The salted, matured skin of boiled milk, layered in a wooden vessel until it turns from mild and creamy to sharp and almost cheese-like. It goes onto hot bread, under ćevapi, and into everything the Dinaric highlands eat.
Mature kajmak is a raw-milk product ripened for months at cellar temperature under its own salt, which needs a controlled store and the milk of a known herd; the young version sold as fresh kajmak is a different, milder thing.
What goes into it
- whole raw milk, cow’s or sheep’s
- salt
How it is made
Milk is boiled and left to stand in a wide shallow pan while a thick skin forms on top as it cools. That skin is lifted off and laid in a wooden tub, salted, and the next day’s skin laid on top of it. The stack ripens for weeks or months, the salt and the milk’s own bacteria slowly turning it tangy and firm.
How long it takes: a few days for young kajmak, months for mature
How it is eaten
Spread thickly on hot somun, melted over ćevapi and grilled meat, or eaten with honey.
History
Highland dairy of the Dinaric mountains, skimmed off boiled milk and layered in wooden vessels to ripen.
Frequently asked questions
What is Kajmak?
Kajmak is a cheese & dairy from Bosnia and Herzegovina: salted clotted milk skin, matured until sharp, smeared on hot bread and meat. Highland dairy of the Dinaric mountains, skimmed off boiled milk and layered in wooden vessels to ripen.
How is Kajmak made?
Milk is boiled and left to stand in a wide shallow pan while a thick skin forms on top as it cools. That skin is lifted off and laid in a wooden tub, salted, and the next day’s skin laid on top of it. The stack ripens for weeks or months, the salt and the milk’s own bacteria slowly turning it tangy and firm. It takes a few days for young kajmak, months for mature.
Can I make Kajmak at home?
No, and the atlas gives no method for it. Mature kajmak is a raw-milk product ripened for months at cellar temperature under its own salt, which needs a controlled store and the milk of a known herd; the young version sold as fresh kajmak is a different, milder thing.
What goes into Kajmak?
Whole raw milk, cow’s or sheep’s, salt.
How is Kajmak eaten?
Spread thickly on hot somun, melted over ćevapi and grilled meat, or eaten with honey.
