Urda (,
indefinite form: ;
; ; ; ; ; ) is a
whey cheese
Whey is the liquid remaining after milk has been curdling, curdled and strained. It is a byproduct of the manufacturing of cheese or casein and has several commercial uses. Sweet whey is a byproduct resulting from the manufacture of rennet types ...
commonly produced in
Southeast Europe
Southeast Europe or Southeastern Europe is a geographical sub-region of Europe, consisting primarily of the region of the Balkans, as well as adjacent regions and Archipelago, archipelagos. There are overlapping and conflicting definitions of t ...
,
and
Hungary
Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
.
Etymology
The name derives from
Albanian , from
Proto-Albanian
Proto-Albanian is the ancestral reconstructed language of Albanian, before the Gheg– Tosk dialectal diversification (before ). Albanoid and other Paleo-Balkan languages had their formative core in the Balkans after the Indo-European migrat ...
''*wurdā'', from an earlier form ''*urdā'' or ''*uordā'', ultimately derived from
Proto-Indo-European
Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. No direct record of Proto-Indo-European exists; its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-Euro ...
"to boil, to burn". It is cognate to
Old Armenian
Classical Armenian (, , ; meaning "literary anguage; also Old Armenian or Liturgical Armenian) is the oldest attested form of the Armenian language. It was first written down at the beginning of the 5th century, and most Armenian literature fro ...
(''vaṙim'', "to burn"),
Lithuanian ("to cook, to boil"). It is
semantically relevant that this cheese is produced by boiling
whey
Whey is the liquid remaining after milk has been curdled and strained. It is a byproduct of the manufacturing of cheese or casein and has several commercial uses. Sweet whey is a byproduct resulting from the manufacture of rennet types of hard c ...
. The Albanian term has been borrowed to other
Balkan
The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...
and Carpathian languages, notably
Romanian ,
but also
Bulgarian,
Hungarian,
Serbian,
Slovak,
Rusyn,
Polish,
Czech
Czech may refer to:
* Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe
** Czech language
** Czechs, the people of the area
** Czech culture
** Czech cuisine
* One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus
*Czech (surnam ...
, and
Russian languages.
Production
Urda is made from
whey
Whey is the liquid remaining after milk has been curdled and strained. It is a byproduct of the manufacturing of cheese or casein and has several commercial uses. Sweet whey is a byproduct resulting from the manufacture of rennet types of hard c ...
of
sheep
Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to d ...
,
goat
The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a species of Caprinae, goat-antelope that is mostly kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the ...
or
cow milk. Urda is produced by heating the whey resulting from the draining of any type of cheese. It is often made into molds to the shape of a half sphere. The paste is finely grained, silky and palatable. It contains 18 grams of protein per 100 grams.
Urda is similar to
ricotta
Ricotta () is an Italian whey cheese made from sheep, cow, goat, or Italian water buffalo milk whey left over from the production of other cheeses. Like other whey cheeses, it is made by coagulating the proteins that remain after the casein h ...
in the way it is produced.
Common uses

In Romania, urda is traditionally used in the preparation of several desserts, such as
clătită and
plăcintă
''Plăcintă'' () is a Romanian and Moldovan traditional pastry resembling a thin, small round or square-shaped cake, usually filled with apples or a soft cheese such as Urdă.
Etymology
The word ''plăcintă'' comes from the Latin ''Placent ...
. Urda is very popular in Northeast part of Serbia — Banat.
Hungarians
Hungarians, also known as Magyars, are an Ethnicity, ethnic group native to Hungary (), who share a common Culture of Hungary, culture, Hungarian language, language and History of Hungary, history. They also have a notable presence in former pa ...
traditionally use it as ingredients of desserts, commonly make it into
bukta (ordás bukta) and ordás
palacsinta.
See also
*
List of cheeses
This is a list of cheeses by place of origin. Cheese is a milk-based food that is produced in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms. Hundreds of types of cheese from various countries are produced. Their styles, textures and flavors dep ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Urda
Whey cheeses
Albanian cheeses
Romanian cheeses
Serbian cheeses
Ukrainian cheeses
Hungarian cheeses
Macedonian cuisine
Bulgarian cheeses
Macedonian cheeses