Tight pigtails, woven from a cheese elastic mass, on the shelves of stores rightly lie next to other cheeses. Chechil - brine cheese, suluguni brother, but has its own individual gentle taste. His story is interesting: cheese is produced in the Caucasus manually, the threads are stretched to the thickness of the hair. It will harmoniously approach wine and beer, decorate a sandwich or salad, add spice to a rich plate with cheese slices with its appearance. This is a national Armenian cheese.
What is a
Chechil (cheese) looks like fibrous balls or braided pigtails. It is simply tied up in a bundle and due to this all nutritional juices and natural, natural properties of high-quality dairy raw materials are preserved. Chechil ripens in a solution of salt, it is brine cheese, therefore watery and salty. Its name in translation means "confused." This cheese differs from its close relative, suluguni, in that it has an increased layering and a pronounced sour-milk taste. Available in many varieties.
In addition to pigtails, it happens in the form of balls, noodles, straws, ropes, spaghetti. Very often this
cheese is smoked, adding spice to it. Beer lovers liked this transformation of fiber cheese very much: the salty and dry product is indispensable as a complement to your favorite drink.
How to produce
Chechil (cheese) is made from fresh pasteurized cow's milk with low fat content, fermented with rennet, which is of animal origin. First, the milk is heated to 32 degrees, then pepsin is added. A clot forms, after which the sour-milk mixture is mixed well and heated to 60 degrees. The flakes that are turned out are separated from the whey, salted firmly and laid out in the sun. Then they are manually stretched in the form of threads, wound with five-pound tangles or braided immediately into braids. They are stored in saline for almost a month until fully ripened.
Seventy-five days is the maximum period during which cheese is on sale. After all, this is a “live” product, without any preservatives, it is prone to oxidation and deteriorates very quickly. Karan Abrahamyan received the right to author production of pigtails from Chechil. He runs a cheese factory in the training center of the Agrarian University of Kiev. He has a patent for an invention, a certificate for an
industrial design.Benefit
Chechil (cheese) has a low fat content - up to 10%, for this reason it is attributed to dietary products. Due to its low fat content, it is used in various diets. For example, there is a Protasov diet, which is based on the use of raw vegetables and products made from milk, low fat content. At the same time, chachel contains a lot of moisture - up to 60%, salt - 4-8%. Brine cheese is a truly healthy product, as it is rich in vitamins and calcium. Energy value ranges from 290 to 340 kcal per hundred grams of cheese.
Interesting Facts
If chekil is properly cooked, then its fibers stretch through the ears of the needle. In this way, the cheese is checked for quality. If raw materials of inadequate quality or a lay hand touches the production of cheese, chechel will not work. The cost of the product is 350 rubles per kilogram. The price is considerable, but not to say that it is overpriced for such a tasty product. A variety of snacks are prepared from it, it is also added to salads, soups.
Such cheese in the Caucasus is eaten fresh, washed down with delicious home-made wine. Still often cooked fried chechil. To this end, smoked fibers are cut horizontally and placed on a heated frying pan. When a golden appetizing crust appears, they are turned over and fried on the other side. Such a savory snack is very fragrant and has a special tenderness. What is the best food for beer lovers? Chechil cheese, whose price is quite acceptable, although sometimes it reaches
500 rubles.Smoked product
Such cheese is made using an unusual production technology: it is melted at the very beginning and only then do other manipulations. Smoked pigtails have an unusual taste and high juiciness. This chechil does not have its original smell; it is the same as other varieties. But the taste is different: it stands out with smoked notes and light pungency. This product can be yellow or beige, which directly depends on the manufacturing process.
Smoked “pigtail” cheese is made from fresh milk of goat or sheep. Fermentation of the liquid is carried out in a natural way: first, the milk is heated a little and mixed with the rennet element and special fermentation. It takes ten minutes to curd the cheese, then it is reheated to form flakes. At this moment, they make eight-millimeter strips.
Then they get them out and cut them with certain ribbons, and from them braids are already weaving. Then, until fully ripe, they are put in a tub with brine. Mature chechil is sent to certain cells. There he smokes. 5-10% - fat content of the finished product. When making a selection of smoked pigtails, look at its color. Do not take chechil with a bright yellow color, as this indicates the use of chemical dyes. Look at the composition of the product. Cheese is natural if the list contains the least amount of ingredients.
Chechil (cheese): recipe for cooking
You can independently produce a product, and then sell it on the market. From 10 liters of milk, a liter of sour cream and eight liters of whey, you can get one kilogram of cheese. For cooking, you need five liters of goat and cow milk. It is poured with the aim of degreasing into a separator. Then the mixture is heated to 40 degrees, add rennet. The mixture is kept in a water bath for 60 minutes.
Clots form, the mixture heats up to 52-54 degrees and mixes clockwise for 15 minutes until "pigtails" are formed. You can squeeze the cheese mass manually. The resulting pigtails should be hung on the paving stones. When the cheese has cooled, it is salted. The quality is determined by cutting longitudinally - you should get non-tearing thin threads. Cheese bound in skeins is washed in cold water, then placed in brine, where it ripens.