All the benefits are in feta cheese: why does the whole world love Romanian cheese?

How is it different from feta cheese?

Brynza is a pickled cheese made from different types of milk. In most cases, sheep, goat, and less often cow products are used. It has a uniform consistency, dense structure and salty taste.

Feta is a Greek semi-solid variety. To make it, a milk mixture of sheep and goat milk is used. The cheese has a uniform white color and looks like pressed cottage cheese.

Externally, the two products have similar characteristics. Feta, like feta cheese, is often used in salads. The most famous dish with such cheeses is Greek salad.

External similarity is not a decisive factor - cheeses have many significant differences.

In European countries, only a product from Greece, prepared according to a special recipe, is called feta. Brynza comes from Romania and has nothing in common with the feta recipe. They have different shades - depending on the recipe and additives, feta cheese often has a cloudy tint. It is hard but brittle, but feta must have a creamy texture - it is difficult to cut into thin pieces.

Both products are useful, but different technologies are used for their production and storage. Greek cheese contains acid and is left in brine to preserve flavor - it has a shelf life of several weeks to a year. Brynza can be stored in any convenient way.

Tips and secrets of experts

The advantage is that cheese at home has a completely different taste. This is also the confidence that it is made from natural products. In the city, cheese is prepared according to adapted recipes.

Real cheese is made from a mixture of sheep and goat milk, but it can be difficult to find in the city. Therefore, natural high-fat cow's milk is quite suitable. It can be purchased at the market or in a store if the quality is not in doubt.

How is feta cheese healthy and what is its advantage over other types of cheese? First of all, it is a source of milk protein and calcium. They are necessary to strengthen the musculoskeletal system.

The relatively small amount of fat and high protein content compared to other cheeses makes feta cheese an important part of a balanced diet for weight loss. Regular consumption of cheese:

• improves the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract;
• joint mobility;
• smoothes wrinkles;
• removes bad breath.

Cheese contains large amounts of vitamins and minerals, especially potassium, calcium and fluoride. Brynza at home is an important component of Caucasian, Romanian, Bulgarian, and Moldavian cuisine. It is added to salads, as a filling for pies or dumplings.

This cheese is used as an appetizer or a separate dish. When serving feta cheese as a side dish, serve it with:

• fried eggplants or onions;
• boiled potatoes with butter or hominy;
• in some cases, just fresh bread.

general characteristics

Romanian cheese is popular all over the world. It is made with the addition of various herbs and used for preparing salads and snacks. The product tastes salty. It has a moderately dense consistency.

Unlike cottage cheese, such a solid mass must be juicy, so it is often stored in brine. The product has a distinct sour milk smell.

During preparation, briquettes, similar to compressed cottage cheese, retain all the beneficial properties of dairy products. They are not amenable to heat treatment.

After soaking, the mixture must settle - such a splash cannot be used. After 2-3 months it is ready.

Due to its origin, the traditional product is made from goat's milk. Sheep cheese has a denser texture. Its taste is salty and before use the briquette is soaked in ordinary water.

Cow's cheese is a product modified according to the recipe. It is popular in European countries. This cheese has a uniform structure and a sweet taste.

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Main properties: benefits and harms

The fermented milk product is known for its beneficial properties. It has a balanced composition. Cheese is low in fat and high in protein.

Due to the high content of phosphorus and calcium, the product is useful at any age. Brynza is recommended to be consumed in the diet of patients with osteoporosis and rickets.

The product is consumed in large quantities after fractures. Cheese cheese is good for pregnant women and its components have a beneficial effect on the developing fetus.

Additional benefits of fermented milk product:

• it contains bacteria beneficial to the intestines;
• amino acids and B vitamins help restore metabolic processes;
• the product is good for the kidneys, nervous system and pancreas.

The complex effect of all components is used in the treatment of skin diseases. Rashes, acne and even psoriasis are not independent diseases, and largely depend on the condition of the gastrointestinal tract. The product without animal protein is suitable for vegetarians.

The cheese manages to preserve microorganisms beneficial to the intestines, but not everyone recommends feta cheese as a must-eat product. It contains a large amount of salt - it retains moisture in the body.

For people with chronic heart disease, this product is dangerous even in small quantities. It is excluded from the diet of people with diseases of the urinary system.

Composition and fat content

The hard, salty mass has a balanced and varied composition. This type of cheese contains a daily dose of calcium necessary for the proper functioning of the body.

One prepared fermented milk briquette contains vitamins A, B, C and E. The cheese product contains minerals:

• calcium;
• fluorine;
• potassium.

The calorie content of a briquette prepared according to the classic recipe is 260 kcal, so feta cheese is recommended for people following a moderate healthy diet.

Certain types of cheese have a reduced calorie content - the lowest is about 160 kcal.

The nutritional value of a product is determined by its balanced composition. With a calorie content of 260 kcal, 100 g of mass contains 21 g of protein, 19 g of fat, 0.3 g of carbohydrates and 2 g of organic acids.

The proportion of water in the finished product does not exceed 50-53 g. 100 g of product contains 11 g of saturated acids, 75 mg of cholesterol and 0.3 g of monosaccharides.

Classic goat's milk cheese

If you manage to buy goat milk, the cheese made from it will taste more like the authentic product. It is made according to traditional national recipes from goat milk. It is unique in its composition. It contains a lot of casein, a protein that is well absorbed by our body.

The recipe for homemade cheese from goats' milk is easy to prepare. To do this you will need:

• 2 l. goat milk;
• 0.5 kg thick sour cream;
• 6 raw eggs;
• 2 tbsp. salt without top.

It’s easy to prepare cheese:

1. Pour milk with salt into a deep saucepan and bring to a boil.
2. Beat the eggs with a fork and after the milk boils, pour the eggs into the liquid in a thin stream, stirring constantly with a whisk or wooden spoon. Add sour cream in the same way.
3. Boil the resulting mixture over low heat for about 5 minutes, at which time the mass will begin to curdle and form a lump of cheese on the surface.
4. Pour the mixture into a colander covered with a damp cloth and allow the whey to drain. Place the cheese under pressure in a cool place for 5–6 hours.

How is it made?

Brynza is made at home and in production. For its preparation, only pasteurized mixtures or selected milk are used.

Unpasteurized milk is used less frequently and only in small factories. In this case, the product requires mandatory aging for up to 2 months.

Mandatory conditions for milk to prepare cheese under production conditions:

• milk acidity is not less than 18 °T;
• dilution of cow's milk with sheep's milk;
• additives to stabilize the product;
• bacterial starter additive – it consists of beneficial lactic acid bacteria;
• adding a special starter to thicken the product.

A clot is formed from the workpiece. It stands out against the background of the serum. The mass is kneaded in several approaches for 2-3 minutes.

The product is then reheated. After this, the mass is sent to a mold for further pressing. The total pressing time of the mass is 3 hours.

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The pressed product is salted in brine at a temperature not exceeding 12 °C for up to 5 days. After impregnation, the briquette is sent to barrels, where it is added salt and stored.

Types and their characteristics

The product has a standard recipe and only a few varieties - they differ in taste, color of the briquette or its consistency. The most popular types of cheese in the world are Armenian, Georgian, Moldavian and soy.

The Armenian product is prepared without additives and has a lightly salted taste. Georgian cheese is made only from goat or sheep milk with the addition of pepsin.

The Moldovan product is characterized by increased airiness. Soy cheese is made without the addition of animal ingredients.

How to make it at home?

The homemade product is not only tasty, but also very healthy. To prepare it, it is important to follow successive steps. The basis of the product is milk, selected according to all quality indicators.

Healthy cheese at home is made from fresh milk, homemade starter and left to settle in prepared brine.

Step-by-step instructions on how to make a homemade product:

1. Leaven. To prepare feta cheese, sour cream or ready-made sourdough is used. This product is natural and contains the most important bacterial component for clot formation. With its help, the milk base quickly and correctly sours, forming a solid mass. To make salted cheese, several types of starter cultures are used - with activation in milk or with the addition of starter culture to the finished product. Purchased sourdough is available in two forms - liquid and dry.
2. Brine. The finished mixture is placed in brine. It extends the shelf life of the product and allows you to preserve its unique taste. For short-term storage, whey is used - it remains after the first stages of preparation. Add salt to the remaining liquid.
3. Form. The classic version of salted cheese is round. To form the mass, any form made of plastic or metal is used.

The recipe and quantity of ingredients depends on tastes and preferences - you can prepare sweet and salty cheese at home.

How to remove excess salt?

The finished briquette containing too much salt is thoroughly soaked. It is taken out of the brine and placed in a vessel filled with ordinary purified water. The briquette is kept in water until its taste becomes less salty - the water is changed every 2 hours.

Milk is sometimes used instead of water. As a result of such soaking, the cheese not only loses salt, but also becomes denser.

The third option is to pour boiling water over the cheese and leave it in the water until it cools. As a result of this procedure, the cheese loses its salt, but also its original shape. The briquette gets wet and becomes less dense.

Recipes

For the first preparation, the simplest recipe is suitable. As a preparation, choose 2 liters of fresh milk of medium fat content. Additionally, sour cream is used - up to 500 g and 5-6 medium chicken eggs.

Salt is added to taste - the average proportion is 1 tbsp. spoon.

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To prepare homemade cheese, cookware with non-stick coating is used. Milk is poured into it. It is brought to a boil over low heat.

Add separately beaten eggs, sour cream and salt to the hot mixture. The mixture is thoroughly mixed - the container remains on the fire all the time.

The mixture is boiled for 10 minutes. In the process of heating it, whey and solid mass will separate. The plastic mixture is transferred to the prepared form - after passing it through a colander.

A press is placed on top of the mixture. It sits for 2 hours. The finished cheese is placed in brine for further storage.

Bryndza recipes

Before making homemade cheese, you need to choose milk. It is unlikely that it will be possible to find sheep or goat, so they are content with cow, purchasing from farmers. These raw materials were not subjected to aggressive pasteurization and retained their beneficial properties. Disinfection is carried out at home - heated, without boiling, to approximately 75 ° C (in the oven), and then cooled by placing on ice or lowering the pan into cold water.

Then the prepared raw materials are heated to approximately 38°C, the starter is added, and stirred until the milk separates. When the whey sinks down and the calle rises to the surface, it can be broken into several parts to more thoroughly separate the liquid.

A colander or sieve is covered with gauze folded in several layers, or with a special cheese cloth, the cheese mass is transferred, and the water is allowed to drain. Connect the edges without tying a knot. At this stage it is enough to separate part of the whey. Place the cloth with the cottage cheese on the table, form the heads, tie them with gauze (serpyanka), set the pressure by placing a cutting board or a lid turned upside down. Leave for 2-3 hours.

Then the fabric is removed and the surface of the heads is rubbed with salt. If you want to make the cheese saltier, it is dipped in 9% brine and left for 2-3 days in the refrigerator, denser - in 14% concentrate and kept for 2-3 weeks. Homemade cheese that has not been put into brine is best eaten within 2-3 days. The one that has been kept does not deteriorate the entire time it is stored in brine. You can watch how cheese is made in the video.

Attention!

You can even make sweet cheese at home, with the addition of berries or fruits. The expiration date of the experimental product is no longer than 24 hours.

Classic cheese recipe

To prepare cheese according to this recipe, you must purchase a food kit in advance:

• pasteurized milk - 3 l;
• 9% vinegar - 3 tbsp. l.;
• salt - 1-2 tbsp. l., not iodized, 1 tbsp. l. rock salt and 0.5 tbsp. l. - sea.

The recipe for milk cheese is very simple:

1. The starting material is heated almost to a boil, vinegar is poured in and sea salt is added.
2. Stir until the calle is formed, break it, stir again until it is re-formed. At this time, you can increase the flame for a few seconds so that the serum comes out more intensely.
3. Line a colander with a cloth, spoon out the curd mass, tie the ends in a knot and hang to separate the liquid.
4. Form a head or bar and rub the surface with salt. Wrap the cheese in gauze—it’s better to use dry cheese—put it on a tray, and place pressure on top. Leave for 1-1.5 hours at room temperature, the liquid is periodically drained.

Using this recipe for homemade cheese, you don’t need to wait until it ripens. You can taste it right away. If storage was planned, the whey remaining after the curd mass is not drained. The finished product is stored in it. You can add salt.

With kefir and sour cream

The cooking processes are no different from those needed to cook cheese according to the classic recipe. But the food set is different.

Ingredients:

• 3 liters of milk;
• 9 eggs;
• 0.1 kg salt;
• 300 g kefir;
• 600 ml sour cream.

While the milk is heating up, beat the eggs with 2 tbsp. l. salt., add sour cream and kefir to them. This mixture will be the starter for homemade cheese. When the milk is heated so that small bubbles appear, but has not yet risen in the pan, pour the mashed mixture into it, stirring constantly to obtain a homogeneous mixture. When the whey acquires a greenish tint, it can be strained. The heads are formed as in the recipe with vinegar, rub the surface with salt, and apply pressure.

Attention!

To speed up fermentation, use calcium chloride 10%. Ratio: 1 ampoule of 10 ml per 8 liters of whole milk.

Cottage cheese cheese

To understand how to make cheese, it is better to find a recipe with a photo. The cooking algorithm differs from the classic one. In addition, to form the heads, you need molds. If there are few raw materials, you can make cheese in a colander.

Product set:

• 1.5 liters of milk;
• 1.5 kg of cottage cheese;
• 160 g butter;
• 20 g salt;
• 10 g baking soda.

Boil the milk together with the curd until the whey separates. No salt is added. It is advisable to add calcium chloride - 1/5 of the ampoule. Heat a thick, deep frying pan and melt the butter over low heat. The curd mass is transferred; the whey is not carefully separated. Add salt and baking soda, boil over low heat, stirring all the time so as not to burn, until a homogeneous mass is obtained. This process usually takes 10 minutes. The homogeneous mixture is transferred to a mold or colander lined with gauze, compacted, and wrapped. If the whey separates, it is discarded. Future heads are placed in the refrigerator for 3-6 hours to harden. Once this has happened, you can taste it. If the cheese seems fresh, rub coarse salt into the surface of the heads before putting them in the refrigerator.

Recipe with pepsin

This is one of the enzymes in gastric juice. In the human body, it is responsible for the transformation and absorption of proteins. It is produced from the rennet casing of adult cattle. In industrial production, it is added when preparing cheese and cottage cheese to make the texture more delicate. You can buy pepsin in a supermarket, pharmacy or order online.

Product set:

• milk, fat content not less than 3.5%;
• pepsin - on the tip of a knife;
• salt - 1 tbsp. l.;
• water - 1 l.

Milk is heated to 30°C, pepsin is dissolved in a small amount of water, poured into the heated raw material, stirring continuously. Wait until the calla forms and the whey separates. Allow the curd mass to cool and place in a sieve lined with gauze. Then the heads are formed, wrapped in fabric, and pressure is applied. While the whey is separated, dissolve the salt in water, heat it to 18-24°C, and lower the compacted cheese. Place in the refrigerator for 4-8 hours, or overnight. The longer the aging, the saltier the cheese.

Diet recipe

On average, the calorie content of homemade cheese is 190-250 kcal per 100 g. For those who want to lose weight, it is better to use whey as a starting material - then the nutritional value of the product will be less than 100 kcal per 100 g.

Minimum set of ingredients:

• 3-4 l of whey;
• 1-2 tbsp. l. apple cider vinegar;
• a little salt.

Heat the raw material to 90°C, turn off the heat, pour in vinegar (you can add 1/3 of an ampoule of calcium chloride), mix the contents well. Cover the pan with a lid, insulate it, wrap it in a blanket, and set it aside. Cooking begins no earlier than after 8-10 hours.

Cover the sieve with gauze folded in several layers, strain the whey, and tie the ends into a knot. It is suspended so that the liquid completely drains. After 3-4 hours, the heads are formed by adding a little salt. Place them in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours. Yield: 80-100 g of cheese from 1 liter of whey.

Attention!

Instead of salt, you can add berries, raisins, and chopped dried fruits to the curd mass for dietary cheese. The latter need to be steamed first.

Recipe with citric acid

The most delicious cheese is made from goat's milk. If you manage to purchase it, it is better to use citric acid as a starter - the raw material will not sour for a long time, and you will have to wait a long time when adding sour cream or kefir.

Ingredients:

• milk - 2.5-3 l;
• citric acid - 1 tsp;
• salt - 1.5 tsp;
• water - 0.25 cups;
• spices - paprika, turmeric, dried garlic - to taste.

Dissolve citric acid in water and pour into hot, almost boiling milk. The curd mass is thrown onto a sieve lined with cotton cloth and the whey is allowed to drain. When forming the head, add spices and some salt, and rub the rest on the surface. Leave for 2-3 hours under pressure, put in the refrigerator. If long-term storage is planned, do not add salt to the surface of the cheese. The cheese is placed in 9% brine and put in the refrigerator.

Use in cooking

Brynza is famous for its simple but refined taste. It is served with main courses or fresh salads.

Cheese is used to prepare a rich filling for pies or pies. The product is added to porridges and soups.

Some cultures have dishes with feta cheese baked in foil or baked bread with the addition of a unique fermented milk product.

How to eat it, what to pair it with and how to serve it?

Brynza goes well with other cheeses, vegetables and meat products. Its taste is in harmony with porridge and bread.

Cheese is consumed both as a separate snack and as part of a dish. Due to its structure, cheese can be cut into any shape and size. It is easy to grate or serve in large pieces in salads with vegetables.

Bryndza analogues: what can be replaced with

The main analogue of feta cheese is feta due to its external similarity and similar taste. A mixture of feta and cottage cheese also allows you to replace salty cheese. Another cream cheese that can replace feta cheese is almette.

How to properly store cheese?

Homemade cheese is stored for a long time, but it is better not to leave a purchased briquette for a long period, even in brine. Storing the salty mass directly depends on its composition - homemade cheese is a better option in this regard.

The duration of the sale of the purchased mass depends on its production. It cannot be extended.

Over time, the taste of the mass stored not in whey, but in ordinary brine, deteriorates. The temperature for proper storage of briquettes is from 1 to 5 °C.

Storage in the freezer is not allowed: the taste of the stored product will deteriorate.

If feta cheese is purchased without brine, it is prepared at home. Pour clean water into the container and add salt. The best option is a brine of 18-20% strength.

The prepared liquid is poured into the cheese briquette. Cheese cheese is stored only in glass containers.

To avoid souring of the brine, it is changed periodically - at least once a month. Gradually the brine is made weaker, bringing its concentration to 15%.