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Cheese from Russia and other former Soviet states

Rossiysky (Russian cheese)Российский сыр

A semi-hard cow milk cheese defined by Soviet and interstate standards as a cheese with a low second heating (35–43 °C) and a high level of lactic fermentation. Milk with starter cultures is set with rennet, the curd is scalded, salted, pressed into low cylinders or bars, coated and ripened at least 60 days to pH 5.15–5.35, with irregular angular eyes and a slightly sour taste.

Fully documentedCheese2 monthsStandard cheese of GOST 11041-88 (USSR, 1988; withdrawn 2010) and now of the interstate standard GOST 32260-2013 for semi-hard cheesesFamily: Washed-curd cheese family (Gouda as template)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe standards set composition and size, not doses; making follows separate technological instructions.
Cow milk fit for cheesemaking, with cream or skim milk to standardise it[gost11041][gost32260]
Lactic starter cultures and bacterial preparations[gost11041][gost32260]
Rennet powder or approved milk-clotting enzymes[gost11041]
Calcium chloride; potassium or sodium nitrate[gost11041]
Salt, extra grade for salting in the grain[gost11041][gost32260]
Paraffin, polymer or combined coatings, or vacuum film[gost11041]
Starterlactic starter cultures

Total time across the recorded steps: 2 months

Start
Drag the bar or press Play

What changes: Lactic starter goes into the standardised cow milk

Step 1 of 6
Prepare and seed the milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Milk is standardised with cream or skim milk; calcium chloride, nitrate and starter cultures are allowed.

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

A semi-hard cow milk cheese defined by Soviet and interstate standards as a cheese with a low second heating (35–43 °C) and a high level of lactic fermentation. Milk with starter cultures is set with rennet, the curd is scalded, salted, pressed into low cylinders or bars, coated and ripened at least 60 days to pH 5.15–5.35, with irregular angular eyes and a slightly sour taste. Made in 6 steps over 2 months. The longest step, coat and ripen, takes at least 2 months (Gosstandart SSSR 1988). Salt is 1.3–1.8 % (Gosstandart SSSR 1988).

Key numbers
Main stepat least 2 monthsSet[gost11041][gost32260]Coat and ripen
Temperature35–43 °CSet[gost32260]Second heating
Salt1.3–1.8 %Set[gost11041][gost32260]Salt the cheese
AciditypH 5.2–5.4Set[gost32260]Coat and ripen

What makes this one different

Grouped with the Dutch-type Gollandsky cheeses by its low second heating, but defined by a high level of lactic fermentation. The standard describes it as slightly sour, with irregular angular eyes and a pH of 5.15–5.35, below Gollandsky's 5.25–5.45.

Composition
Fat 50.0 ± 1.6 % of dry matter (48.4–51.6 %); moisture at most 43.0 %; salt 1.3–1.8 %
Shapes
Low cylinder 24–28 cm across and 10–16 cm high, 4.7–11.0 kg, or bar 32–34 cm long, 5.0–7.5 kg (1988); GOST 32260-2013 adds larger and smaller sizes
Energy
28.5 g fat and 24.5 g protein per 100 g, 354 kcal

Related ferments

Variants

  • KostromskoyLow-scald cheese with 45 % fat in dry matter, sold from 45 days.
  • SovetskyHigh second heating (48–58 °C class), sold from 90 days.

Safety

The 1988 standard allowed no coliform bacteria in 0.001 g of cheese.

Hazards the sources name: Coliform bacteria, not allowed in 0.001 g of cheese.

History and sources

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

A. M. Nikolaev, who directed the Central Research Institute of the Cheese Industry (TsNIIMS) in Uglich from 1959 to 1961, led the work that produced the Rossiysky technology in 1960. GOST 11041-88 replaced GOST 11041-64 and took effect on 1 March 1989. It was withdrawn in 2010, and Rossiysky is now listed in the interstate standard GOST 32260-2013 for semi-hard cheeses, in force from 1 July 2015.

  1. [gost11041] Gosstandart SSSR 1988, GOST 11041-88 Сыр Российский. Технические условия (Rossiyski cheese. Specifications), approved 6 May 1988 (copy on meganorm.ru)spec
  2. [gost32260] GOST 32260-2013 Сыры полутвердые. Технические условия (Semihard cheeses. Specifications), interstate standard, in force in Russia from 1 July 2015 (copy on meganorm.ru)spec
  3. [topnikova2024] Topnikova E.V. and Dmitrieva E.G. 2024, Историю делают люди (People make history), Molochnaya promyshlennost 3, p. 10, VNIIMS, Uglichpaper