Brined white sheep or cow cheese, the core of every Turkish breakfast. It is the brine-ripened cheese of Thrace and the Marmara region, Turkey’s most widely eaten cheese, and it is sold from tins by weight.
It ripens submerged in brine for months in a controlled cool store at a salt concentration measured to the batch — a dairy process.
What goes into it
- sheep’s, goat’s or cow’s milk
- rennet
- salt for the brine
How it is made
The milk is set with rennet, the curd cut, drained under weights and cut into blocks. Those are layered with salt in tins where they make their own brine, and ripen submerged in a cool store for weeks to months, growing saltier and firmer as they go.
How long it takes: eaten fresh, or ripened three to six months in brine
How it is eaten
With bread, olives, tomato and tea at breakfast, or baked into börek.
History
Brine-ripened cheese of Thrace and the Marmara region, and Turkey’s most widely eaten cheese, sold from tins by weight.
Frequently asked questions
What is Beyaz peynir?
Beyaz peynir is a cheese & dairy from Turkey: brined white sheep or cow cheese; the core of every Turkish breakfast. Brine-ripened cheese of Thrace and the Marmara region, and Turkey’s most widely eaten cheese, sold from tins by weight.
How is Beyaz peynir made?
The milk is set with rennet, the curd cut, drained under weights and cut into blocks. Those are layered with salt in tins where they make their own brine, and ripen submerged in a cool store for weeks to months, growing saltier and firmer as they go. It takes eaten fresh, or ripened three to six months in brine.
Can I make Beyaz peynir at home?
No, and the atlas gives no method for it. It ripens submerged in brine for months in a controlled cool store at a salt concentration measured to the batch — a dairy process.
What goes into Beyaz peynir?
Sheep’s, goat’s or cow’s milk, rennet, salt for the brine.
How is Beyaz peynir eaten?
With bread, olives, tomato and tea at breakfast, or baked into börek.
