Parenica

Parenica [ parɛɲiʦa ] is a Slovak Brühkäse. As Slovenská parenica Since 2007 he is with the EU Community sign " Protected Geographical Indication " (PGI / CTO ) excellently.

Parenica is made from a blend of cow's and sheep's milk, with freshly collected, raw sheep's milk from grazing sheep or a mixture of fresh, unprocessed raw sheep's milk and fresh, raw, unprocessed cow's milk. The sheep's milk fraction is at least 50 percent.

The cheese is semi- firm, not maturing and subdued. Most of the cheese is smoked; at our own production but also find unsmoked varieties. The special character of the Parenica is primarily caused by the manufacturing process.

The fat content is at least 50 percent in the dry matter. Steaming at 60 to 70 ° C takes place partly pasteurization.

Name and origin

Parenica comes from the area of Zvolen and Brezno.

The name Parenica (pronounced parenietza ) means in Slovak " the Steamed ".

The cheese as " Parenyica " is also known in Hungary.

History

Its production goes back to the 18th century, when the cheese was made in the kitchens of sheep farmers for their own use. With time, its production spread over almost the entire territory of Slovakia. In the 19th century, the cheese was not only in the territory of Slovakia, but also in Vienna and other foreign cities on the market. Since the 1950s, the cheese is made only in the mountain region of Slovakia in layers from 200 meters.

The first written records date from the 19th century. The milk watchers Otakar Laxa described in his book Syrařství, I. vydanie, rok 1908 ( cheesemaking, I. edition, 1908) the origin, production and his unusual appearance.

In the Austrian Food Codex Alimentarius Austriacus book from 1917 and in the chapter on page 180 cheese, Parenica was a hushed, drawn cheese which will pulled out of hot water into strips and thread and then wound up and smoked. The origin lies in Upper Hungary, so in Slovakia and the Slovak name loud Parenica.

Production

The freshly collected sheep's milk or the mixture of sheep's and cow's milk is heated to 29 to 32 ° C until it coagulates. It is added rennet, which thickens the milk. This thickened casein is stirred and finally cut into pieces. When the crushed casein has set, are formed from this mass clumps. After draining, and solidifying the cheese chunks are placed on a support of wood or stainless material, where at a temperature of 20 to 23 ° C takes place acidification and lasts about 24 hours. Then the cheese chunks are placed in a 60 to 70 ° C filled wood bucket and spread on the inside of the bucket with a small wooden paddle until a fine cheese mass.

The paste thus produced is repeatedly pulled apart and folded, and finally pulled out a strip of the mass, which is spread by hand edge on a wooden board to 4 to 6 feet in length, 6 cm wide and 2 to 3 mm thickness. Subsequently, this cheese strip is placed in a prepared cold, saturated brine. In addition to the bands a thin string cheese is produced at the same time, wrapped in the later, the wound cheese and are " tied ".

After brief contraction in the brine, the cheese strip is removed and rolled up, typically forth in each case a different direction so that eventually arises from both sides of an "S". Finally, the cheese is laced with cheese strings or chains and dried. After drying it is ready to eat or the cheese is placed in the smokehouse, where it is smoked over hardwood two hours.

Properties

Parenica is mild, slightly salty consistency and tastes like a mild sheep's milk cheese; pulled apart to form threads. The cheese has a characteristic smell of sheep's milk and - if smoked - smoke on, caused by smoking over hardwood. After smoking, its surface is yellow to brown, the interior white to buttery yellow.

In his unsmoked version of the cheese is ready to eat immediately. He is cream-colored, soft, unsalted and almost squeals typically on the teeth. The consistency is elastic and fibrous.

Incense in the cold smoking with hardwood smoke. Smoked cheese has a yellowish color.

Typical is the special type of winding, a Parenica results from the two connected and oppositely wound ribbons of cheese in the shape of an "S ".

Industrially manufactured and marketed in the EU Parenica cheese has a dry matter content of at least 53 percent and fat in the dry matter of at least 50 per cent, of sodium chloride than 3 percent. It contains natural microorganisms in milk by Lactobacillus strains, Enterecoccus, Lactococcus and Streptococcus and may no pathogenic microorganisms such as Listeria monocytogenes or Salmonella included.

Production specification of the European Union

In the Official Journal of the European Union of 24 October 2007, the main elements of the product specification of 'Slovenská parenica " described as follows: