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Fermentation Atlas

Skin- and vessel-ripened cheeses

Cheeses ripened in an animal skin or a clay pot, like tulum and çömlek.

14 entries listed here.

How these cheeses are made

The shared make of skin- and pot-ripened cheese family (tulum, çömlek). Each cheese below says what it does differently.

  1. Warm the milk and add rennet1 h · 30–40 °C
  2. Cut, drain and press the curd in cloth7–10 days · 22–24 °C
  3. Crumble and salt3 days · 22 °C · 2–2.5 % salt
  4. Pack tight into the skin or pot and close it10 days
  5. Ripen coolat least 4 months · -2–6 °C

Compare them

CheeseRegionMilkRipeningRind
BouhezzaAlgeria, the Chaouia area of the eastRaw goat, cow or sheep milk, as lben and as whole milk2.3 months
Brânză frământată de TeacaRomania, Teaca village2–3 daysBladder membrane, plain (semi-glossy to matt) or coated with food-grade cheese wax (glossy); may be sold sliced
ChogiGeorgia, Tusheti30 days – 2 months
Çömlek peyniriTürkiye, Central AnatoliaCow milk, about 10 L per kg of cheese; sheep or goat milk may be addedAt least 4 months in sealed pots
DarfiyehLebanon, northRaw goat milk from extensive mountain herds1 to 6 months in the skin, in a natural cave
Erzincan Tulum Peyniri PDOTürkiye, Erzincan provinceRaw milk of Akkaraman sheep fed in the province, at least 95%At least 4 months at −2 to 0 °C
Guda (Tushetian)Georgia, Tushetiat least 2 months
İzmir tulumTürkiye, Aegean regionat least 4 months
Kariki (Tinos)Greece, island of Tinos40 days – 7 months
Kope cheese (Kurdish jar cheese)Kurdish regions of Iran, Iraq, Türkiye and Syria37 days – 6.1 months
MotalNorth-west IranRaw sheep milk (Iran) or goat milk (Armenia)3 months in one Iranian lab study; Slow Food says Armenian Motal can age for over six months
Sir iz mišine (cheese ripened in a lamb-skin sack)Croatia45 days is called the optimal ripening time (Sesar 2022); a 2014 study does not recommend more than 45 days
Touloumotyri (skin cheese)Greeceup to 2 months
Brânză de burdufRomania, the CarpathiansSheep milk, sometimes with cow or buffalo milk; traditionally raw20 days – 2 months

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.

Brânză de burdufRomania, the Carpathians

Also called brânză de burduf, brânză frământată, brânză în coajă de brad, burduf cheese.

Sheep milk, sometimes mixed with cow milk, is set with lamb or calf rennet into a fresh curd (caș). The unsalted caș sours in a fir tub for up to two weeks, then is cut, ground with salt and kneaded. The paste is packed into a sheep stomach, a sheepskin or a tube of fir bark and eaten after about 20 days to 2 months.

Milk
Sheep milk, sometimes with cow or buffalo milk; traditionally raw
Casing
Sheep stomach, sheepskin or fir bark
Ageing
About 20 days to 2 months
  1. Set the milk with rennet
  2. Drain the caș under a weight
  3. Sour the caș in a fir tubup to 14 days
  4. Grind with salt and knead
  5. Pack into stomach, skin or bark
  6. Age in the casing20 days – 2 months

Safety: English Wikipedia notes that burduf is traditionally not made from pasteurised milk. CDC advises pregnant women, newborns, adults 65 or older and people with a weakened immune system to avoid any cheese made from raw milk.

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