Batzos

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Batzos, fried

Batzos ( Greek Μπάτζος ) is a white, low-fat brine cheese made from sheep's milk , goat's milk , or a mixture of both. It is made in the traditional way from raw milk in the Greek regions of West Macedonia , Central Macedonia and Thessaly . Batzos has been a protected designation of origin (PDO) since 1996 .

properties

Batzos is a white, low-fat brine cheese made from sheep's milk , goat's milk , or a mixture of both. It has a sour, slightly spicy and strongly salty taste, no rind, and has numerous small holes in the dough. Batzos made from goat milk in winter have a moisture content of about 43.5 percent, about 23 percent protein and about 34.5 percent fat in the dry matter . A maximum moisture content of 45 percent and a fat content in the dry matter of at least 25 percent are required.

The microflora of the cheese is dominated by lactic acid bacteria , especially Lactococcus lactis , and Enterobacteriaceae . The Enterobacteriaceae, which are present in large numbers at the beginning of ripening, recede towards lactic acid bacteria during ripening and storage. This lowers the pH value in goat cheese to 5.3 in spring and to 5.2 in summer. For sheep cheese , the values ​​are 5.25 and 5.65.

history

The batzos is made from raw milk in the Greek regions of Western Macedonia , Central Macedonia and Thessaly . In the past it was only a by-product of the production of the high-fat whey cheese Manouri from goat's milk and butter from sheep's milk . Since manouri is now also made from whey with the addition of whole milk or cream, there is no need to make batzos. It is traditionally produced in the households of the shepherds and goat herders, or in cheese factories using methods that are closely based on traditional production. The final stage of manufacture is similar to that of the Mihaliç produced in western Turkey .

Batzos are eaten fresh, fried or deep-fried. Batzos ( Μπάτζος ) has been a protected designation of origin (PDO) since 1996 .

Manufacturing

In traditional farm production, the raw milk is heated to 28 to 30 ° C for 50 minutes and rennet is added. When the milk begins to curdle, the cheesemaker hits the mass about 150 to 200 times with a thick wooden stick to loosen the fat. After resting for 35 to 40 minutes, the mass is beaten again 300 to 350 times to allow more fat to pass into the whey. The curd is then in the fraction divided and heated at some manufacturers, with stirring at 43 ° C ( "fired"). After resting again in cheesecloths , the curds are pressed by hand, hung up to drain for 24 hours at around 15 ° C and left to mature in this environment for a further 24 hours. The following day, the loaves are cut into slices, coarse salt is added and then covered with twelve percent brine and filled into containers. If it is not consumed fresh, the cheese is left to mature for ten days at 15 ° C and then in refrigerated storage rooms for at least three months.

The modern production method differs significantly from the rural one. Partially skimmed milk is used as the raw material. This eliminates the need to whip the milk. The milk, heated to 28 to 32 ° C, is mixed with rennet. After about ten minutes, as soon as the curdling begins, the curd is cut into small pieces and left to rest for about 30 minutes. The curd is then stirred for 15 to 20 minutes and allowed to rest again to allow the solid components to settle. The whey is high in fat and can be used to make manouri. The curd is hung up to dry in cheesecloths. The following day, the cheeses are cut into slices, salted and placed in metal containers with brine. They mature in it for at least three months.

An investigation of Batzos cheese made experimentally from various raw materials revealed that the use of pasteurized, low-fat goat milk and artificial starter cultures with Lactococcus lactis can achieve better microbiological properties in the finished cheese. However, such products do not have the same variety of flavors as cheese made from raw milk in the traditional way.

supporting documents

  1. ↑ a b c Thomas Bintsis, Efstathios Alichanidis, İrem Uzunsoy, Barbaros Özer, Photis Papademas, Zorica Radulovic, Jelena Miocinovic: White-Brined Cheeses . In: Photis Papademas, Thomas Bintsis (Ed.): Global Cheesemaking Technology. Cheese Quality and Characteristics . John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, NJ and Chichester 2018, ISBN 978-1-119-04615-8 , chap. 7 , p. 349-367 , here pp. 349-351 .
  2. ↑ a b c A. Adnan Hayaloglu: Cheese Varieties Ripened Under Brine . In: Paul LH McSweeney, Patrick F. Fox, Paul D. Cotter, David W. Everett (Eds.): Cheese. Chemistry, Physics & Microbiology. Fourth edition . Volume 2. Academic Press, London a. a. 2017, ISBN 978-0-12-417012-4 , chap. 39 , p. 997-1040 .
  3. ↑ a b c d e Evanthia Litopoulou-Tzanetaki: Batzos . In: Catherine Donnelly (Ed.): The Oxford Companion to Cheese . Oxford University Press, Oxford 2016, ISBN 978-0-19-933088-1 , pp. 62 .
  4. ↑ a b Lefki Psoni, Nikolaos Tzanetakis, Evanthia Litopoulou-Tzanetaki: Microbiological characteristics of Batzos, a traditional Greek cheese from raw goat's milk . In: Food Microbiology . tape 20 , no. 5 , 2003, p. 575-582 , doi : 10.1016 / S0740-0020 (02) 00153-3 .
  5. ↑ Evanthia Litopoulou-Tzanetaki, Nicolaos Tzanetakis: Microbiological characteristics of Greek traditional cheeses . In: Small Ruminant Research . tape 101 , no. 1-3 , 2011, pp. 17-32 , doi : 10.1016 / j.smallrumres.2011.09.022 .
  6. ↑ Regulation (EC) No. 1107/96 of the Commission of June 12, 1996 on the registration of geographical indications and designations of origin in accordance with the procedure under Article 17 of Regulation (EEC) No. 2081/92 of the Council , accessed on January 19, 2020
  7. ↑ Lefki Psoni, Nikolaos Tzanetakis, Evanthia Litopoulou-Tzanetaki: Characteristics of Batzos cheese made from raw, pasteurized and / or pasteurized standardized goat milk and a native culture . In: Food Control . tape 17 , no. 7 , 2006, p. 533-539 , doi : 10.1016 / j.foodcont.2005.03.001 .