Bryndza is a
sheep milkSheep's milk is the milk of domestic sheep. Though not widely drunk in any modern culture, sheep's milk is commonly used to make cultured dairy products. Well-known cheeses made from sheep milk include the Feta of Bulgaria and Greece, Roquefort of France, Manchego from Spain, the Pecorino Romano ...
cheeseCheese is a food consisting of proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. It is produced by coagulation of the milk protein casein. Typically, the milk is acidified and addition of the enzyme rennet causes coagulation. The solids are separated and pressed into...
made in
Central and Eastern EuropeCentral and Eastern Europe is a term describing former communist states in Europe, after the collapse of the Iron Curtain in 1989/90. In scholarly literature the abbreviations CEE or CEEC are often used for this concept...
. Recipes differ slightly across the countries.
Brânză or
brînză is the generic word for "cheese" in
RomanianRomanian or Daco-Romanian is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova. It has official status in Romania, Republic of Moldova, and the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina in Serbia...
, there is no special type of cheese associated with it. It is a word presumably inherited by the Romanian language from
DacianThe Dacian language was spoken by the ancient inhabitants of Dacia. It belongs to the Indo-European language family.Dacian is often considered to be a dialect of the same language as Thracian or to be a separate language from Thracian but closely related to it. -Characteristics and sources:Many...
, the language of the pre-Roman population in the actual Romania (
see also List of Romanian words of possible Dacian origin).
Bryndza is a
sheep milkSheep's milk is the milk of domestic sheep. Though not widely drunk in any modern culture, sheep's milk is commonly used to make cultured dairy products. Well-known cheeses made from sheep milk include the Feta of Bulgaria and Greece, Roquefort of France, Manchego from Spain, the Pecorino Romano ...
cheeseCheese is a food consisting of proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. It is produced by coagulation of the milk protein casein. Typically, the milk is acidified and addition of the enzyme rennet causes coagulation. The solids are separated and pressed into...
made in
Central and Eastern EuropeCentral and Eastern Europe is a term describing former communist states in Europe, after the collapse of the Iron Curtain in 1989/90. In scholarly literature the abbreviations CEE or CEEC are often used for this concept...
. Recipes differ slightly across the countries.
Etymology
Brânză or
brînză is the generic word for "cheese" in
RomanianRomanian or Daco-Romanian is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova. It has official status in Romania, Republic of Moldova, and the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina in Serbia...
, there is no special type of cheese associated with it. It is a word presumably inherited by the Romanian language from
DacianThe Dacian language was spoken by the ancient inhabitants of Dacia. It belongs to the Indo-European language family.Dacian is often considered to be a dialect of the same language as Thracian or to be a separate language from Thracian but closely related to it. -Characteristics and sources:Many...
, the language of the pre-Roman population in the actual Romania (
see also List of Romanian words of possible Dacian origin). The word was first recorded as
brençe in the Croatian port of Dubrovnik in 1370. Today, "bryndza", a word descended from the Romanian root, is used in various countries throughout the
CEE regionCentral and Eastern Europe is a term describing former communist states in Europe, after the collapse of the Iron Curtain in 1989/90. In scholarly literature the abbreviations CEE or CEEC are often used for this concept...
such as Slovakia or Poland, due to its introduction by migrating Vlachs (please, see section Slovakia). In contrast to the original Romanian word, it is exclusively used for the one type of soft crumbly cheese described above.
Geographical indications
Bryndza PodhalańskaBryndza Podhalańska is a Polish variety of the soft cheese Bryndza, from the Podhale region, it is made from sheep milk.It has a geographical indication under EU law, with PDO status....
from
PolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
was granted a
protected designation of originProtected Designation of Origin , Protected Geographical Indication and Traditional Speciality Guaranteed are geographical indications, or more precisely regimes within the Protected Geographical Status framework defined in European Union law to protect the names of regional foods...
in June 2007. The
geographical indicationA geographical indication is a name or sign used on certain products which corresponds to a specific geographical location or origin...
was requested in September 2006.
Slovenská bryndza from
SlovakiaThe Slovak Republic is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe with a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia borders the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south. The largest city is its capital, Bratislava...
was granted a protected geographical indication in July 2008. The
geographical indicationA geographical indication is a name or sign used on certain products which corresponds to a specific geographical location or origin...
was requested in October 2007.
Slovakia
Bryndza probably came to
SlovakiaThe Slovak Republic is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe with a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia borders the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south. The largest city is its capital, Bratislava...
in the course of the settling of northern Slovakia by the
VlachsVlachs or Walachians is a blanket term covering several modern Latin peoples descending from the Latinised population in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe...
from the 14th century to the 17th century (see also
Moravian WallachiaMoravian Wallachia is a mountainous region located in the easternmost part of Moravia, Czech Republic, near the Slovakian border. The name Wallachia was formerly applied to all the highlands of Moravia and neighboring Silesia, although in the nineteenth century a smaller area came to be defined...
). Ján Vagač started to produce the local variety of
Slovenská bryndza and in 1787 he founded the first factory for producing the cheese in
DetvaDetva is a town in central Slovakia with a population of 15,000. It is situated on the mountain, Poľana.-History:Detva was created as a village of bondage in a deep-forested area belonging to Zvolenská Slatina and Očová upon instruction of the owner of the Vígľaš dominionLadislav Čáky resp....
. Today, around 4,000 tons of bryndza are produced in Slovakia annually.
Bryndza is an essential ingredient for the traditional Slovak dishes
bryndzové pirohyPierogi are a dish consisting of boiled or baked dumplings of unleavened dough stuffed with varying ingredients. They are usually semicircular, but are square in some cuisines.- Origin and name variants:...
and
bryndzové haluškyBryndzové Halušky is one of the national dishes in Slovakia. This hearty meal consists of Halušky and bryndza , optionally sprinkled with cooked bits of smoked pork fat/bacon...
.