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Cheese from Serbia, Pirot and its surroundings

Pirotski kačkavalj

Cow milk, sheep milk or usually a mix of both is set with rennet, and the fresh curd is left to ferment for a few days without any added starter. The soured curd is sliced and cooked in hot water at 72–75 °C for 5–8 minutes, then salted, kneaded and moulded. It ripens about 10–15 days warm and then cool until about two months old.

Fully documentedCheese10 days – 15 daysSerbian national appellation of originFamily: Pasta filata (stretched-curd) cheese family

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe sources describe the method without batch amounts.
Cow milk, sheep milk, or usually a mix of the two[danilovic2020]
Rennet[danilovic2020]
Hot water, for cooking the sliced curd[danilovic2020]
SaltTraditional Pirotski kačkavalj must hold at least 2.5% salt (Satric et al.)[danilovic2020][satric2023]
Starternone added; the flavour comes from the milk's own microbiota

Total time across the recorded steps: 10 days – 15 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
shapes, not to countLactic acid bacteriaEnterococcus faeciumPediococcus acidilacticiLactobacillus

What changes: Rennet goes into the cow and sheep milk and the curd forms

Step 1 of 6
Set the milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria
Enterococcus faecium
Pediococcus acidilactici
Lactobacillus

Rennet is added, the curd forms and the whey is separated.

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

Cow milk, sheep milk or usually a mix of both is set with rennet, and the fresh curd is left to ferment for a few days without any added starter. The soured curd is sliced and cooked in hot water at 72–75 °C for 5–8 minutes, then salted, kneaded and moulded. It ripens about 10–15 days warm and then cool until about two months old. Made in 6 steps over 10 days – 15 days. The longest step, warm ripening, takes 10–15 days (Danilović B. et al. 2020) and runs at 25 °C (Danilović B. et al. 2020). Native lactic acid bacteria, dominated by Enterococcus faecium, with Pediococcus acidilactici, P. pentosaceus, Lactobacillus casei/rhamnosus, L. plantarum, L. fermentum, L. paracasei and Streptococcus macedonicus; L. casei (sheep) and P. acidilactici (cow) rose late in ripening does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step10–15 daysReported[danilovic2020]Warm ripening
Temperature25 °CReported[danilovic2020]Warm ripening

What makes this one different

The fresh curd ferments for a few days with no added starter before it is sliced and cooked in very hot water (72–75 °C), and it ripens first warm (25 °C) and then cool.

Milk
Cow, sheep or, usually, mixed milk
Salt
At least 2.5% salt for traditional Pirotski kačkavalj
Ripening
About two months; the national kačkavalj standard requires at least 8 weeks

Related ferments

Safety

Danilović et al. call cooking the fermented curd for 5–8 min in water at 72–75 °C a way of pasteurisation that cuts bacteria and yeast counts, but this is not proven pasteurisation. The figure is the temperature of the water, not of the curd, the authors assume heat-stressed lactic bacteria stay alive, and no study we found tests pathogens. Where the milk is raw, 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 ones such as Gruyère or Comté. Its page does not say whether a hot-water cooked cheese like this one counts.

History and sources

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

Pirotski kačkavalj is the best-known Serbian kačkavalj, and the name carries a national appellation sign (Satric et al.). A 2022 news report says the Pirot kačkavalj from cow milk received its authenticity confirmation and protection in 2013.

  1. [danilovic2020] Danilović B. et al. 2020, Lactic acid bacteria microbiota of "Pirot's kashkaval", Italian Journal of Food Science 32:743 (copy at distantreader.org)paper
  2. [satric2023] Satric A., Miloradovic Z., Mirkovic M., Mirkovic N., Miocinovic J. 2023, Quality characteristics of "Pasta-Filata" Serbian Kačkavalj cheese and regulatory compliance assessment, Mljekarstvo 73(1):38-49 (article page)paper
  3. [biznis2022] Biznis.rs (Beta), 'Na Festivalu sira i kačkavalja u Pirotu učestvovalo dvadesetak izlagača', 17 September 2022web
  4. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov