Vlašić cheese ( / ) or Travnik cheese ( / ) is a

brined Brining is treating food with brine or coarse salt which preserves and seasons the food while enhancing tenderness. Flavor can be further developed with additions such as herbs, spices, sugar, caramel or vinegar. Meat and fish are typically brine ...

mostly low-fat white cheese made from sheep-milk. Cheese originating from the mountain of Vlašić, just above the town of

Travnik Travnik ( cyrl, Травник) is a town and a municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the administrative center of the Central Bosnia Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in central Bosnia and Herzegovina, ...

in central

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

. Depending on amount of

brine Brine (or briny water) is a high-concentration solution of salt (typically sodium chloride or calcium chloride) in water. In diverse contexts, ''brine'' may refer to the salt solutions ranging from about 3.5% (a typical concentration of seawat ...

(salty water) the cheese is kept in, its texture and taste can vary but is mostly dry and quite salty.

History

The toponym Vlašić (mountain name) derived from the name ''Vlasi'' (''Serbo-Croatian for

Vlachs Vlach ( ), also Wallachian and many other variants, is a term and exonym used from the Middle Ages until the Modern Era to designate speakers of Eastern Romance languages living in Southeast Europe—south of the Danube (the Balkan peninsula ...

''), historically used in Bosnia and Herzegovina for its

transhumant Transhumance is a type of pastoralism or nomadism, a seasonal movement of livestock between fixed summer and winter pastures. In montane regions (''vertical transhumance''), it implies movement between higher pastures in summer and lower ...

population. Academics like late

Marko Vego Marko Vego (8 January 1907 – 26 February 1985) was a Bosnian and Yugoslav archaeologist, epigrapher and historian. Biography Vego was born in Čapljina (Bosnia and Herzegovina) to father Jozo who was a worker at a tobacco station. Vego ...

believe that the Vlachs, as remnant of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

, came up with a recipe for the trademarks of product of the mountain and the region, namely the Vlašić cheese, some time around 1000 AD or earlier. Henceforth, by perfecting the recipe, the Vlachs passed on the tradition to other cattle breeders from the surrounding mountains.

Production and characteristics

Vlašić cheese is a white cheese that matures in brine. It is originally made from fresh sheep milk, but of recently also cow milk is used, or a mix of both varieties, and then left to ripen for two to three months. The cheese is brined and mostly low-fat. It is white in color, and can either have small irregular holes scattered in it, or be solid without holes. Depending on the amount of brine the cheese is kept in, its texture and taste can vary, but drained it turns mostly dry and quite salty in taste. The milk has a special flavor that comes from the variety of different herbs the sheep are eating when grazing on Vlašić and the surrounding mountains.

Popularity and consumption

Today this cheese is produced throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, but is regarded as particular traditions of the region of Central Bosnia, Vlašić mountain and town of

. In addition to the cheese, two other particular trademarks of the region exist, the

Tornjak The Tornjak (), also known as the Bosnian-Herzegovinian sheepdog, is a recreated breed of livestock guardian dog native to Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia. They are molosser-type mountain dogs, similar to other livestock guardian breeds of t ...

dog and Pramenka sheep. The Tornjak is believed to have existed for more than a millennia, bred to guard people and its livestock from wolves and bears. Its etymology is connected to Neo-Latin ''torni acca'' ("turn here"). The Vlašić cheese was awarded many prizes over the years, with gold medal won at 12th International Exhibition of Cheese in Austria () in 2014 among the most recent ones. Vlasic Sheep.jpg, Sheep on Vlašić Sheep on mountain Vlašić.jpg, Sheep on Vlašić

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vlasic cheese Bosnia and Herzegovina cheeses Bosnia and Herzegovina cuisine Sheep's-milk cheeses Cow's-milk cheeses

Cheese Cheese is a type of dairy product produced in a range of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk (usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats or sheep). During prod ...

Brined white cheeses

History

Production and characteristics

Popularity and consumption

See also

References