Kopanisti
A soft, salty cheese, with a creamy texture and tangy flavour, produced traditionally from cow's milk, sheep's milk or goat's milk or from a mixture of those milks.
Geographical area: The Cyclades prefecture.
This cheese has been produced since at least the last century and is known for its "woody and peppery" taste. It is made and ripened in installations within the defined geographical area and is particularly esteemed by consumers for its piquancy and rich aroma.
The milk is coagulated at 28-30
°C with addition of enough rennet to bring curdling to completion in about 2 hours. The cheese curd is left to stand in the vat for 20-24 hours and is then broken up and put into cloth sacks for draining. The drained cheese mass is mixed with salt in the proportion of 4-5% of the net weight. It is then put into a wideapertured container and placed in a cool place with ahigh relative humidity to promote the growth of an abundant surface mould. Afterwards it is worked around to facilitate even distribution of the moulds a process which is repeated 3-4 times during the ripening period of 30-40 days.
