Cașcaval

''Kashkaval'' is a type of cheese made from the milk of cows, sheep, goats, or a mixture thereof. In Turkey, Albania, Bulgaria, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Romania and Serbia, the term is often used to refer to all yellow cheeses (or even any cheese other than '' sirene''). In English-language menus in Bulgaria, ''kashkaval'' is translated as 'yellow cheese' (whereas '' sirene'' is usually translated as 'white cheese' or simply 'cheese').

Etymology

The name ''kashkaval'' possibly comes from the Italian ''caciocavallo''.

Another theory claims that it is related to the Aromanian ''caș'', 'cheese', but the ''kaval'' part remains unexplained.

Locality

Albania

In Albania, ''kaçkavall'' is the most popular type of cheese after ''djathë i bardhë'' (white cheese). It is considered a traditional Albanian cheese, and is widely used as a side dish. Some traditional restaurants will bring plates of raw or fried ''kaçkavall'' for no additional cost before the main dishes finish cooking. All dairy companies in Albania produce ''kaçkavall'' and mainly use cow's or sheep's milk, but some also use goat's milk, though not as frequently.

Bulgaria

In Bulgaria, ''kashkaval vitosha'' is made from cow's milk, ''kashkaval balkan'' from ewe's milk, and ''kashkaval preslav'' is made from a mixture of the two.

''Kashkaval'' is used in many breakfast pastries. A common dish with ''kashkaval'' is ''kashkavalka'', a little pastry containing ''kashkaval'' inside and on top. As in the other Balkan countries, ''kashkaval'' substitutes for other cheeses, especially in pizzas. A popular Bulgarian snack is ''princesa'' (; ), toast topped with ''kashkaval'' or with ground pork and ''kashkaval''.

Romania and Moldova

In Romania and Moldova, ''cașcaval'' is used to refer to a number of types of yellow medium and semi hard cheeses made of sheep's or cow's milk. The best known varieties of ''cașcaval'' in Romania are ''dobrogea'' (from sheep's milk only), ''penteleu'' (from mix of sheep's and cow's milk), ''dalia'' and ''rucăr'' (both from cow's milk only). But the term is often used by extension as a generic name for all semi-hard yellow cheeses such as the Swiss Emmental cheese, the Dutch Gouda and the British Cheddar, or anything that looks similar to ''cașcaval''.

During the communist regime, because of the food shortages, Romanian housewives developed a technique for a homemade pressed cheese, similar to ''cașcaval'', made out of milk, '' smântână'', butter and eggs. In Romanian cuisine, a lot of dishes are made with ''cașcaval'', such as ''cașcaval pane'' or ''mămăligă''.

North Macedonia

''Kashkaval'' cheese is very popular in North Macedonia. It is mostly made of cow's milk, however both a sheep's milk and a mixed (cow's and sheep's milk) variant are widely available. ''Kashkaval'' is also a synonym for any yellow cheese, to the extent that the word "cheese" mostly means white cheese such as feta, while yellow cheeses such as Gouda or Emmental have the suffix ''kashkaval'' attached to them in everyday speech, as simply calling them cheese would be ludicrous, since they're not white cheeses.

Russia

''Kashkaval'' cheese is popular in Russia. In addition to the Balkan and Italian products, there exists also a Russian version of ''kashkaval''.

Serbia

In Serbia, ''kačkavalj'' is traditionally a sheep milk hard cheese, and as such a protected brand of the city of Pirot. Other cheeses, made from a mix of cow and sheep milk, are sometimes also branded as ''kačkavalj'' but they cannot be defined as ''pirotski'' (of Pirot).

''Kačkavalj'' is one of the six traditional cheeses of Serbia. The production process (in Serbian) can be seen online, and according to a TV show video clip, it was brought to Pirot in the 1810s with the Dalmatian or Italian cheesemakers who settled in then-Ottoman Empire; the cheese was distributed throughout the Balkans (specifically mentioned in the link are Salonica and Istanbul).

Levant

In the Levant (Syria, Jordan, Israel, Palestine, and Lebanon), ''qashqawān'' is widely used as a melting cheese, particularly in pastries. Hungarian-made ''kashkaval'' is the most common type found in the region. In Israel, the Hungarian kashkaval is virtually unknown, and the domestically consumed kashkaval is produced locally from cow and sheep milk by both the large dairies (Tnuva under the brand name Gil'ad, Tara Dairy under the brand name Noam) and by boutique dairies, such as Gad and Jacobs. Imported kashkaval is represented in Israeli grocery stores by the Euro Cheese brand.

Turkey

''Kaşkaval'' (Ottoman: ''penir-i kaskaval'') was a type of cheese consumed in Ottoman feasts. Evliya Çelebi's ''Seyahatnâme'' mentions that there at his time (17th century) in Istanbul 400 artisans produced different types of cheese: among them, cut cheese, teleme cheese and ''kaşkaval''. In the same book is also mentioned that ''kaşkaval'' cheese was produced in Çatalca.

See also

* List of stretch-curd cheeses

Notes

References

Further reading

* Carić M. (1999
Ripened Cheese Varieties Native to the Balkan Countries
In: Fox P.F. (eds) Cheese: Chemistry, Physics and Microbiology. Springer, Boston, MA.

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