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Fermentation Atlas

Whey-cooked cheeses

Curd cooked in hot whey at 90 °C or more, as for halloumi.

15 entries listed here.

How these cheeses are made

The shared make of whey-cooked rennet curd family (halloumi type). Each cheese below says what it does differently.

  1. Warm the milk and add rennet45 min · 32 °C
  2. Cut and scald the curd40 min · 42 °C
  3. Salt lightly and press30 min · 1 % salt
  4. Cook the blocks in hot whey1 h · 95 °C
  5. Salt dry with mint24 h · 2 % salt
  6. Or hold in brine3 h – 2 days · 4–20 °C · 7–13 % salt

Compare them

CheeseRegionMilkRipeningRind
Akanthou cheese (Akanthiotiko tyri)Cyprus, Akanthou village3 days
Antep PeyniriTurkey, Gaziantep province2–3 months
BelicinoItaly, Sicilia24 hNone; white, moist, basket-marked surface
Cacioricotta caprino del CilentoItaly, Campania, province of Salerno, the whole Cilento2 days – 4 monthsNone when fresh; aged rind thin to slightly thick, fairly hard to hard. Rough surface with basket marks
Cacioricotta di bufalaItaly, Lazio2–12 monthsFairly thin; white or straw, turning brown with age
Canestrato vacchinoItaly, Sicilia10 daysNone when fresh; then rough with basket marks, yellowish white to ochre
Formaggio di capra "padduni"Italy, Sicilia45 minNone; snow white
Formaggio di colostro ovinoItaly, Sardegna4–5 daysNone; white surface
Halloum (Levant)Lebanon2 days
Halloumi / Hellim PDOCyprussheep, goat or cow milk; traditionally sheep and goat mixedMature halloumi is left to mature in salted whey for at least 40 days (PDO single document)
Hellim (Turkey)Türkiye
NabulsiPalestineCow, sheep or goat milk, or a mixture3–9 months
Tumazzu di vaccaItaly, Sicilia45 days – 18 monthsRough, marked by the rush basket, straw-yellow to brown, clean or oiled
Casu cottu (di capra)Italy, SardegnaNone; white, basket-marked
Pafitiko tyri (Pafos cheese, flaouna cheese)Cyprus, Pafos district4–5 daysHard and yellowish, with the imprint of the talari basket

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.

Casu cottu (di capra)Italy, Sardegna

Raw goat milk at milking warmth is set with kid rennet, cut to rice-grain curd and pressed into one block. Pieces go into baskets and are scalded in very hot whey to drive out more whey; the cheese is never salted. It is eaten very fresh, often flattened in hot water and roasted on embers as an Easter sweet with honey, or grilled and served salted.

Rind
None; white, basket-marked
Size
Cylinder 1.0–1.5 kg
Season
On request, traditionally for Easter and village feasts
  1. Bring the milk to milking temperature
  2. Set with kid rennet
  3. Cut the curd
  4. Press, cut and put into baskets
  5. Scald in hot whey
  6. Keep briefly in whey

Safety: Made from raw goat milk and eaten very fresh; the cheese is roasted or pan-cooked before eating.

Pafitiko tyri (Pafos cheese, flaouna cheese)Cyprus, Pafos district

Also called Παφίτικο τυρί, Pafos cheese, flaouna cheese.

Sheep milk, goat milk or a mix is heated and set with rennet; the curd is cut, stirred and slowly reheated, then pressed by hand into 'talaria' baskets woven from a marsh plant. The filled baskets are cooked for 30 minutes in hot whey, as halloumi is, and the cheese is turned, salted and dried for 4–5 days. It is made from February to April and is the traditional cheese for Easter flaounes.

Season
Made from February to April, when milk is plentiful, for Easter
Rind
Hard and yellowish, with the imprint of the talari basket
  1. Heat the milk and add rennet
  2. Cut and stir5–10 min
  3. Reheat while stirring30–45 min
  4. Press into talaria baskets
  5. Cook the baskets in hot whey30 min
  6. Turn and salt
  7. Dry4–5 days

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