The best Armenian cheeses and how to cook them. Cheese "Lori" Armenia, Dustr Marianna - "Lori! Oh yeah! More more! A wonderful cheese that I now buy all the time for various culinary purposes. ”A brief summary of the preparation of Armenian lori cheese

Armenian pickled cheese, which has a spicy, salty taste, sometimes with sourness. It is produced in the form of bars 28-30 cm long, 14-15 cm wide, 10-12 cm high, weighing 4-6 kg. It has a dense, brittle texture. Color - from white to pale yellow. Eyes of various sizes are scattered throughout the volume of the cheese body. Lori cheese does not have a rind.

Manufacturing

Lori is made from pasteurized cow's milk or a mixture of cow's and buffalo's milk. Milk is heated to a temperature of 33-34 degrees and rennet is added. When a cheese clot has formed, it is crushed into grains 8-10 mm in size. Then 30% of whey is drained and the mass is reheated to a temperature of 37-38 degrees. Then it is pressed and dried.

At the next stage, the cheese is cut into rectangular pieces and placed in molds lined with sickle. Lori spends 5-6 hours there, during which she gets rid of excess fluid under her own weight. During this process, it is periodically turned over. After that, the cheese is salted in saline at a temperature of 12-14 degrees for two weeks.

The cheese is dried for 1-2 days on wooden racks, and then packed in a polymer film. It is noteworthy that the maturation process of Lori takes place in the package and lasts about 45 days.

Armenian cheese is the same familiar dish on almost every Armenian table, just like bread is for a Russian. Cheeses have long and firmly entered the menu of the inhabitants of Armenia, that they have a saying: “The Armenian does not live by bread alone, but by cheese and bread.”
This is true, because the birthplace of almost all Caucasian cheeses is ancient Ayastan. The skill of ancient cheese makers spread far beyond the Caucasus and Armenian cheese has firmly won the hearts and stomachs of all Eurasian gourmets.
One lover of this dish put it this way about the product:

"Cheese is milk's leap into immortality."

There is nothing to object.

More than 20 types of cheeses are traditionally produced in Armenia. Several of them have become the visiting card of the republic. The rest are less popular, but no less original.

There are few popular varieties of Armenian cheeses, but all of them are real works of culinary art. The protein of fermented milk products is absorbed by the body much better than whole milk. The microflora of cheeses has a beneficial effect on the digestion process, stabilizes the bacterial environment of the gastrointestinal tract.

Chechil.

Chechil Armenian cheese, like other varieties, was once invented by Armenian shepherds who tried to stock up on milk for the winter. As always happens, experimenting in search of a solution, they got it, but in a completely unexpected form.
Chechil in his appearance stands out among his fellows. Its distinctive feature is the feedstock - cow's milk, to which rennet is added. Fermented milk is stretched into threads that are woven into pigtails. Such cheese lives up to its name, because it is translated as "tangled".
It is necessary to keep it in saline solution (the so-called "white" variety). It can be stored like this for up to several months, without deteriorating its taste.

Cheese with mold "Mklats panir".

Blue cheese became famous thanks to the French brand Roquefort. But the Armenian chechil with blue mold is known much earlier. To prepare this cheese, the finished chechil is placed in a vessel with a hole made in advance. Air promotes mold growth. The finished product acquires a sharpness and a specific aroma, strongly reminiscent of the famous French Roquefort.

Chanakh.

Chanakh cheese enjoys well-deserved love and popularity among Armenians. It got its name from the utensils in which it is cooked. The cheese mass is prepared in clay pots (vats) and salt solution. As ingredients, unripened white wine is used (a special microflora is transferred from it), natural honey and various fruit syrups (they improve fermentation). The cheese is hard, brittle, but not crumbly. To prepare this variety, special skill is required, because by violating the aging time, the product can be hopelessly spoiled.

Cheese Lori.

For Lori cheese, cow's milk is used, or half diluted with buffalo. The finished product is without a crust, has a salty taste with sour notes. The maturation process of Lori in a special brine lasts up to 50 days. Modern Lori matures in a special polymer film and is stored in it.

Khorats Paneer or Buried Cheese.

Prepared from matured sheep's cheese. Cheese is finely rubbed and, together with dried spices, tightly stuffed into ceramic pots. Sometimes they add a little butter. Cheese in tightly closed pots ripens in the ground for several months. It has an incredibly strong smell and amazing taste.

Goat cheese “Yeghegnadzor”.

It is prepared in specially prepared clay pots with the addition of herbs highlands. It matures within six months. It has a soft and crumbly texture. It tastes spicy-salty with a peculiar aroma. Served with greens, tomatoes, bread and, of course, white wine.

Cheese Motal.

Motal cheese - from a mixture of sheep and goat milk- differs in the way of aging. It is aged in goat skins for up to four months. Along with the French "Roquefort" and the Italian "Parmesan", it is recognized as one of the highest quality cheeses. Excellent with fresh herbs and bread.

Armenian cheese at home

European cuisine today is unthinkable without cheeses. Cheese is an outstanding feast egoist, but it perfectly complements any dish. Of particular value are cheeses made according to the "native" (aboriginal) technology. These include Armenian stamps.
Cheeses of Armenia, despite the abundance of progressive technologies, are still prepared according to old recipes. Take, for example, the Armenian Chechil cheese. It can be easily prepared at home. On one's own.

Chechil Armenian cheese recipe and its preparation.

Difficulties - a minimum. Maximum care and diligence. We will need:

• 4 liters of milk;
• rennet extract;
• saline solution.

Determine the density of the salt solution yourself - depending on what salinity you want to get the final product. Salt solution can be prepared from pressed whey.

1. Milk is slowly heated to a temperature of 37 ° C.
2. After dissolving the enzyme in a bowl with a small amount of milk, pour the contents of the bowl into a saucepan.
3. Thoroughly mix the contents and leave for 40 minutes to cool and ferment.
4. The thickened mass must be divided into several parts so that the whey comes out of it.
5. The thickened mass is thrown back on a sieve (covered with gauze) and left for one hour.
6. We place a dense circle of cheese in hot water.
7. We put on culinary gloves and patiently pull out the cheese strands.
8. Cheese threads must be placed in salted whey or brine for a day. There they harden and soak with salt.
9. The next day, the cheese is braided into the shape of braids.

Use in cooking

By themselves, cheese products are ready-made creations of gastronomy, but in the hands of skilled culinary specialists, they can give a real pleasure of taste.

Different types of cheeses are used in the preparation of the following types of products:
BREAD: "Panraats", Armenian pizza "Lamajo";
SOUPS: Cheese soup with Lori cheese;
SNACKS: Eggplants baked with cheese and garlic, lavash envelopes with cheese and herbs, fried in a pan; omelette with cheese (Armenian scrambled eggs);
SALADS: Tomato salad with chanakh cheese; vegetable salad with lentils, green beans and motal cheese.

I love cheese as much as a mouse. The refrigerator may not have sausage, butter ..., anything, but not cheese. But now such times have come that you cannot buy normal cheese within five hundred rubles per kg. I am convinced of this all the time. I am convinced and upset that once again the money is wasted and I have to forcefully eat tasteless fresh meat, and even disgustingly creaking on my teeth, like a rubber plate. Within this cost, either cheeses of their own trademarks chain stores (such as "Every Day" from Auchan, "Red Price" from Pyaterochka or "Prosto" from Perekrestok) or Belarusian economy class, and even for a promotion.

I love cheese, but I'm not ready to buy too expensive. Moreover, I doubt its freshness, because I don’t see people actively sorting it out in stores. In general, of course, I had to switch to the one that costs between 650-700 rubles. per kg, but purchases have become more rare, because now I don’t allow myself to just cut off a plump piece of cheese and savor it with a cup of sweet tea or coffee. Now I cut off a thin slice and only for a sandwich.

Forgive me for the protracted introduction, but this is to make it clear what joy I experienced when I bought Armenian Lori cheese in Auchan for the first time. Probably, it has been sold there for a long time, but for some reason I did not pay attention to the shelf with portioned cheeses in the factory vacuum packaging. And then, as if someone from above, more perspicacious, led me to this shelf and made my hand reach for this particular cheese.

At first I did not understand that it was cheese from Armenia, because what is printed in large print on the label did not indicate this in any way. Just interested in the unusual name. And picking up the package, I began to read the small text placed on both sides of the label. From what is written on the left, I found out where this cheese comes from. I was pleasantly surprised that both the legal and the actual address of the manufacturer absolutely coincide. That is, no confusion of traces. The address is indicated as detailed as possible and marked with the specifications of the Republic of Armenia, according to which Lori is made.

Ingredients are listed on the right side of the label. I didn’t find anything dubious and suspicious in it, except that pasteurized milk was used, and not fresh. And I also noticed that the fat content of cheese is 50%, and not 45%, like most cheeses.

An additional sticker was also pasted on the package, which indicated the dates of manufacture and expiration, as well as the weight of a particular piece.

Armenian Lori cheese of dense consistency, without holes. The color is correct, cheesy, uniform. It cuts easily even into thin slices. And you immediately feel that it is fatter than other cheeses.

And now for my joy.
But I don't even know how to convey the taste? In a word, such as "sour", "sweet", "bitter", etc., you can't designate it. It is a bit tart, slightly bitter, a subtle sweet note, moderately spicy. In general, Lori cheese has a peculiar, unique flavor bouquet. And at first it seems that he is a little stuffy. But it is so wonderfully combined with taste that then you can’t imagine that this smell can not be there.

I am literally addicted to this cheese. Sandwiches are now only with him. I also use it wherever you need to add grated cheese. It melts perfectly in the oven when baking any meat, easily mixes in salads and stuffing for stuffing vegetables. It adds an interesting spicy flavor to any dish.

But Lori's taste is very peculiar and I wouldn't be surprised if someone doesn't like it. But I definitely recommend buying it at least once. And then you will either reject him forever, or he will become your favorite. In Auchan, I buy it at a price of about 550 rubles. per kg, but in some other store I saw 675 rubles. per kg.