Travelling for cheese

It’s been a busy season for us at Bell Towers, aka Bell Publishing. The editors are out and about this month, including myself. Our web editor, Ines, is currently in Portugal and Spain, reporting on the cheese exporting market there, as well as visiting artisanal cheese makers. Meanwhile, I am off this week to Bratislava and the European Dairy Association’s annual convention, where the topic is “Local roots and global competitiveness.” I feel that is so very timely, as we go to visit farmers and see the terroir products.

For dairy, we have long been the local roots from which global competitiveness grows. Witness the humble Stilton cheeses, which are renowned globally. It boils down to up to six producers in Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, making the beloved cheeses for the domestic and international markets. Meanwhile, Parmigiano Reggiano is a global cheese made by producers in the Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena and Bologna regions to the left of the river Reno and Mantua to the right of the river Po. We are local and we sell global.

So, to Bratislava. Slovakia has protected specification cheese with its Slovenská bryndza, a natural, white, matured cheese with a soft, spreadable consistency and a slightly granular texture. It is made with both sheep and cow milk and produced by grinding ripened sheep’s cheese, either on its own or blended with cow’s cheese. Under its rules, sheep’s cheese must make up more than half of the mixture.

Another cheese I hope to get my hands on is Slovenská parenica, one of Slovakia’s most visually distinctive cheeses. The curd is steamed and stretched into a long, ribbon-like strip, which is then rolled into two spirals connected in a characteristic S shape. The cheese is traditionally made with sheep’s milk and lightly smoked, notes the website chefspencil.com. Wish me luck!

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