Chechil (cheese). Smoked cheese "pigtail". Caucasian diet cheese

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

Tight braids, woven from elastic cheese mass, rightfully lie on store shelves next to other cheeses. Chechil is a pickled cheese, the brother of Suluguni, but it has its own individual delicate taste. Its history is interesting: cheese is produced in the Caucasus by hand, the threads are stretched to the thickness of a hair. It harmoniously goes with wine and beer, decorates a sandwich or salad, adds spice to a rich plate of cheese slices with its appearance. This is the national Armenian cheese.

What is

Chechil (cheese) looks like fibrous balls or braided pigtails. It is simply tied into a bundle and thanks to this, all the nutritious juices and natural, natural properties of high-quality dairy raw materials are preserved. Chechil ripens in a s alt solution, it is a pickled cheese, therefore it is watery and s alty. Its name means "tangled" in translation. This cheese differs from its close relative, suluguni, in that it has an increased layering and a pronounced sour-milk taste. Available in many varieties.

In addition to the pigtail, it comes in the form of balls, noodles, straws, ropes, spaghetti. Very often this cheese is smoked, adding piquancy to it. Beer lovers liked this transformation of fibrous cheese very much: the s alty and dry product is indispensable as an addition to your favorite drink.

How it is produced

Chechil (cheese) is made from fresh pasteurized low-fat cow's milk, fermented with rennet, which is of animal origin. First, the milk is heated to 32 degrees, then pepsin is added. A clot forms, after which the fermented milk mixture is well mixed and heated to 60 degrees. The resulting flakes are separated from the whey, s alted hard and laid out in the sun. Then they are manually stretched in the form of threads, wound into five-kilogram balls or braided immediately into braids. Until fully ripened, they are stored in saline for almost a month.

Seventy-five days - the maximum period during which the cheese is on sale. After all, this is a "live" product, without any preservatives, it is subject to oxidation and deteriorates very quickly. Karan Abrahamyan received the right to manufacture "pigtails" from chechil. He is in charge of the cheese-making workshop at the training center of the Agrarian University of Kyiv. He has a patent for an invention, a certificate for an industrial design.

Benefit

Chechil (cheese) has a low fat content - up to 10%, for this reason it is classified as a dietary product. Due to its low fat content, it is used in various diets. For example, there is the Protasov diet, which is based on the use of raw vegetables and products made from milk, low fat. In chechile at the same timecontains a lot of moisture - up to 60%, s alt - 4-8%. Pickled cheese is a truly he althy product, as it is rich in vitamins and calcium. The energy value is from 290 to 340 kcal per hundred grams of cheese.

Interesting facts

If chechil is cooked properly, its fibers are pulled through the eyes of the needle. In this way, the cheese is checked for quality. If raw materials of inadequate quality or the hand of a non-professional touches the production of cheese, chechil will not work. The cost of the product is 350 rubles per kilogram. The price is considerable, but not to say that it is too high for such a tasty product. A wide variety of snacks are prepared from it, it is also added to salads, soups.

This kind of cheese in the Caucasus is eaten fresh, washed down with delicious homemade wine. Fried chechil is also often prepared. For this purpose, smoked fibers are cut horizontally and placed on a heated frying pan. When a golden appetizing crust appears, they are turned over and fried on the other side. Such a savory snack is very fragrant and has a special tenderness. What is the best food for beer lovers? Chechil cheese, the price of which is quite acceptable, although sometimes it reaches 500 rubles.

Smoked product

This cheese is made using an unusual production technology: it is melted at the very beginning and only then other manipulations are performed. Smoked "pigtails" have an unusual taste and high juiciness. Such a chechil does not have its original smell, it is the same as that of other varieties. But the taste is different: it stands out with smoked notes andmild sharpness. This product may be yellow or beige, depending on the manufacturing process.

Smoked pigtail cheese is made from fresh goat or sheep milk. The fermentation of the liquid is carried out in a natural way: first, the milk is slightly heated and mixed with rennet and a special starter culture. It takes ten minutes to curd the cheese, then it is reheated to form flakes. At this point, they make eight-millimeter strips.

Then they are taken out and cut into certain ribbons, and braids are already woven from them. Then, until fully ripe, they are placed in a vat of brine. A mature chechil is sent to certain cells. There he smokes. 5-10% - fat content of the finished product. When choosing a smoked "pigtail", look at its color. Do not take Chechil with a bright yellow color, as this indicates the use of chemical dyes. Look at the composition of the product. Cheese is natural if the list contains the fewest ingredients.

Chechil (cheese): cooking recipe

You can produce your own product and then sell it on the market. From 10 liters of milk, a liter of sour cream and eight liters of whey, you can get one kilogram of cheese. For cooking, you need five liters of goat and cow milk. It is poured into the separator for the purpose of degreasing. Then the mixture is heated to 40 degrees, rennet is added. The mixture is kept in a water bath for 60 minutes.

Formationclots, the mixture is heated to 52-54 degrees and mixed clockwise for 15 minutes until "pigtails" are formed. The cheese mass can be compressed manually. The resulting pigtails should be hung on the paving stones. When the cheese has cooled, it is s alted. Quality is determined by cutting lengthwise - thin threads that do not break should be obtained. The cheese, tied into skeins, is washed in cold water, then placed in brine, where it ripens.