Oscypek is a traditional smoked Polish cheese made from unpasteurized mountain sheep’s milk in the Tatra Mountains. It is handmade on small local farms and sold seasonally without packaging or label. The cheese-making process takes place in huts called basutzka, and finished cheeses are smoked and have a smoky chestnut flavor. In 2008, oscypek was granted European Union Protected Designation of Origin status.
Oscypek is a type of smoked Polish cheese that is traditionally made only in the Tatra Mountains. Handmade with unpasteurized mountain sheep’s milk on small local farms, the tradition of making this cheese has remained largely the same since the 14th century. Sold seasonally without packaging or label, oscypek is found almost exclusively in local markets.
As of 2004, there were only 102 farms producing 224 tons of this cheese. The cheese is made in huts, called basutzka, which have permanently burning fires and are kept exceptionally clean. All stages of the cheese-making process, from processing the milk to smoking the finished cheeses, take place in these huts.
The sheep are kept outside from May to September. In the colder months, they are kept in shelters. The mountainous area they live in is relatively free from pollution and does not use chemical fertilizers. The sheep are milked two or three times a day.
To remove the whey, cheese makers knead all cheeses by hand. Oscypek is kneaded into spindle shapes and each spindle takes about an hour of kneading. Once the kneading is complete, the maker will press a wooden ring into the thick part of the cheese, creating a distinctive pattern that serves as the maker’s mark. After the cheese is scored, it is placed in a brine solution and salted for 24 hours. Finally, it is hung from the rafters in the hut for smoking.
Finished cheeses weigh between 21–28 ounces (600–800 grams) and are about 3–3.5 inches (8–9 cm) approximately. They are shades of yellow to orange, their coloring depends on the type of wood used to smoke them. Oscypek has a smoky chestnut flavor. It is often grilled and served with beer, wine or sometimes vodka.
Due to the popularity of this cheese, a non-traditional oscypek was created, sometimes referred to as falype oscypek. This cheese is made from cow’s milk and sold all year round. Nontraditional cheese may also be available in areas where real cheese is not. Since sheep’s milk is not pasteurized in traditional cheese making, there are restrictions in which real oscypek can be sold, and many official shops cannot sell traditional cheese.
In 2008, oscypek was the first Polish product to be granted European Union Protected Designation of Origin status, which was designed to ban producers from using the name “oscypek” for any cheese not made in the Tatra Mountains using this process Handmade. The status does not prohibit the use of cow’s milk in the process, so an organization called the Presidium was set up to help local farmers make traditional oscypek cheeses.
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