Sheep and goats of native breeds provide milk rich in nutrients as a raw material for traditional products, which are often available in limited quantities and only in a specific region. Regional food is becoming increasingly popular among consumers because products made according to traditional home-made recipes are perceived as tasty, original, and healthy.
On the List of Traditional Products maintained by the Polish Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, there are over 1,900 items, including 120 dairy products, among which the most numerous are cheeses made from goat milk and traditional products of mountain sheep farming.
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Podhale Zackel sheep
Native breeds of sheep in the Polish Carpathians (Polish Mountain Sheep, Podhale Zackel, Coloured Mountain Sheep) are very well adapted to the local environmental conditions, undemanding in feed and highly resistant to adverse living conditions. They play an important role in rural tourism as a component of landscape, folk culture and supplier of many valuable products. To save local breeds from extinction and preserve valuable characteristics in the population they were included in the sheep genetic resources conservation program, while the national agri-environmental program provides breeders with financial support.
Podhale Zackels accompanied man during the period when the wild Carpathian areas were being settled and became a permanent feature of the highlander economy and culture. Coloured Mountain Sheep were kept by mountaineers due to the dark hue of their wool and skin, used to produce regional dresses and decorative elements.
Mountain breeds are a multipurpose sheep. They give milk for production of traditional products (oscypek, bundz, bryndza, redykolka, żentyca), wool and delicious meat. Podhale Lamb, derived from mountain sheep, gained the status of Protected Geographical Indication.
The production process of bundz (pronounced bundza) in the first phase looks the same as the production of oscypek. The milk poured into the “putara” is hagged, which means that the protein is truncated by enzymes contained in rennet, extracted from the stomachs of young calves. The resulting cheese curd is then brewed for a few minutes at a temperature of about 70 ° C. The cheese is strained on the canvas in the form of large lumps. A mild cheese is obtained.
Oscypek is a smoked cheese made of salted sheep milk exclusively in the Tatra Mountains region of Poland. Oscypek is made by an expert named a “baca” (the shepherds occupy hut called a “bacowka” [Eng. shepherd’s hut] where they also make the cheese), a term also denoting a sheep shepherd in the mountains. The cheese is a traditional holiday cheese in some European countries and is often pan fried and served with cranberry jam on the side.
Oscypek needs to be made from at least 60% sheep’s milk, and must weigh between 60 and 80g and measure between 17 and 23cm. It can only be produced between late April to early October, when the sheep used is fed on fresh mountain grass.
Oscypek is made using salted sheep’s milk, with the addition of cow’s milk strictly regulated by the protected recipe. Unpasteurized salted sheep’s milk is first turned into cottage cheese, which is then repeatedly rinsed with boiling water and squeezed. After this, the mass is pressed into wooden, spindle-shaped forms in decorative shapes. The forms are then placed in a brine-filled barrel for a night or two, after which they are placed close to the roof in a special wooden hut and cured in hot smoke for up to 14 days.
The first mention of cheese production in the Tatra Mountains dates back to the 15th century, in a document from the village of Ochotnica in 1416. The first recorded recipe for Oscypek was issued in 1748 in the Żywiec area. There is also a smaller form called redykołka, known as the ‘younger sister’ of oscypek.
Since 14th of February 2008 Oscypek has been registered under the European Union Protected Designation of Origin (PDO)
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Carpathian goat (Koza Karpacka)
The Koza Karpacka, an old Polish breed, is raised only in the Carpathian Highlands, where it also comes from. The Carpathian goat is a breed developed in the 19th century in the Carpathian Mountains of Poland. The breed was once widely found. However, due to the introduction of more distinguished goats and changes in agriculture, it became almost extinct. It was only in 2005 that a tiny herd of Carpathian goats was spotted in Poland, and they were instantly moved to the National Research Institute of Animal Production. A conservation and recovery plan was developed from 2007 to 2013. In 2012, there were only 40 females registered. Nowadays, the number of these animals is still low and its risk of extinction is high.
The animals are medium sized, white in color, and have coarse hair with beards and long, narrow ears. Their horns are thin and grow in an upward and backward direction. Both male and female come with a distinct fringe right around the eyes. It has a well-built trunk and hindquarter that slopes. Adult males weigh on average 52 kg and females 42 kg with an average height of 60 cm and 50 cm respectively. The animals are very hardy and are extremely well adapted to live under severe highland conditions, having dense, long hair as well as some underfur. Carpathian goats are kept mainly for milk production.
Source: https://www.fondazioneslowfood.com/en/ark-of-taste-slow-food/carpathian-goat/
Additional information
European Regional Conference on Goats: https://www.iga-goatworld.com/uploads/6/1/6/2/6162024/03_grosu_h_romania_09.04.2014.pdf
The difference between bundz and bryndza (in more detail)
Bundz – sheep’s rennet cheese, it is the first product made of clotted milk right after milking.
Rennet is added to warm milk which causes the cheese curd to shear and precipitate. Bundz is mild and delicate in taste, and can be cut and eaten like cottage cheese. The most delicious is the fresh so-called “Sweet” bundz (sweet made of natural lactose contained in milk), but you can also lightly salt it and leave it uncovered for several days in a refrigerator or at home temperature, then it becomes sour and matures – characteristic holes appear on the cross-section. Ripe bundz, sliced and seasoned with a little salt, is perfect for a snack or for sandwiches. Above all, however, mature bundz is transformed into bryndza.
Bryndza – bundz left for several days in a refrigerator or at home temperature becomes sour and matures – characteristic holes appear on the cross-section. The mature cheese is crushed, then ground and salted – this is how bryndza is made – it is a rennet cheese characteristic of the entire Carpathians. The name “bryndza” comes from the Wallachian word “branza”, and the very method of making cheese reached Poland together with Wallachian shepherds who traveled with sheep along the Carpathian Mountains.
The rich tradition of bryndza production and the great importance of this cheese are evidenced by references in literature, landowners’ orders and royal orders. The oldest records about bryndza date back to the 16th year and say that bryndza was used as a means of payment or tribute. It would not have gained this fame if not for the exceptional skills passed down from generation to generation by shepherds. The production of sheep cheeses was an indispensable element accompanying sheep grazing throughout the Carpathians for centuries. The shepherds who went with their sheep to the mountains (to the pastures) spent several months there. At that time, they actually ate only sheep’s milk and its products. The tradition and method of producing bryndza have not changed for years.
