Bryndza

Bryndza
Country of origin
Region	Eastern Europe
Town
Source of milk
Pasteurized	No
Texture	Depends on variety
Fat content	Depends on variety
Certification	Bryndza Podhalańska: PDO Slovenská bryndza: PGI
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Bryndza is product of a sheep milk cheese made mainly in Slovakia, Romania and Moldova, but also in Poland, Ukraine, Hungary and part of Moravia (Moravian Wallachia). Bryndza cheese is creamy white in appearance, known for its characteristic strong smell and taste. The cheese is white, tangy, crumbly and slightly moist. It has characteristic odor and flavor with a notable taste of butyric acid. The overall flavor sensation begins slightly mild, then goes strong and finally fades to a salty finish. Recipes differ slightly across countries.

In Slovakia, bryndza serves as the main ingredient to bryndzové halušky, which is regarded the national speciality

Etymology

Known as juhtúró in Hungarian, brenca in Serbian and brimsen in German, bryndza, a word descended from the Romanian root brânză, is used in various countries throughout Ukraine and the EU, due to its introduction by migrating Vlachs. Though the word brânză or brînză (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈbrɨnzə]) is simply the generic word for "cheese" in Romanian, there is no special type of cheese associated with it. It is a word presumably inherited by the Romanian language from Dacian, the language of the pre-Roman population in modern-day Romania. The word was first recorded as brençe described as "Vlach cheese" in the Croatian port of Dubrovnik in 1370. Outside Slovakia and the flanking regions of Southern Poland, it is still popular nowadays in the Czech Republic under the Czech spelling "brynza".

History

Bryndza was first recorded in Slovakia, in 1470 and in the adjacent Polish Podhale in 1527. In Slovakia, bryndza serves as the main ingredient to bryndzové halušky, which is regarded the national speciality (halušky - small gnocchi - are mixed with bryndza and topped with fried chops of fatty bacon). Bryndza is therefore regarded as typically Slovak product. The modern version of the soft spreadable bryndza is believed to have been developed by entrepreneurs from Stará Turá (Western Slovakia) toward the end of the 18th century who founded bryndza manufactures in mountainous regions of Central and Northern Slovakia where sheep cheese production had deep roots in the local cheese manufacturing tradition, and traded with it, popularizing bryndza all around the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy. In Austria, it was called Liptauer, after the northern Slovak Liptov region. The Viennese speciality Liptauer, a savoury cheese-based spread, has replaced bryndza with common cows' milk cottage cheese because the original Slovak bryndza disappeared from Austrian market after the disintegration of Austro-Hungarian monarchy.

Geographical indications

• Bryndza Podhalańska from Poland has been registered in the EU's Register of protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications on 11 June 2007 as a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO). The geographical indication was requested on 23 September 2006.
• Slovenská bryndza from Slovakia has been registered in the EU's Register of protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications on 16 July 2008 as a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI). The geographical indication was requested on 4 October 2007.

Comparable cheeses

While most of the world's commercially available cheese is made from cow's milk, many parts of the world also produce cheese made from sheep's milk well-known examples being Roquefort, produced in France, Serra da Estrela cheese from Portugal, Ricotta and Pecorino Romano, produced in Italy from ewe's milk. Sometimes cheeses marketed under the same name are made from milk of different animals - Feta style cheeses, for example, made of sheep’s milk only in Greece and from cow's milk elsewhere.

See also

• Austrian Liptauer
• Bulgarian Sirene
• Greek Feta
• Italian Ricotta
• Mexican Queso fresco