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Fermentation Atlas

Ripened sour-milk cheeses

Quark ripened with a smear or moulds, like Harzer and Olomoucké tvarůžky.

30 entries listed here.

How these cheeses are made

The shared make of ripened acid-curd cheese family (harzer, olomoucké tvarůžky, gamalost). Each cheese below says what it does differently.

  1. Sour the skim milk into curd16–18 h · 20–25 °C
  2. Warm and cook the curd50–55 °C
  3. Pre-ripen the quarkat least 5 days · 15 °C
  4. Salt, season and shape4.5 % salt
  5. Ripen from the outside in10–21 days · 18–20 °C
  6. Smear or mould ripening (smear and Mucor types)4–8 days · 15–20 °C

Compare them

CheeseRegionMilkRipeningRind
Bjelovarski kvarglCroatia, Bjelovar-Bilogora county2–3 days
Bloderkäse and Sauerkäse AOPSwitzerland, twelve communes of St. GallenSkimmed cow milk, at most 24 h old, from within 30 kmBloderkäse fresh, sold within 21 days; Sauerkäse at least two months
Bryndza Podhalańska PDOPoland, PodhalePolish Mountain Sheep milk, with up to 40 % Polish Red cow milk14 days
CancoillotteFranche-Comté and neighbouring parts of eastern FranceSkimmed cow milk, made into mettonMetton ripened at least 12 hours at 20 °C or more, then melted
DambalkhachoGeorgia, Pshavi and TianetiCow milk; made from the buttermilk curd left after butter1–2 months in a covered ceramic pot
Ennstaler Steirerkas PDOAustria, north-western Styriaat least 21 days
GamalostVik, Sogn, NorwaySkimmed cow milk2–3 weeks in the ripening store
Glundner Käse (Glundner Kas)Austria, Carinthia2–3 days
Handkäse (mit Musik)Germany, HesseCow milk only, made into acid-set sour-milk quark without rennet; low-fatQuark ripened 7–14 days; loaves sweat 2–3 days, then ripen 1–3 more days
Harzer KäseGermany, Harz areaAbout 3 days to packing when the quark is pre-ripened; culture cheese typically 1–2 weeks
KochkäseSanta Catarina, Brazil2–7 days
Liptauer (körözött)Slovakia, Hungary and AustriaSheep-milk bryndza, or cow-milk Topfen or quark10–13 days
Mohant PDOSlovenia, BohinjRaw cow milk, usually part-skimmed by handThree phases in sealed tubs; ready at about two months
Montafoner Sura KeesAustria, Vorarlberg, the Montafon valleyCow skim milk, a by-product of butter making28–42 days
Murtaler SteirerkäsAustria, Styria2–3 days
Olomoucké tvarůžky PGICzechia, Haná region around Olomouc14 days – 12 months
Queso Los BeyosSpain, Asturias and Castile-León borderAt least 15 days in all; at least 60 days for raw-milk cheeseThin, rough; creamy yellow (cow), pale yellow (goat) to light brown (sheep)
Queso mantecoso de CajamarcaPeru, Cajamarca5–6 days
Slovenská bryndza PGISlovakia4–6 days
Tiroler Graukäse PDOAustria, TyrolCow milk, raw or pasteurised and mostly skimmed, from silage-free feeding (the EU summary sheet calls it mostly raw); no rennetAbout 10–21 days in a warm room
TurošCroatia, Međimurje County7 days
Wielkopolski ser smażonyPoland, Wielkopolskie voivodeshipSkimmed cow milk soured into twarógCrumbled curd ripened 2–3 days at 16–27 °C before frying
Zincarlin (Zincarlin da la Vall da Mücc)Switzerland, TicinoRaw cow milk, sometimes with a little goat milkAbout 10 days at 18 °C or more, then at least 2 months at 11–13 °C (aged version)
Boulette d'AvesnesFrance, Nord, the Avesnois around Avesnes-sur-Helpe, near the Belgian borderCow milk, as Maroilles curd; originally buttermilk curdFresh, or two to three months in a humid cellar
Brusselse kaas (Fromage de Bruxelles)Belgium, Brussels and the Zenne valleyLow-fat cow milkTwo to four months, washed with salt water
Chhu / shedenIndia, Sikkim HimalayasYak or cow milk
Mainzer KäseGermany
PrgicaCroatia
PultostNorway, Hedmark and OpplandSoured skimmed cow milk
Queso de Urbiés (cuajada de Urbiés)Spain, Asturias6–9 monthsNone; shapeless, creamy paste sold in pots

Bold names have a full page with the animated steps. Blank cells: no sourced value yet.

Short entries

What the sources record about each of these so far.

Boulette d'AvesnesFrance, Nord, the Avesnois around Avesnes-sur-Helpe, near the Belgian border

Boulette d'Avesnes is a cone of soft cow's milk cheese from the Avesnois, kneaded with tarragon, parsley and crushed pepper, shaped by hand and coated in red paprika. It began as a way to use buttermilk curd, and today it is made mainly from Maroilles curd or broken Maroilles. It is eaten fresh or washed with salt water or beer and ripened in a humid cellar for two to three months.

Milk
Cow milk, as Maroilles curd; originally buttermilk curd
Ripening
Fresh, or two to three months in a humid cellar
Weight
200–300 g
  1. Break up the curd
  2. Knead with herbs and spice
  3. Shape into cones
  4. Coat in paprika
  5. Wash and ripen in the cellar2–3 months
Brusselse kaas (Fromage de Bruxelles)Belgium, Brussels and the Zenne valley

Also called Brusselse kaas, Fromage de Bruxelles, Ettekeis, Hettekees.

A hard, very salty and sour cheese of low-fat cow milk from the farms around Brussels. It is washed often with salt water over two to four months of ripening and brined before packing, which gives it a sharp, meaty smell. It is the base of the Brussels spread pottekeis.

Milk
Low-fat cow milk
Ripening
Two to four months, washed with salt water
  1. Make a low-fat curd
  2. Wash with salt water and ripen2–4 months
  3. Brine and pack
Chhu / shedenIndia, Sikkim Himalayas

A cheese-like fermented milk product of the Sikkim Himalayas, made from yak or cow milk. We could not open a source that describes how it is made.

Milk
Yak or cow milk

Made like Ripened acid-curd cheese family (Harzer, Olomoucké tvarůžky, Gamalost).

Mainzer KäseGermany

A German sour-milk cheese made from sour-milk curd (Sauermilchquark) in the lowest fat grade. Under the German cheese regulation it is grouped with Harzer and may ripen only with yellow or red smear bacteria, giving a smooth golden-yellow to reddish-brown surface; caraway is allowed. Cheeses are made at 25–125 g.

Fat grade
Magerstufe, the lowest fat grade of the regulation
Weight
25 to 125 g
Ripening flora
Yellow or red smear bacteria only; caraway allowed
  1. Make sour-milk curd
  2. Shape small cheeses
  3. Ripen with smear bacteria
PrgicaCroatia

A small cone of cottage cheese from Podravina, Zagorje and Međimurje, spiced, dried and smoked. A 2013 consumer study compared it with Međimurje Turoš and Kvargl, which it calls similar cheeses from neighbouring regions. No source found gives its process numbers.

  1. Prepare the milk
  2. Mix the fresh curd with spices
  3. Shape into cones
  4. Dry and smoke
PultostNorway, Hedmark and Oppland

Also called pultost, pult, Norwegian sour-milk cheese.

Skimmed milk is left to sour, warmed to about 50 °C so the curd separates, and drained of its whey. The crumbled curd is kept warm under a cloth and stirred now and then while it ferments, then mixed with salt and caraway into a loose or spreadable, very lean cheese.

Milk
Soured skimmed cow milk
Fat
About 0.9 g per 100 g
Flavour
Caraway; sharp from yeast fermentation
  1. Sour the skim milk
  2. Warm until the curd separates50 °C
  3. Drain the whey
  4. Crumble and let it ferment warm
  5. Mix in salt and caraway

Safety: The recipe does not say that the milk is pasteurised before it sours, and the curd is only warmed to about 50 °C. The CDC says foods made from raw milk can expose people to Campylobacter, Cryptosporidium, E. coli, Listeria, Brucella and Salmonella, and that children under 5, adults over 65, pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems are at higher risk of serious illness.

Queso de Urbiés (cuajada de Urbiés)Spain, Asturias

Also called quesu d'Urbiés, queso de vexiga (when ripened in a bladder), cuaya de Urbiés, Urbiés cheese.

Raw cow milk is left to sour and set on its own over four or five days, with no rennet or culture, and the cream is skimmed off as it rises. The curd drains in cloth sacks for about ten days, is salted and then ripens for six months or more in a pot or an animal bladder, stirred now and then to spread the surface mould. The result is a soft, creamy, rindless paste with a very strong, piquant taste.

Rind
None; shapeless, creamy paste sold in pots
Moisture
About 52 % moisture and 25 % protein (Turismo Asturias via Vivir Asturias)
  1. Leave the milk to sour and set4–5 days
  2. Drain in cloth sacks10 days
  3. Salt and ripen, stirring6–9 months
  4. Pot the paste

Safety: The milk is raw and sours by itself, with no culture and no heating. ANSES advises pregnant women, young children, people over 65 and people with weak immunity not to eat raw-milk cheeses other than pressed cooked ones such as Gruyère, because of Listeria, Salmonella and Shiga-toxin E. coli.

Numbers come from cited sources and carry a label that says how each is known. How this atlas is made