Svecia (or ''Sveciaost'', ''ost'' meaning cheese) is a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

cheese. It is a semi-hard

cow Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ma ...

's-milk cheese, with a creamy consistency, light yellow colour, small irregular holes, and a mildly acidic taste. It is produced in

wax Waxes are a diverse class of organic compounds that are lipophilic, malleable solids near ambient temperatures. They include higher alkanes and lipids, typically with melting points above about 40 °C (104 °F), melting to giv ...

-covered cylinders weighing each. The cheese is similar to other Swedish hard cheeses whose manufacturing methods date back to perhaps the 13th century, but the name ''Svecia'' — from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

''Suecia'' meaning "Sweden" — is a 20th-century invention, dating to 1920. Svecia is produced in a fashion typical to many semi-hard cheeses. Milk is

pasteurized Pasteurization American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), or pasteurisation is a process of food preservation in which packaged and non-packaged foods (such as milk and fruit juices) are treated with mi ...

to then cooled to around . Rennet is added to coagulate the milk into curds and lactic acid

enzyme Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecules known as products ...

s are added to replace enzymes and

bacteria Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometr ...

killed during pasteurization. The curd is cut, stirred, and slowly drained, then heated back up to a temperature near to drive off more moisture. After

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quant ...

is added, the curds are packed into moulds, loosely enough to leave the air pockets which make up Svecia's tiny holes. After a soak in brine, bringing the total salt content of the cheese to 1.0–1.5 percent by weight, the cheese is aged in a dry environment for at least two months — sometimes up to more than a year.

References

{{Swedish cheeses Swedish cheeses Swedish products with protected designation of origin Cheeses with designation of origin protected in the European Union Cow's-milk cheeses Grainy cheeses