Abstract
Recently, there has been an increasing interest in traditional food, produced locally without any artificial additives using old methods and with unique characteristics. Malopolska is a southwestern province of Poland which has distinctively rich local food traditions. Among many food products in this region, cheeses have gained special attention, with oscypek cheese being the most popular and recognizable. Oscypek is a scalded-smoked, hard cheese manufactured in the Podhale Region exclusively from unpasteurized ewe’s milk or with an additive of up to 40% of cow’s milk which must come from the Polish Red cattle breed. This cheese constitutes an important part of the shepherding tradition in the Tatra Mountains as it has been practiced for hundreds of years by local highlanders. “Oscypek” together with “Redykołka” (mini variety of oscypek produced in various fancy shapes, i.e., animals, hearts, spindles) and “Bryndza Podhalańska” (soft rennet cheese) are registered under the European Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) geographical indication. Other cheeses produced traditionally, in the Malopolska Region, included in the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s List of Traditional Products are gazdowski cheese (gołka, pucok, kara), bundz, gomółki kowalowskie, and fresh white cheese (Tvarog). The present chapter focuses on the traditional acid and rennet cheeses produced in the Malopolska Region from different types of milk. Issues related to historical background, manufacturing procedures, product characterization, and authenticity are discussed.
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Najgebauer-Lejko, D., Domagała, J., Walczycka, M. (2022). Traditional Cheeses from the Malopolska Region. In: Hernik, J., Walczycka, M., Sankowski, E., Harris, B.J. (eds) Cultural Heritage—Possibilities for Land-Centered Societal Development. Environmental History, vol 13. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-58092-6_11
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