Brânză de burduf
Brânză de burduf is a salty Romanian cheese made with sheep's milk, sometimes buffalo. It has a strong flavor and a slightly soft texture, and it is packed into a sheep's stomach, a sheep's skin, or a tube of pine bark that leaves a piney taste.
Juliancoccia / CC BY-SA 4.0
Key Facts
| Country of Origin | Romania |
| Specific Origin | Bucegi Mountains, Southern Carpathians |
| Milk Type | Sheep's milk (Turcana and Tiggae sheep) |
| Milk Treatment | Raw |
| Rind | Natural |
| Texture | Soft to firm and slightly flaky |
| Flavor | Spicy, sharp |
| Aroma | Woody |
| Colors | Yellowish-white |
| Forms | Traditionally packed into a "bellows" made from a cleaned sheep’s skin or stomach, aged in fir-tree bark |
| Age | 3 weeks to 3 months |
| Rennet Type | Rennet |
| Also Known As | Brinza (Burduf Brinza), Brânză frământată |
What is Brânză de burduf Cheese?
Brânză de burduf, also called brânză frământată or kneaded cheese, is a Romanian cheese made with sheep's milk and occasionally buffalo milk. It belongs to the historical regions of Transylvania, Moldavia and Wallachia, and is traditionally found in the Rucăr area of the Rucăr-Bran Pass and in Sibiu County.
It begins with caş dospit, a sweet matured caş that resembles Emmental. The caş is cut into small pieces, salted, then mixed by hand in a large wooden bowl.
That salted mixture goes into a sheep's stomach, into a sheep's skin that has been carefully cleaned and sawed on the edges, or into a tube made of pine bark.
The result is salty, strong in flavor and slightly soft. Bark-packed cheese takes on a pine resin flavor with a faint piney bitterness.
It keeps a long time. Cheese left in a sheep's stomach or skin can still be eaten after long storage. Named assortments vary by area, from brânză în coajă de brad in the traditional cheese region of Rucăr to the softer, fattier supermarket versions sold under names like Brânză Dorna.
How Does Brânză de burduf Cheese Compare?
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