Telemea () is the name of a Romanian cheese traditionally made of
sheep's milk
Sheep's milk (or ewes' milk) is the milk of domestic sheep. It is commonly used to make cultured dairy products such as cheese. Some of the most popular sheep cheeses include feta (Greece), ricotta (Italy), and Roquefort (France).
Sheep breeds
S ...
.About Telemea at cheese.com Nowadays the term encompasses cheese made out of cow's milk, and in some cases of goat's, or buffalo's milk.
Description
Similar to the Greek
feta
Feta ( el, φέτα, ) is a Greek brined white cheese made from sheep's milk or from a mixture of sheep and goat's milk. It is soft, with small or no holes, a compact touch, few cuts, and no skin. Crumbly with a slightly grainy texture, it is ...
. American
teleme cheese
Teleme or teleme peyniri is a white semi-soft cheese made from goat's or sheep's milk and originating in ancient times in the Middle East and Mediterranean.
The origins reach back to the nomadic Yoruk and Turkmen Turkic people who have roam ...
, Bulgarian or Macedonian
sirene
Sirene ( sq, djathë i bardhë; bg, сирене ; mk, сирење; sr, сир, italics=no/) also known as "white brine sirene" ( bg, бяло саламурено сирене, links=no) is a type of brined cheese made in the Balkans (So ...
, and Serbian ''sir'', ''Telemea'' can have a higher water content, making it a soft or semi-soft white cheese with a creamy texture and a tangy aftertaste. Alternatively, the cheese is put through an ageing process that makes it crisper, more flavoured and salty.
It is used as a table cheese for snacks, in salads, and in a variety of dishes (e.g., omelettes, crepes, pies).
Production
To make ''Telemea'' cheese,
rennet
Rennet () is a complex set of enzymes produced in the stomachs of ruminant mammals. Chymosin, its key component, is a protease enzyme that curdles the casein in milk. In addition to chymosin, rennet contains other enzymes, such as pepsin and a ...
is added into milk to curdle it. Most commonly, cow's and sheep's milk is used, with goat's and buffalo's being more of a delicacy. The resulting
curd
Curd is obtained by coagulating milk in a sequential process called curdling. It can be a final dairy product or the first stage in cheesemaking. The coagulation can be caused by adding rennet or any edible acidic substance such as lemon ...
is removed and is kept in cheesecloth, pressed overnight, then cut into square pieces. The cheese is then left to mature in brine. This fresh cheese (preserved in brine up to a couple of weeks) has its own name,
caș
Caș () is a type of semi-soft white fresh cheese produced in Romania. It is made by curdling sheep or cow milk with rennet, and draining the whey. The resulting cheese is unsalted or lightly salted. If stored in brine, caș turns into Telemea
T ...
. Subsequently, it is stored in wooden barrels named ''putini'' (singular: ''putină''). It can be kept throughout winter in a more concentrated brine, in which case, it is desalted in fresh water before consumption.
Certification
Starting 2004, the ''Telemea'' is intended to become a protected traditional speciality product of Romania, and the following types of ''telemea'' have sought to be recognized under the PDO or PGI labels:
*Telemea de Argeș
*Telemea de
Brașov
Brașov (, , ; german: Kronstadt; hu, Brassó; la, Corona; Transylvanian Saxon: ''Kruhnen'') is a city in Transylvania, Romania and the administrative centre of Brașov County.
According to the latest Romanian census (2011), Brașov has a popu ...
*Telemea de
Carei
Carei (; , ; /, yi, , ) is a city in Satu Mare County, northwestern Romania, near the border with Hungary. The city administers one village, Ianculești ( hu, Szentjánosmajor).
History
The first mention of the city under the name of "Karul ...
*Telemea de
Harghita
Harghita (, hu, Hargita megye, ) is a county ( județ) in the center of Romania, in eastern Transylvania, with the county seat at Miercurea Ciuc.
Demographics 2002 census
In 2002, Harghita County had a population of 326,222 and a populatio ...
*Telemea de
Huedin
Huedin ( hu, Bánffyhunyad, ; german: Heynod; yi, הוניוד or הוניאד) is a town in Cluj County, Transylvania, Romania.
Huedin is located at the northern edge of the Apuseni Mountains. It is surrounded by the villages of Nearșova, Dom ...
Nucet
Nucet (; hu, Diófás) is a town in Bihor County, western Transylvania, Romania. Its name means "walnut trees" both in Romanian and Hungarian. It administers two villages, Băița (''Rézbánya'') and Băița-Plai.
The uranium-producing Băi ...
Sibiu
Sibiu ( , , german: link=no, Hermannstadt , la, Cibinium, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'', hu, Nagyszeben ) is a city in Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles the Ci ...