Carved smoked sheep-milk cheese pressed in wooden moulds at mountain salaš huts. Slovenský oštiepok won EU protection in 2008, and the carved relief on each one is the mark of the hut that made it.
It is a PGI made in registered mountain huts during the grazing season, and the smoking happens in the roof of the hut over an open fire.
What goes into it
- sheep’s milk, often with cow’s milk
- rennet
- brine
- spruce smoke
How it is made
The milk is set with rennet at the salaš, the curd broken, scalded and kneaded until it stretches, then pressed into a carved wooden mould. The cheeses are brined for a day or two and then hung in the roof of the hut above the fire, where spruce smoke cures and colours them over one to two weeks.
How long it takes: two weeks from milk to smoked cheese
How it is eaten
Sliced with bread and onion, grilled, or shaved into halušky.
History
Smoked sheep cheese pressed in carved wooden moulds at mountain salaš huts; Slovenský oštiepok won EU protection in 2008.
Frequently asked questions
What is Oštiepok?
Oštiepok is a cheese & dairy from Slovakia: carved smoked sheep-milk cheese from shepherd huts. Smoked sheep cheese pressed in carved wooden moulds at mountain salaš huts; Slovenský oštiepok won EU protection in 2008.
How is Oštiepok made?
The milk is set with rennet at the salaš, the curd broken, scalded and kneaded until it stretches, then pressed into a carved wooden mould. The cheeses are brined for a day or two and then hung in the roof of the hut above the fire, where spruce smoke cures and colours them over one to two weeks. It takes two weeks from milk to smoked cheese.
Can I make Oštiepok at home?
No, and the atlas gives no method for it. It is a PGI made in registered mountain huts during the grazing season, and the smoking happens in the roof of the hut over an open fire.
What goes into Oštiepok?
Sheep’s milk, often with cow’s milk, rennet, brine, spruce smoke.
How is Oštiepok eaten?
Sliced with bread and onion, grilled, or shaved into halušky.
