Kraški ovčji sir

What is Kraški ovčji sir Cheese?

Kraški ovčji sir comes from the Karst, a Slovenian region where Mediterranean and continental weather meet. Fog is almost unknown there, and the steady, sometimes gusty wind keeps the air very dry. Sheep farming in the wider Karst area goes back several centuries.

Some farms kept only 5 to 15 sheep, but the region also had breeders with flocks of 200 head or more, who drove their animals to winter pasture in Istria and Friuli. Cheese from the Karst traveled the trade roads to the Vipava Valley, Trieste, Gorizia and Rijeka.

The cheese is made from raw sheep's milk on individual Karst farms. Ripening runs 60 to 90 days and can stretch to a year. Locals do not talk about ripening the cheese; they say they are drying it. The cheese carries the European protected designation of origin mark and Slovenia's national quality symbol.

Wheels are round, 9 to 10 cm (3.5 to 4 in) high and 20 to 26 cm (8 to 10 in) across, weighing 2.5 to 5 kg (5.5 to 11 lb) depending on size. The rind is smooth, firm and gray brown, with a slightly convex side and rounded edges. Inside, the paste is gray beige with small eyes the size of a lentil. It is aromatic, and the taste is full to slightly piquant, typical of a classically ripened sheep cheese.

It grates and slices well. Production is small and the cheese is popular with buyers across the Italian border, so you can buy it almost only at the farms that make it, or now and then at local events.