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Cheese from Greece, southern Peloponnese

Sfela PDOΣφέλα

Sheep or goat milk, or a mix, is set at 30–32 °C, cut and cooked to 38–40 °C, drained in cloths and lightly pressed. The curd is cut into strips called sfelides, dry-salted and kept a month in 20 °Bé brine at room temperature, then at least three months at 4–6 °C. It is among the saltiest Greek cheeses.

Fully documentedCheese4 monthsPDO (EU), Reg. (EC) No 1107/96 (OJ L 148, 21.6.1996; eAmbrosia PDO-GR-0436); Greek Ministerial Decision 313056/17.1.94Family: White brined cheese family (Feta PDO as template)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe application gives no doses or batch size.
Sheep or goat milk, or a mixCultures of lactic acid bacteria can be used where the milk is pasteurised[sfela-1994-en][tsouggou2024]
Traditional rennet or enzymes[tsouggou2024]
Dry salt on the strips, then brine of 20 °Bé[sfela-1994-en][sfela-1994-fr]
Startercultures of lactic acid bacteria can be used where the milk is pasteurised

Total time across the recorded steps: 4 months

Start
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30–32 °C

What changes: Rennet sets the sheep and goat milk at 30–32 °C

Step 1 of 6
Set the milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
30–32 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
S. thermophilus
L. delbrueckii
Lactococcus lactis
Enterococcus faecium
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

Sheep or goat milk, or a mix, is set at 30–32 °C, cut and cooked to 38–40 °C, drained in cloths and lightly pressed. The curd is cut into strips called sfelides, dry-salted and kept a month in 20 °Bé brine at room temperature, then at least three months at 4–6 °C. It is among the saltiest Greek cheeses. Made in 6 steps over 4 months. The longest step, ripen cold in brine, takes at least 3 months (The same application) and runs at 4–6 °C (The same application). Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus dominated one industrial PDO sample; Lactococcus lactis dominated the other and Isolates most often Enterococcus faecium, Lactiplantibacillus plantarum, Levilactobacillus brevis, Pediococcus pentosaceus and Streptococcus thermophilus do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 3 monthsSet[sfela-1994-fr][sfela-1994-en]Ripen cold in brine
Temperature4–6 °CSet[sfela-1994-fr][sfela-1994-en]Ripen cold in brine

What makes this one different

A semi-hard white brined cheese whose curd is cooked to 38–40 °C and cut into strips (sfelides) before salting. It spends a month in brine at room temperature before cold ripening, and it is among the saltiest Greek cheeses.

Ripening
One month in brine at room temperature, then at least three months at 4–6 °C
Composition
Moisture at most 45 %, fat in dry matter at least 40 % (as cited in a 2024 study)
Salt
Highest salinity of the 23 Greek cheeses analysed in a 2020 study

Related ferments

Safety

Kept sealed under brine, the cheese stores up to two years. Metagenomics found some unwanted bacteria in the samples tested, and the authors call for stricter surveillance of production.

Hazards the sources name: Acinetobacter, Streptococcus parauberis and Streptococcus suis sequences found by metagenomics.

History and sources

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

The 1994 application says the cheese had been known for over a century in Messinia and Laconia.

  1. [sfela-1994-en] Ministry of Agriculture (Greece), Application for registration 'Sfela' PDO under Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92, summary of Ministerial Decision 313056/17.1.94, English summary sheet, eAmbrosia attachment 63533spec
  2. [sfela-1994-fr] The same application, French summary sheet (clearer print of the method figures), eAmbrosia attachment 74748spec
  3. [tsouggou2024] Tsouggou N., Slavko A., Tsipidou O. et al. 2024, Investigation of the Microbiome of Industrial PDO Sfela Cheese and Its Artisanal Variants Using 16S rDNA Amplicon Sequencing and Shotgun Metagenomics, Foods 13(7):1023paper
  4. [danezis2020] Danezis G.P., Tsiplakou E., Pappa E.C. et al. 2020, Fatty acid profile and physicochemical properties of Greek protected designation of origin cheeses, implications for authentication, European Food Research and Technology 246(9):1741–1753 (abstract)paper
  5. [sfela-register] European Commission, eAmbrosia register record for 'Σφέλα / Sfela', PDO-GR-0436, EU protection date 21.6.1996, legal instrument Official Journal L 148, 21.06.1996 (CELEX 31996R1107), public API listinggov