžky are names of similar cheeses with a common historic origin in the town of Olomouc, so it allowed Olmützer Quargel to be used for cheese outside the specification for five years. The review cites a mention of the cheese from 1452 and one in an Olomouc state list of 1583. The same review says the cheese won an award at the first Austrian dairy exhibition in Vienna in 1872.

  1. [martin2025] Martín-Del-Campo S.T., Pérez-Alva A., Baigts-Allende D.K. 2025, Czech Cheeses - Their History, Production, and Chemical and Sensory Qualities, Journal of Food Science 90(5):e70261 (review citing the PGI specification)paper
  2. [samkova2025] Samková E., Dadáková E., Matějková K., Hasoňová L., Janoušek Honesová S. 2025, Can the Contents of Biogenic Amines in Olomoucké Tvarůžky Cheeses Be Risky for Consumers?, Foods 14(3):456paper
  3. [eu-702-2010] European Commission 2010, Commission Regulation (EU) No 702/2010 of 4 August 2010 entering a name in the register of protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications (Olomoucké tvarůžky (PGI)), OJ L 203, 5.8.2010 (copy on legislation.gov.uk)spec