Traditional manufacturing of hard chese – kachkaval on Stara Planina mountain | Tradicionalna izdelava trdega sira kačkavalj na Stari Planini

English. Nomads from Greece implemented the tradition of kachkaval cheese making on Stara Planina, 100 years ago. At the beginning, the kachkaval was made exclusively from sheep’s milk, during the grazing period. In the past, kachkaval was made on «bačija« dairies, and besides the kachkaval the significant by-products were ghee and «urda«. The historical data showed that in the year 1903, 160 wagons of kachkaval were exported to Vienna and Budapest. The changes in animal breeding conditions and increasing number of cattle in this region lead to significant reduction in number of sheep, and consequently caused the discontinuance in production of kachkaval. Nowadays, there are few “bačija”-dairies on Stara Planina Mountain which are producing kachkaval in the traditional way. The characteristics of chemical content of traditionally produced kachkaval are: 60.79±3.37% dry matter, 29.50±2.25% milk fat, 55.57±3.55% moisture on a fat-free basis, 48.52±2.41% fat in dry matter, 24.99±1.60% proteins, 3.8±2.57% NaCl and pH value 5.62±0.09. The traditionally made kachaval has a shape of a flatten cylinder, with the weigh of 6–7 kg, bright-yellow crust and firm dough. The traditional cheese making of kachkaval comprises the hand made process of «pasta filatta« cheese and for the end product a spicy and salty taste are typical. Revitalizing the traditional kachkaval production also means the preservation of cultural identity of the region of Stara Planina.

Slovenian. Tradicija proizvodnje sira kačkavalj na Stari Planini izvira od nomadskih pastirjev iz Grčije, ki so jo tja prinesli pred več kot 100 leti. Na začetku so kačkavalj izdelovali izključno iz ovčjega mleka v pašnem obdobju. Kačkavalj so izdelovali v mlekarnah – “bačijah”, poleg sira pa sta bila tipična stranska proizvoda še malso in “urda”. Po zgodovinskih podatkih so leta 1903 izvozili 160 vagonov kačkavalja s Stare Planine na Dunaj in v Budimpešto. S spremembo pogojev v živinoreji in s povečanjem staleža govedi, se je število ovac na Stari Planini bistveno zmanjšalo, zato je tudi proizvodnja kačkavalja skoraj zamrla. Danes še obstoja nekaj mlekarn –“bačij” na področju Stare Planine, ki še vedno proizvajajo kačkavalj po tradicionalnem postopku. Kačkavalj, izdelan na tradicionalen način, vsebuje 60,79±3,37 % suhe snovi, 29,50±2,25 % maščobe, 48,52±2,41 % maščobe v suhi snovi, 24,99±1,60 % beljakovin, 3,8±2,57 % NaCl, in ima pH vrednost 5,62±0,09. Tradicionalna oblika kačkavalja je sploščen cilinder, ki tehta 6–7 kilogramov, ima svetlo rumeno skorjo, in čvrsto testo. Tradicionalna izdelava kačkavalja temelji na ročni pripravi pasta filata sira (kuhan sir), za končni izdelek pa je značilen pikanten in slan okus. Oživljanje tradicije izdelave kačkavalja na področju Stare Planine je pomembno tudi zaradi ohranjanja kulturne identitete te regije.