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Cheese from Croatia, island of Pag and the islets of Maun and Škrda

Paški sir PDOPaški sir

Whole milk from the native Pag sheep, raw or heat-treated, is set with rennet at 30–33 °C in 40–60 minutes. The wheat-size curd is scalded to 38–45 °C, pressed at least 90 minutes and brined in Pag sea-salt brine for at least 12 hours. The wheels ripen at least 60 days at 10–20 °C and are rubbed with vegetable oil four to six times.

Fully documentedCheese2 monthsPDO (EU), registered 2019 (Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1940)Family: Hard pressed ewe cheese family (Manchego and Pecorino Romano as templates)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe specification sets conditions, not doses. Wheels weigh 1.8–3.5 kg; a small format weighs 0.6–1.2 kg.
Whole, unstandardised milk from the native Pag sheep (paška ovca), raw or thermised or pasteurisedIf heat-treated, at least 10% fresh raw milk or dairy starter cultures are added[paski-spec]
Animal rennet or microbial coagulant[paski-spec]
Sea salt from the Pag salt works, as brine[paski-spec]
Lysozyme and calcium chloride (optional)[paski-spec]
Vegetable oil, for the rind[paski-spec]
Starterwhen the milk is heat-treated, at least 10% fresh raw milk or dairy starter cultures are added

Total time across the recorded steps: 2 months

Start
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30–33 °C

What changes: Rennet goes into the warm sheep milk and it sets within an hour

Step 1 of 5
Set the milk
Time
40 min – 1 h
Set
Temperature
30–33 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Milk not processed within 6 hours of milking is chilled below 6 °C and used within 48 hours.

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

Whole milk from the native Pag sheep, raw or heat-treated, is set with rennet at 30–33 °C in 40–60 minutes. The wheat-size curd is scalded to 38–45 °C, pressed at least 90 minutes and brined in Pag sea-salt brine for at least 12 hours. The wheels ripen at least 60 days at 10–20 °C and are rubbed with vegetable oil four to six times. Made in 5 steps over 2 months. The longest step, ripen and oil, takes at least 2 months (Udruga proizvođača paškog sira otoka Paga 2018) and runs at 10–20 °C (Udruga proizvođača paškog sira otoka Paga 2018).

Key numbers
Main stepat least 2 monthsSet[paski-spec]Ripen and oil
Temperature10–20 °CSet[paski-spec]Ripen and oil

What makes this one different

Made only from the milk of the native Pag sheep, which graze island pasture that the bura wind sprays with salt, salted in brine of Pag sea salt and oiled during ripening. The minimum ripening is 60 days.

Milk
Whole milk of the native Pag sheep, raw or heat-treated
Ripening
At least 60 days
Composition
Dry matter at least 55%, fat in dry matter at least 45%
Size
Cylinder 18–24 cm across and 7–13 cm high, 1.8–3.5 kg

Related ferments

Safety

Milk not used within 6 hours is chilled below 6 °C and processed within 48 hours. Heat-treated milk is allowed, but the specification then adds back at least 10 % fresh raw milk or uses starter cultures; raw-milk cheese ripens at least 60 days. ANSES, the French food safety agency, says Listeria and enterohaemorrhagic E. coli in raw-milk cheeses can kill. It advises pregnant women, people with weak immunity, people over 65 and young children to avoid raw-milk cheeses, except cooked pressed kinds such as Gruyère or Comté, and does not say whether a scalded cheese like this one counts. It adds that raw-milk cheese that is well cooked, as in an oven recipe, no longer poses a risk.

History and sources

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

The specification, written by the Pag cheese producers' association and dated 22 October 2018, points to a document of 1070 that names a village after a Romance shepherd, and gives 1831 as the first mention of sheep cheese on Pag. It says Paški sir as made today is believed to have begun around 1870, after island ewes were crossed with merino rams, that Tejkal described its farm making in 1912, that Pag people began to use moulds only after the Second World War, and that the first dairy production began in 1971. The name was entered in the EU register in 2019 (OJ L 303, 25.11.2019). The specification links the cheese to winter bura winds that spray salt over the island's pasture.

Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
  1. [paski-spec] Udruga proizvođača paškog sira otoka Paga 2018, Paški sir - Zaštićena oznaka izvornosti - Specifikacija proizvoda (22 October 2018), hosted by the Croatian Ministry of Agriculturespec
  2. [reg2019-1940] Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1940 of 15 November 2019 entering a name in the register of protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications 'Paški sir' (PDO), Official Journal L 303, 25.11.2019, p. 25spec
  3. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov