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Imeretian cheese: what is, calorie content and recipes. Imeretian cheese - the property of sunny Georgia Imeretian cheese description

Imeretian cheese has a mild taste, which is formed as a result of a relatively long (up to 2 months) maturation in brine. This product It is very popular in Georgia, where, along with suluguni, it serves as an ingredient for many snacks, stuffing in khachapuri, etc. Imeretian cheese is often made artisanally at home, so you can easily reproduce the technology at home.

Features of cheese

The popularity of Georgian cuisine is not fading away. On the territory of the former Soviet Union, there is hardly a single large settlement that does not have a restaurant serving the famous lobio, khinkali, satsivi, chakhokhbili, barbecue, etc.

Cheese plays an important role in Georgian food culture. They are served on weekdays and holidays, in the most different types and always with good red wine. By the way, archaeologists have found evidence confirming that cheese making in the Caucasus was practiced as early as 8,000 years ago.

Imeretian cheese is only slightly inferior in popularity to suluguni, moreover, it is the basis for the creation of the latter. It is distinguished by a pleasant, delicate taste with a slight sourness.

The process of preparing the cheese itself does not take much time, but it takes at least 2 months to fully ripen. Only after such a long soaking in brine does the product acquire its characteristic texture and piquancy.

Before telling how to make Imeretian cheese on your own, it is worth talking about several important nuances, without the knowledge of which it is impossible to achieve the required level of quality.

Be sure to purchase a milk clotting enzyme. It is not difficult to buy it in specialized online stores and pharmacies. For example, pepsin will do. The contents of the opened package should be either immediately put into action or poured into an airtight bag and hidden in the freezer.

For delicious cheese you need fresh natural and whole milk of high fat content, taken from the cow no later than 24 hours ago. We recommend immediately pasteurizing the purchased raw materials to destroy microflora. Provides this heating up to +76 ° С.

Inventory and Products

To make Imeretian cheese, prepare the following:

  • a pan of a suitable size made of stainless steel;
  • slotted spoon;
  • wooden spoon;
  • container for pressing heads;
  • thermometer;
  • bowl.

Of products:

  • fresh milk - 3 liters;
  • coarse non-iodized salt (at least a tablespoon);
  • the enzyme is literally at the tip of a teaspoon.

Cooking procedure

The milk is poured into a container and placed on the stove. Keep the fire small. If you have gas, place a flame arrester under the pan. With small volumes of raw materials, it is more expedient to use water bath.

When the product is heated to +38 ° C, turn off the fire. Next, the enzyme is dissolved in 50 milliliters of warm (always boiled) water. Pour the resulting composition into milk and stir well for 2-3 minutes so that it spreads throughout the pan.

When the time is up, lift the lid and make sure the curd has finished forming. This is indicated by the density of the mass and the presence of a thin layer of buttermilk on its surface. If looseness is observed, wait another half hour.

It remains to fill the cheese mass in a form or colander with small holes and a flat bottom. It is worth transferring the clot slowly, helping it settle in the container (press down lightly with a slotted spoon).

When the form fills out, tamp the cheese well again. Cover it with fresh cheesecloth and leave for 4 hours to remove the buttermilk completely. Now all sides of the head are rubbed with salt and that is left to mature for 12 hours.

To make the product even more dense, send it to the refrigerator for 3 or 4 days.

Brine

For ripening Imeretian cheese, brine is used. It is he who gives the product the necessary taste.

Prepare:

  • 0.5 kilograms of non-iodized sea salt;
  • 2 liters boiled water(or the remaining serum);
  • 0.5 tablespoon calcium chloride;
  • 4 ml white wine vinegar.

The water must be heated, and then the salt must be completely dissolved in it. The head of cheese is placed in a container and poured with cool liquid so that it completely covers it.

Another cheese recipe

V this recipe will be required:

  • whole milk - 5 liters;
  • natural yogurt without additives (sour cream or kefir) - 100 ml;
  • rennet - a quarter teaspoon;
  • zira (or cumin) - a pinch;
  • paprika (flakes) - 1 tbsp. l.

First of all, we heat the milk up to +38 ° С. Further, it pours into homemade yogurt or another product. Everything is mixed and left warm for 30 minutes. During this time, you should scald the cumin (cumin) with boiling water. After a quarter of an hour, excess bitterness will come out of it and then the water must be drained.

Then the enzyme is mixed with 50 milliliters of water (+35 ° C) and left for 10 minutes. When the time comes for milk, the drug is poured into it, mixed well and insisted for another 45-60 minutes. The resulting clot is transferred in layers into a mold, each time sprinkling with paprika and cumin. Then it remains to wait until all the serum has drained - it takes up to 12 hours. The prepared cheese is then immersed in brine and kept in it for 4-5 days to form characteristic holes.

How to store

Even if you make perfect quality cheese, improper storage will quickly spoil.

Our product requires a standard mode for soft cheeses. A temperature within +4 ° C is suitable for him. Even a slight excess of the indicator negatively affects the structure.

Moisture for cheese without brine requires up to 90 percent. If it turns out to be higher, then mucus forms on the cheese, an unpleasant crust appears in the drier air.

It is best to store cheese in the refrigerator in the area of ​​the vegetable compartment.

What will replace Imeretian cheese

In the absence of the product in question, it is difficult to prepare certain dishes of Caucasian cuisine. Here you will have to look for analogues that have approximately the same taste.

Good fit:

  • Mozzarella;
  • suluguni;
  • Adyghe cheese.

What to cook with Imeretian cheese

In principle, the cheese in question is good on its own, on a slice of fresh bread, flavored with garlic or chopped herbs. However, there are several traditional dishes where it acquires a completely unique taste.

First of all, it is worth mentioning the Megrelian khachapuri. For them it is necessary:

  • wheat flour - 0.55 kg;
  • milk with a fat content of 3.5% - 0.4 liters;
  • butter (82%) - half a pack;
  • dry yeast - a teaspoon;
  • sugar - 1 tbsp. l .;
  • vegetable oil - 8 ml;
  • coarse salt - 10 g;
  • Imeretian cheese - 170 g;
  • suluguni - 600 g;
  • egg - 1.

Pour sugar, salt, yeast into the sifted flour, put everything vegetable oil and 2 tablespoons of butter. Then lukewarm milk is poured. Then everything is kneaded until elastic (if it comes out too hard, then add a little water). The dough is left to rise in a bowl covered with a towel (40 minutes). Then it is divided into 5 identical parts.

Immediately start stuffing:

  • rub or grind cheese with a meat grinder;
  • mixed with egg and butter (20 g).

Place 150 grams of cheese mass in the middle of the mug. Next, the edges are brought to the center and pinched. The cake is again powdered with flour and rolled out to a thickness of 10 mm.

Khachapuri is placed on a dry sheet and pierced along the edge. Sprinkle a little with the remaining cheese on top.

Another dish comes from Adjara. It's called borano. Basically, this is a cheese casserole perfect for a large family breakfast.

You will need:

  • Imeretian cheese - 700 grams;
  • egg - 10 pcs.;
  • milk (3.5 percent fat) - 150 milliliters;
  • butter 80 g and more vegetable - 20 g;
  • salt - add at your own discretion.

First, you need to beat the eggs with a whisk. Just bring the mass to homogeneity. Grate the cheese coarsely and stir in to the eggs. Don't forget to add salt. Then add milk and vegetable oil, whisking in parallel.

Now heat a thick-walled skillet with high enough sides. Dissolve butter on it and pour in the prepared mass. Cover the dishes with a lid (no plastic handle!) And send them to the oven (+160 ° С). The baking process takes approximately 40 minutes.

An important point - remove the lid after half an hour, otherwise you will not be able to get a pretty golden brown crust. This dish no less tasty and cooled. In the latter case, it becomes an excellent appetizer for dry red wine. It is recommended to combine it with fresh herbs and smoked meat.

Khychins are a special flatbread, which is a national delicacy of both Balkars and Karachais. it hearty dish suitable for winter.

Required Ingredients:

  • flour - 250-280 grams;
  • milk - 100 milliliters;
  • water - 50 ml;
  • sugar and salt - a teaspoon each;
  • dry yeast - 3 g;
  • boiled and cooled potatoes - 0.6 kg;
  • Imeretian cheese - 200 g;
  • ghee - 10 g.

Flour is combined with water, milk, yeast, sugar and salt. Knead the dough until it stops sticking. Then it is left warm for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, using a meat grinder, they grind potatoes and cheese. The filling is thoroughly kneaded until smooth.

The dough is divided into 8 identical pieces. Each is given the shape of a ball. Then they are rolled into flat cakes the size of a dessert plate. The filling is poured onto the center of one mug, and the second is covered. The edges are carefully pinched. Now the khychin is rolled out again to a diameter of 30 cm. If you do not have such a large frying pan, then make smaller pies.

Each product is fried without oil. It is necessary to turn over when it starts to inflate. The air should be deflated by making a puncture in the center.

Ready khychins are spread on a dish greased with melted butter.

How is it done

The enterprises prepare Imeretian cheese from whole milk and rennet. In households, the product is produced without any drugs that accelerate the clotting of raw materials. That is, in fact, they wait until the fresh milk ferments itself.

If you plan to cook cheese on your own, then the last method will not work for you, because you have to buy ingredients from the side, which means they need to be pasteurized. Such milk will not curdle without enzymes.

To prepare 300 grams of the product you will need:

4 liters of milk;
a quarter teaspoon of pepsin.

The procedure is as follows:

Raw materials should be heated to +38 ° С;
then an enzyme mixed with 50 milliliters is added to it warm water;
the pan is wrapped in a warm blanket and left for an hour;
the resulting clot is cut into pieces directly in the container (cubes 2 by 2 cm);
wait 15 minutes for the serum to stand out;
the cheese mass is transferred to a sieve (colander, or a special form);
rammed.

After 12 hours, when the buttermilk is drained, the head is sprinkled with salt and left in the refrigerator for a couple of days. Then the cheese is placed in a brine consisting of 2 liters of water, half a kilogram of salt and a spoonful of vinegar.

This is not to say that the given recipe is the only one. In fact, each settlement in Georgia has its own unique variations and additives. Cheese is often supplemented with spices, herbs and herbs.

What is the best Imeretian cheese to eat with?

Fresh cheese goes well with fruits and vegetables. Its delicate taste is well set off by red wine like Kindzmarauli or Saperavi. It is also suitable for sandwiches, but it is better to use fresh lavash instead of the usual bread. To do this, the cheese is crumbled and mixed with crispy herbs, and then wrapped in a flat cake.

The taste of the product is emphasized by:

Garlic (including young);
radish;
sweet summer tomatoes.

It will take its rightful place on a cheese plate garnished with white grapes, honey, and toasted walnuts. There are many options for the use of imeruli keli, but it is the use of cheese in traditional baked goods glorified him in the world.

Imeretian khachapuri

Today, a lot of recipes for this pie are known, but the Georgian authorities in 2010 patented only one of them. It is about him that we will tell in more detail.

In addition to cheese, dough is also important in khachapuri. In the original, it is made without yeast, using a specific national fermented milk product called yogurt.

You will need the following ingredients:

900 grams of wheat flour top grade;
three eggs;
0.5 liters of yogurt.

An important point - the flour should be mixed gradually. Lack of it will make the dough runny, and excess will make it too stubborn.

For the inhabitants of our country, the main difficulty lies in the yogurt. What can replace it? Low-fat kefir is used without any loss of taste and quality.

It is also necessary to remember that the primordial Georgian khachapuri is brought to readiness in a frying pan, not in the oven.

The filling must match the softness and tenderness of the dough. For her, only Imeretian cheese is taken. At the same time, too matured is not suitable - it is too dense. A good product easily wrinkled by hand. No other tools such as graters, meat grinders, etc. are used in Georgia.

Also, nothing superfluous is put into the filling (except perhaps an egg, if it comes out liquidish), so that real khachapuri consists only of crispy crust and shredded melted cheese.

To make a pie, the dough made according to the above recipe is cut into 8 identical pieces. Each should be rolled into a round cake. They put the filling on it, so that it does not reach the edge by 2 centimeters. Cover it with the second circle. Along the perimeter, the khachapuri is neatly pinched.

Finished products are left to fry in a dry, very hot skillet on both sides, covered tightly with a lid. Ready pie grease with a piece of butter.

Gebzhalia

This is another interesting Georgian dish, where Imeretian cheese is the main one. It represents rolls stuffed with herbs. Gebjaliya is no less tasty if you use suluguni.

The only thing to be aware of is that you cannot use imeruli keli if not another day has passed since its production. Such a product lacks acidity, which means that it will not be able to melt.

So, for gebzhali you will need:

Milk - 1 liter;
olive oil - a couple of tablespoons;
medium bunch of fresh mint;
Imeretian cheese - 0.7 kg;
salt - at your discretion.

At the very beginning, even before cooking the rolls, you need to prepare a place for laying out the melted cheese. The surface of the table, wiped and covered, will do. cling film... The mass freezes very quickly, so you will have to act with lightning speed.

Prepare a wooden spatula and slotted spoon from the tools.

Prepare the filling for the roll ahead of time. For her:

Tear off the mint leaves from the stems;
knead them in a mortar or blender;
mixed with oil.

The last ingredient in this recipe is not at all necessary - it is permissible to just finely chop the greens with a knife.

Now it was the turn of the cheese. It should be cut into 25 by 25 millimeter cubes or so, so it melts as soon as possible.

When the cheese softens, it is laid out on the prepared surface and leveled, giving the curd a rectangle. The thickness of the layer can be made whatever, but the optimal one is 1.5 cm.

It is allowed to eat a snack immediately after cooling. It is recommended to serve it with tkemali or other sweet and sour sauce... Gebzhaliya with nut crumb is very tasty.

The simplest homemade cheeses are made from milk using only rennet.

The cheese grains are well mixed, transferred to a mold or just a basket for draining the whey. As soon as the cheese is thickened, it is salted. The cheese can be eaten immediately after preparation or stored in the refrigerator for several days.

Such cheeses are found in culinary tradition many cuisines of the world where cheeses are made - Brynza, Feta, Chanakh, Imeretinsky, Chechil and many others. These cheeses can be fermented in different ways, can be salted and stored in different conditions, apply milk from different pets.

But in essence, all these cheeses are simple fresh rennet cheeses.

Chechil cheese recipe

Chechil is a curly fibrous brine cheese of Armenian origin in the form of dense thick or thin threads, gathered in a tight bundle or rolled into tied bundles, sometimes in the form of a pigtail or a ball.

The peculiarity of Chechil's preparation is that ripening takes place in a concentrated saline solution, which is why such a rich taste is obtained.

Ingredients:

Milk - 20 l

1/5 part of the package for 100 liters of dry dissolved in 50 ml of water

1/2 teaspoon as a solution (if you have pasteurized milk, as it increases rennet clotting and helps to form a tighter clot)

1/5 part of a pack for 100 l dissolved in 50ml water (optional)

Salt - 10% saline solution (you can see how to prepare the solution )

Preparation:

1.Add to milk at a temperature of 8-12 degrees Citric acid and mix well.

2. Heat in milk up to 38 ° C. (or cool pasteurized, use ).

3. Dissolve Calcium Chloride in 50 ml of water, also dissolve rennet in 50 ml of water.

Add both solutions to the milk, mix thoroughly, remove from the stove and leave to cool at room temperature within 40 minutes.

4. Cut the curd formed into small squares with a knife and leave for 30 minutes to separate the whey.

5. Cover with 2-3 layers of gauze or lavsan napkin , put cheese on it, leave for 1 hour.

6. Prepare a concentrated 10% saline solution, more concentrated, depending on how salty you want to get homemade cheese.

7. Place the cheese in hot water 70 degrees and, wearing gloves, pull the cheese threads out of it and immerse it in a cold saline solution.

8. Leave the threads in the brine for 1 day.

9. Remove the threads from the brine, braid them or shape them and serve.

You can buy a ready-made set for making Chechil / Imeretinsky / Brynza / Suluguni cheese .


Imeretian cheese recipe /Cheese

Imeretian cheese is a fresh Georgian cheese with a mild taste, aged in brine for several months. In the Caucasus, freshly made Imeretian cheese is called the first cheese or young cheese. Khachapuri is baked with it and snacks are made, mixed with fresh herbs and spices, suluguni is made from it.

Ingredients:

10 liters of milk (any, preferably fresh - cow, goat, sheep)

1/3 teaspoon dry or 1/4 teaspoon of a 10% solution

0.4gr (or 1/10 of a package per 100l)

You can also add the following ingredients:

Add coriander or caraway seeds to the curd

Coat the finished cheese with paprika and store without brine

Dip the finished cheese in a mixture of any herbs and store without brine

Add chopped to the curd Sun-dried tomatoes or olives

Output 12-15% - 1.3kg cheese

Preparation:

  1. Heat milk to 35⁰-37⁰С.
  2. Measure the required amount of calcium chloride, dissolve it in 50 ml of water at room temperature. Pour into milk and mix well.
  3. Measure out the required amount of rennet, dissolve it in 50 ml of water. Pour into milk and mix well.
  4. Cover the saucepan with a lid and leave to form a curd for 35-40 minutes.
  5. Check the clot for a "clean break", if the serum is still not transparent, leave for another 10 minutes.
  6. Cut the curd into cubes about 2x2 cm. Stir for 10 minutes.
  7. Leave the mixture alone for 5 minutes to allow the curd to settle to the bottom.
  8. Remove most of the whey so that the curd appears below the surface.
  9. Take shape for soft cheese or a colander, if desired, put a lavsan napkin, bag or gauze in it.
  10. Put all the curd in a mold. Leave to self-press for 2 hours at room temperature.
  11. If the cheese has pressed well, then you can transfer it to a storage container.

If the cheese still seems too soft to you, move the mold with the tray to the refrigerator and leave there for pressing for another 6-10 hours.

You can also put a plate on the surface of the cheese and put a small weight on it (for example, a liter bottle of water).

For storing cheese, you can cut it in large pieces or leave it in one piece. Place cheese in a food container and refrigerate for up to 10 days. During this time, the cheese must be eaten.

To keep the cheese longer and bring it to maturity, pour the cheese over the brine in a food container (glass or enamel bowl).

Ready young cheese after 2 - 3 days can be used for cooking Suluguni .

For the Imeretian cheese to form holes, you need to put the container in a warm place for 3 - 4 days.

Brine preparation :

2 glasses of water at room temperature

60g rock salt,

0.5 ml vinegar 6%,

0.5 g dry calcium chloride or 4 ml (teaspoon) 10% solution of calcium chloride

1. Boil water, add salt, mix well. Leave to cool to room temperature.

2. Carefully drain the brine into another container so that the salt dirt remains at the bottom of the pan. 3. Add vinegar and calcium chloride to the brine, mix.

4. Pour this brine over the cheese.

The cheese is ready to eat. Bon Appetit!


Suluguni recipe

Suluguni is the most famous cheese Georgia, which is very popular in Russia as well.

This is fresh pickled cheese.

It has a dense layered consistency, white or light creamy color.

Ingredients:

Basis - Imeretian cheese

Preparation:

1. Prepare Imeretian cheese / feta cheese according to the recipe.

2. Bring the cheese to the desired acidity of 5.0-4.5pH (to check, use ), in which the curd mass begins to melt and stretch, by aging. To do this, leave the cheese in a colander over warm whey for about 2-3 hours, periodically turning the cheese. Or put feta cheese in the refrigerator for 2 days.

3. After the specified time has elapsed, start making a "pull test" - cut off a small piece from the edge and lower it into water at a temperature of 70⁰С. If after half a minute of warming up the piece stretches more than three times its length and does not break, then you can proceed to the next stage.

4. Heat the water in a saucepan to 70C.

5. Cut the cheese into 1.5cm cubes. Place the sliced ​​cheese in a large bowl.

6. Pour hot water into a bowl of cheese and start stirring the cheese. Gradually, the cheese will begin to melt and gather into one lump.

7. Drain the cooled water from the bowl and refill hot water temperature 70⁰С. Take two long-handled wooden spoons and start folding and kneading cheese dough under water until the dough is very elastic.

8. Transfer the finished Suluguni into a mold and leave to cool first at room temperature, then in the refrigerator.

9. Next, the suluguni need to be salted in ... The salting time is calculated as follows: for every half a kilo of cheese, 3 hours in brine (i.e. for a 1 kg head, stay in brine for 6 hours). Since the cheese is floating, its top is above the brine surface, turn the cheese once in the middle of the salting time.

After salting, the cheese can be eaten. You need to store this cheese in the refrigerator just in a food container or in 10% brine.

The cheese is ready to eat. Bon Appetit!

You can buy a ready-made set for making Chechil / Imeretinsky / Brynza / Suluguni cheese.

Cheese appeared in the Arab East about eight thousand years ago. The Arabian merchant Kanana is considered to be its discoverer. Having loaded the goods on a caravan of camels, he set off on a long journey through the Arabian desert, taking with him on the difficult journey dough cakes, clay jugs with fresh water and a wineskin from a sheep's stomach, into which he poured cream, fresh milk and added sour cream for fat content.

Once he found in a wineskin a dense cheese brandy with a characteristic fermented milk smell, which was floating in cloudy whey. Kanan really liked the cheese - this is how the first acquaintance of a person with Brynza took place.

Product from Imereti

National Georgian cuisine is known far beyond the Caucasus Mountains. Georgian meat dishes, soups for meat broth no vegetables, hard dairy cheeses, a variety of local herbal sauces and natural products leave a lasting impression in the memory. A tourist who has visited Imereti will certainly note historical sights, Caucasian hospitality, natural grape wines and real Imeretian cheese or Brynza.

In the "House of Cheese" in the city of Tbilisi, you can see the dishes that were used for production and storage hard cheese more than eight thousand years ago. Historical finds associated with the production and storage of this fermented milk product in other countries half their age: they are no more than four thousand years old.

Therefore, culinary experts rightfully consider Georgia the birthplace of cheese. In total, about 14 varieties of such a product are produced in Georgia.

Cheese is prepared from fresh sheep's or cow's milk; in consistency, it is slightly denser than ordinary cottage cheese and has salty taste... Such a sheep milk product has a characteristic odor and specific taste. Cheese is considered real if it nutritional value much higher than cow's. The stick of cheese is stored in a brine containing salt and sugar. In its manufacture, rennet, pepsin, dry sourdough for brine cheese are used to ferment milk. Imeretian cheese - time-tested food product... It can be eaten by adults and children.

Energy value of Imeretian cheese and calorie content per 100 grams:

  • proteins - 18.5 g;
  • fats - 14 g;
  • carbohydrates - 2.4 g;
  • calorie content - 240 Kcal.

Imereti Brynza - what is it?

Brynza from Imereti is a high-quality fermented milk product, which is very similar in smell and taste to Suluguni. For its manufacture, use a solid cow's milk, starter culture, rennet or vegetable renin, water, salt, caraway seeds, paprika, tomatoes, calcium chloride. 80% of the total amount of Imeretian and Suluguni cheese is produced in Georgia.

To make Imeretian cheese, you need to take:

  • 1 liter of natural cow's milk;
  • 60 milliliters of rennet;
  • 1 liter of clean water;
  • 20 grams of fine salt;
  • 20 grams of granulated sugar.

Popular recipe for making Cheese:

  • milk is heated to 38 ° C, pepsin is added, mixed evenly with a wooden spoon and kept in a water bath at 38 ° C for half an hour;
  • the cheese lump formed at the bottom of the pan is cut with a sharp narrow knife into 1x1 centimeter cubes and carefully move them with a slotted spoon until the liquid is completely separated from the curdled mass. The smaller the size of the cube, the harder the resulting Cheese will be;
  • after cutting the cheese lump into pieces, the pan is heated again so that the product is completely separated from the whey;
  • after separating the cheese lump, it is transferred to a colander, sprinkled with salt on top and left to drain the whey;
  • the colander is placed on a pallet, covered with gauze or natural white cloth on top and left for 12 hours;
  • after the whey has drained, the cheese head is soaked, transferred to maturation in a saucepan and poured in "tsatkhi".

Tsathi Recipe:

  • To prepare "tsatkha" in a liter of water, dissolve a tablespoon of salt and the same spoonful of sugar;
  • cover the pan and put in a warm place for 3-4 days. In the process of ripening, the firebrand hardens, acquires a light yellow color and a characteristic cheese smell. From the gases formed during fermentation, holes are formed in the head of the finished product.

Homemade analogs

Cooking in 3 hours

Sometimes, when the guests are already on the train and need to cook "Caesar salad with olives and natural cheese" in a few hours, a recipe for homemade cheese "five hours cooking" can help out.

Boil 1 liter homemade milk, and when it boils, pour in a teaspoon apple cider vinegar, half a glass of fresh kefir, 50 grams apple juice, add processed cheese cut into small pieces.

Stir with a spatula or slotted spoon until curdled and the liquid turns light green. Throw the cheese mass onto double cheesecloth or linen.

Dissolve two tablespoons of salt and teaspoonful of baking soda in a liter of cold water. Pour the cheese mass with this solution, put a press on top and leave for 2-3 hours. At the end of the time, remove the cheese from the water and put it in fresh milk. After aging in it for 2-3 hours, the cheese is ready. It is better to store it on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator, immersed in milk or whey.

Pour a liter of fat milk into a saucepan, add three tablespoons of 20% sour cream, two tablespoons lemon juice and heat to 65-70 ° C. Squeeze the resulting curd through double cheesecloth and put under pressure for 45-60 minutes.

After removing the whey, cut the cheese into cubes and place in a solution: a teaspoon of salt and the same spoon of sugar per liter of water. Place on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator for storage.

Lazy homemade cheese with herbs

This recipe for making hard cheese with your own hands is available to everyone. It is very simple and does not require any special skills or knowledge. Cheese according to this recipe can be "cooked" even by someone who is familiar with cooking only from a book or ready meals at the dinner table.

To get Cheese with this recipe you need:

  • 2 liters of farm milk;
  • 1 glass of fresh kefir;
  • 2 glasses of fat sour cream;
  • 8 one-day-old chicken eggs;
  • 50 grams of fresh herbs - parsley, dill, celery, young garlic arrows, basil;
  • 40 grams of salt.

Cook the cheese in a thick saucepan. Pour milk into it, add salt, put on fire and heat to a boil. Chicken eggs beat with a slotted spoon until a homogeneous mass is formed, pour in kefir, add fat sour cream.

As soon as the milk begins to boil, add the prepared mass to it, mix well with a slotted spoon, preventing the formation of lumps. Once the product has separated into cheese flakes and whey, immediately remove the pan from the heat.

Finely chop the greens and pour into the cooled curd mass.

What can be replaced and what are the differences?

In most of the recipes, Cheese can be replaced with a cheaper cheese - feta. This Greek variety is made from sheep and goat milk... It ripens in sea water and is preserved in olive oil. By outward signs feta is very similar to fresh pressed cottage cheese. It can be spread on bread instead of processed cheese... On the cut, it is smooth, without holes characteristic of Cheese, the taste and smell is spicy, contains a lot of lactic acid.

According to gourmets, feta can be replaced with cheese in Caesar salad and others culinary recipes, however, according to experts, in its own way chemical composition, manufacturing technology and taste is absolutely different cheeses... The possibility of replacement depends on the specific dish and on the person's taste preferences.

About traditional Georgian cheeses described in the next video.

Description of Imeretian cheese, preparation features. Energy value of the product, benefits for the body, possible harm when used. Culinary uses, history of the variety.

Imeretian cheese is a product of the national Georgian cuisine. The local name is Chkinti Kveli. Taste - soft, spicy, salty; smell - weak, fermented milk; color - white, creamy, sometimes with a slight yellowness; texture - elastic, brittle, many eyes with uneven edges. Heads in the form of flat cylinders with a height of 2.5 to 3.5 cm and a weight of 0.5 to 1.5 kg.

How is Imeretian cheese made?

In the manufacture of the product, milk from cows, goats, sheep or buffaloes, as well as a mixture of milk yields, can be used. Collected raw materials give this variety a special taste. A mixture of cow and buffalo milk is pasteurized for 76 seconds, heating to 76 ° C, cow and goat milk - up to 90 seconds at 72 ° C. Special conditions are required for collection from cow and sheep milk - heat treatment is carried out in vats with constant quality assessment. When heated above 68 ° C, milk may curdle due to an increase in acidity.

For the rest, the production of Imereti cheese by technology does not differ from the production of brine varieties. The feedstock is pumped through the milk pipeline first into a cooling unit and then into a heating apparatus. The milk is cooled again and is fed through the milk pipeline to the maturation tank, where dry bacterial starter culture and calcium chloride are added. At the same stage, rennet is added.

The intermediate product goes into the machine for the production of curd, for the formation of kale and slicing. Pieces of cottage cheese together with whey are pumped into a vertical unit, where the curd mass is formed.

When preparing Imeretian cheese, self-pressing is carried out, during which the whey flows into the pan, separating the curd. On the conveyor, it is sent to the molds, which are filled with the help of a dispenser installation.

The cheese is placed in a pool with 20% brine, where it is kept for up to 2 hours, and then it is also placed along a conveyor into a ripening chamber. Fermentation is short-term - the next day you can already carry out pre-sale preparation - packaging and packaging. All manufacturing processes are automated.

Every Georgian family has its own secret of how to make Imeretian cheese. The easiest way: ferment milk or milk mixture in a warm place, add whey with already active mesophilic bacteria, drained during the preparation of the last batch. Instead of cutting kalya, it is broken with a stirrer, the pieces are allowed to settle, and then the contents of the container are thrown onto a sieve covered with gauze. Thoroughly squeeze the curd and transfer it to the mold together with the cloth. When self-pressing, the molds are turned over every 40 minutes.

For salting, you need a refrigerator or a cool cellar. The head is immersed in 18-20% brine and put on a shelf (or in a basement) for a day, turning over every 3 hours. Before tasting, the surface of the cylinder is blotted with a paper towel or linen napkin. You do not need to store the product in brine - it will become too salty and lose its beneficial properties.

It is possible to make Imeretian cheese from raw milk with natural sourness only if the animals are absolutely healthy, and all the dishes and kitchen utensils sterilized.

More complex recipe preparation of Imeretian cheese using milk-clotting enzyme, mesophilic starter culture and calcium chloride:

  1. Pasteurized feedstock is heated to 32-34 ° C, calcium chloride is poured into it and dry starter is added. For activation, it is necessary to maintain a constant temperature regime. It is best to use a water bath for this, or wrap the pan in a blanket and place in a warm place.
  2. After 1 hour, rennet is poured in and the calcium is formed. When it is dense enough, they begin cutting the curd grains - the dimensions of the edges are 1x1 cm.
  3. Stir for 20 minutes, raising the temperature to 36-38 ° C by 1 ° C for 10 minutes, until the curd settles. Drain the whey so that it only covers the surface.
  4. Pressing Imereti cheese at home and salting are carried out according to the same algorithm as in the recipe already described. Storage recommendations are the same.

Flavor improvers are often added to the cheese mass - herbs and spices. Since the product is eaten fresh, undried herbal ingredients can be used. Knowing how to make Imeretian cheese with additives, you can always delight your home original dish... An ampoule of calcium chloride, 100 ml of unsweetened salad yogurt or the same amount of yogurt is poured into whole cow's milk heated to 38 ° C, which has stood in the refrigerator for 24 hours, and allowed to stand for 30 minutes, removed from the heat. At this time, pour 0.5 tsp. caraway seeds in a third glass of boiling water and dissolve rennet - 0.05 g in 50 ml of water. The coagulant is poured into the prepared feedstock, left until the calcium is formed. When making Imeretian cheese at home, you can check for a clean break in this way - forcefully insert your gloved finger into the curd curd. If the grains of curdled milk are not stuck, you can start cutting the kale. The finer the cubes, the more moist the final product. Knead for 20-30 minutes, maintaining 38 ° C, allow the curd mass to settle 2-3 times, and then transfer it to a sieve covered with a cloth. Roll up the knot, squeeze it again with your hands and put it in a mold, mixing it with strained cumin and paprika flakes. Pressing and salting - as described earlier.

Making Imeretian cheese at home according to recipes from friends and from the Internet, you can add something of your own - for example, experiment with flavors. When there is not enough time to hold the raw material, pepsin is poured in. To speed up the separation of the whey during the self-pressing stage, you can sprinkle the curd with salt. In this case, the concentration of the brine is reduced to 15% or replaced by tsatkhi. To prepare tsatkhi, dissolve 1 tbsp in 1 liter of boiled chilled water. l. sugar and salt and immerse the head in this solution for 3 days. Please note: in this case, fermentation takes place in a dark place and takes 3 days. The Imeretian homemade cheese made according to this recipe is denser than the classic, rich yellow color on the surface and light straw in the middle, with a more pungent taste and a pronounced sour cheesy odor. In addition, the eyes in it with smooth, well-defined edges. In addition, during short-term exposure, the milk protein content decreases. But the cooking method does not affect the storage duration - a week, no more, and only in a cool place.

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Composition and calorie content of Imereti cheese

Product homemade contains only natural ingredients - milk, starter culture, coagulant and salt. Preservatives are sometimes added to production options, but GMO ingredients are never introduced. The highest energy value of the product is achieved when using sheep or buffalo milk.

Calorie content of Imereti cheese per 100 grams - 240 kcal, of which:

  • Proteins - 17.9 g;
  • Fats - 20.1 g.

Vitamins per 100 g:

  • Vitamin A - 0.26 mcg;
  • Vitamin D, calciferol - 0.71 mcg.

Also, the product contains a small amount of choline, pyridoxine, pantothenic and folic acid, riboflavin.

The mineral composition of Imereti cheese contains the most calcium (520 mg / 100 g), but there are also other components - potassium, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, iron, zinc and copper.

The low amount of fat and high milk protein makes it possible to introduce Imeretian cheese into the diet for those who are losing weight, adhering to an active lifestyle.

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The benefits of Imeretian cheese

The popularity of this variety is explained not only by taste, but also healing properties... It was introduced into the diet for tuberculosis (earlier it was called "consumption"), for anemia (sickness), after exhausting physical exertion.

For people suffering from kidney diseases, lightly salted Imereti cheese was specially made with a salt content of up to 1% (in classic version salinity is 5%). It is still impossible to consume more than 30 g per day, but this amount is enough to replenish the energy reserve and prevent the loss of mineral salts. The therapeutic course for the treatment of kidney disease includes diuretics, so it is very important to maintain a supply of nutrients.

Due to its high calcium content, Imeretian cheese prevents the development of osteoporosis, strengthens teeth, improves the quality of cartilage tissue and the produced synovial fluid. Potassium stabilizes heart contractions, manganese and magnesium normalize metabolic processes. Calciferol stimulates the regeneration of bone and epithelial tissue, while retinol improves visual function.

The pleasant taste of Imeretian cheese improves mood by increasing the synthesis of endorphins and serotonin. This action helps to cope with negative emotions, calms down, and stops the development of depression. It is officially proven that daily consumption of a small piece prolongs life and stops age-related changes, improves skin tone and prevents the formation of wrinkles.

It is useful to introduce this variety into the daily menu of athletes who need to maintain muscle mass.

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Contraindications and harm of Imereti cheese

You should not get acquainted with a new taste if you are intolerant to milk protein. However, more often than not, allergy symptoms are limited to digestive disorders.

Due to the high salinity, abuse is harmful with increased acidity of gastric juice, impaired renal or hepatic functions, a history of peptic ulcer disease, with arthritis, gout or arthrosis. The harm of Imereti cheese can be minimized by soaking in boiling water for several hours, but in this case, the benefits of eating it decrease. The mineral composition remains constant, but vitamins are destroyed.

The fat content of the product is moderate, but the load on the pancreas and liver, especially with regular introduction into the diet, increases. Persons suffering from chronic pancreatitis or biliary dyskinesia, with an unpleasant taste in the mouth, heaviness in the stomach or pain in the left hypochondrium, should temporarily revise the daily menu.

When making Imeretian cheese at home, unboiled milk is often used, which has soured in a natural way. Such a product has an increased microbiological hazard, and should not be treated to small children, pregnant women, women during lactation and people with reduced immunity. There is no guarantee that pathogenic bacteria have not penetrated during fermentation, which can further provoke the development of salmonellosis. To avoid infectious diseases, it is worth purchasing the product only from reliable manufacturers.

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Recipes with Imeretian cheese

This variety - great addition for breakfast or dinner, it is eaten with freshly baked bread and flat cakes, washed down with homemade wines. It is used as a filling for baking Georgian cuisine, it is added to various salads. The taste goes well with meat dishes, herbs and vegetables.

Delicious recipes with Imeretian cheese:

  1. Achma... Knead dense dough so that it does not stick to your hands. 2-3 eggs, 10 g butter, sifted Wheat flour mixed with salt. Divided into parts - 2 larger and 3 smaller, rolled into sheets. Each sheet is dipped for about 30 seconds, first in boiling water, and then in cold water... Grease the mold or baking sheet with butter, lay out the sheets (lower and upper wider), sprinkling each with a filling of an equal amount of chopped cheeses - Suluguni and Imeretinsky (400 g each) and add butter - 40 g. Pinch the edges of large sheets, grease the top layer with whipped protein, prick with a fork and let stand for 10-15 minutes. Bake at 220 ° C to golden brown... You can, before putting the achma in the oven, cut into large pieces.
  2. Vegetable salad with Imeretian cheese... Beets are boiled in a peel and finely chopped, fried with 20 g of kernels walnuts and pounded into powder. Slicing cheese (30 g) - into cubes, raw spinach- pieces of 0.5-0.8 mm. Pepper and salt, season with olive oil.
  3. Georgian salad... Mix the slices of fleshy tomatoes, chopped basil, dill and parsley, cheese cubes, half rings of red onion and a pinch of pomegranate seeds. Season with an equal amount of red wine vinegar and olive oil... Pepper and salt to taste.
  4. Khachapuri... Knead soft dough: wheat flour (how much the batch will take), yogurt (1 glass) and a little carbonated borjomi. 250 g of grated chkinti queli are mixed with 1.5 tbsp. l. ghee. Roll out the pieces of dough and lay out the filling, covering the edges so that nothing flows out. Fry in a pan on 2 sides until the surface of the pie turns golden.
  5. Gebzhalia... Grind mint leaves (bunch) with olive oil (2 tablespoons) with a wooden pestle. Bring milk (1 l) to a boil and immerse cheese cubes with sides of 2.5-3 cm (700 g) in it. It is most convenient to pour them into a colander and lower them into a saucepan. As soon as the mass in the pan begins to melt and stick together, everything is taken out, laid out on a surface greased with oil (so that it does not stick), level it in 1 layer and apply the filling - mint leaves rubbed with a wooden pestle (bunch) with olive oil (2 tbsp. L.) ). Until it hardens, roll up the roll. Allow to harden and cut before serving.
  6. Dessert salad... Mix the dressing: 1 tbsp. l. lemon juice and olive oil, 1 tsp. pomegranate syrup and 0.5 tsp. liquid honey. On a plate, alternating, lay out pieces of apple, orange without films, large black grapes without seeds. Sprinkle on top with chopped chkinti queli and pine nuts... Watered with dressing, applying it in the form of a lattice.

Dishes with Imeretian cheese are usually not salted, but are often seasoned with pepper or other spices - cumin, anise, turmeric. Use vinegar for refueling different types, vegetable oils and cheese sauce... It is undesirable to use mayonnaise - it "merges" to taste with the main ingredient and drowns out the taste of additional components.

France is considered to be a cheese country, but Georgia can compete with it. Fragments were found in the cultural layer, the age of which is estimated at 8 thousand years pottery, on the walls of which there are particles of fermented cottage cheese.

Description of Imeretian cheese can be found already in ancient legends. When the pagan gods gathered together, there was always a dish on the table with white salty pieces, with frequent carved eyes.

The classic recipe for a fermented milk product is simple: it contains a minimum of ingredients - milk mixture, rennet and salt. In home versions, the heads can be soaked in chacha (grape vodka), red wine, and liquid honey.

As an analogue of Imereti cheese can be considered:

  • Greek Feta made from a mixture of goat and cow milk;
  • Brynzu is a soft Caucasian cheese made using a similar technology;
  • Georgian Suluguni, which is received when heat treatment the original product;
  • Adyghe cheese (latakai) with a sour taste;
  • Italian Mozzarella cheese with a layered structure;
  • Salty creamy Armenian vats.

You should not give up cooking, thinking about how to replace Imereti cheese. Any of the above varieties will do. All of them are suitable for baking fillings or as ingredients for salads. Moreover, Italian cheese connoisseurs believe that the Georgian variety is preferable in vegetable salads, and the hostesses of the Caucasus introduce Feta into sweet pies - there is less salt in it.

In the photo, Imeretian cheese is similar to feta cheese, but there is also a significant difference - a lot of carved eyes. And to taste, dense elastic pieces of feta cheese more resemble pressed cottage cheese, even if fresh or dried herbs are introduced as flavoring additives.

In Georgia, you can buy Imeretian cheese in shops, bazaars and dairy stalls. Entrepreneurs make the product themselves and then sell it to anyone who wants it. But if there are no familiar sellers, it is better to purchase a store version. As already mentioned, the microbiological hazard is too high. The average price of Imeretian cheese in winter per 1 kg is 6 lari or 3.68 cu. That is, a little less in summer.

Watch a video about Imeretian cheese:

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