Ingredients
Cheese
- 6 litreswhole milk
- ¼ tspcalcium chloride in 2 tbsp water, if using shop milk
- ½ tspliquid rennet in 50 ml cool water
- 1 tbspfine salt
To serve
- oil or butter, for frying
- bread and spring onions
Directions
- Warm the milk to 32°C (90°F) and stir in the calcium chloride if it is pasteurised shop milk.
- Stir in the diluted rennet, stop the milk moving and leave undisturbed for 40 minutes, until it gives a clean break.
- Cut the curd into 1.5 cm cubes and rest 10 minutes.
- Now raise the temperature slowly to 42°C (108°F) over about 20 minutes, stirring gently throughout. This scalding is what makes škripavac squeak: it drives moisture out of the curd and tightens the protein so it resists the teeth rather than yielding.
- Drain the whey, work the salt through the curd, and pack it into a muslin-lined mould.
- Press under a 4 kg weight for three hours, turning once. It should come out firm and dry-surfaced.
- Eat within a few days. Serve in slabs with bread and spring onions, or fry in a hot pan until browned on both sides — it holds its shape completely.
Technique
- The squeak comes from the scald. Skip it or stop short of 42°C (108°F) and you have a pleasant soft cheese with no squeak at all, which is not this cheese.
- Raise the temperature slowly. Curd heated fast forms a skin and traps whey inside, which leaves it soft in the middle.
- It loses its squeak after three or four days in the fridge, which is why Lika households ate it fresh.
Substitutions
- Vegetarian microbial rennet.
- A blend with sheep’s milk, which is what upland households would have had in summer.
Variations
- Grilled over embers in slabs until it blisters.
- Left in brine for a week it firms and salts, becoming a keeping cheese rather than a fresh one.
History
A fresh cow’s cheese of the Lika highlands whose name means squeaky; shepherd families made it and ate it within days.
Frequently asked questions
What is Škripavac?
Škripavac is a cheese & dairy from Croatia: young Lika cheese that squeaks against the teeth, often fried. A fresh cow’s cheese of the Lika highlands whose name means squeaky; shepherd families made it and ate it within days.
How long does Škripavac take to make?
Škripavac takes 40 min plus 3 hours pressing of preparation and 25 min of cooking. The recipe makes makes about 700 g. It is rated medium to make.
What can I substitute in Škripavac?
Yes, within limits. Vegetarian microbial rennet. A blend with sheep’s milk, which is what upland households would have had in summer.
What is the most important thing to get right in Škripavac?
Now raise the temperature slowly to 42°C (108°F) over about 20 minutes, stirring gently throughout. This scalding is what makes škripavac squeak: it drives moisture out of the curd and tightens the protein so it resists the teeth rather than yielding.
