Theme 8: Food Technology

Preliminary Report of

Cultural & Social Digital documentation Laboratory

by Eleni Liva, Flora Tzelepoglou, Dr. Sotiris Chtouris

October 2011

REPORT ON FOOD TECHNOLOGY

FROM TRADITIONAL PRACTICE TO CONTEMPORARY TECHNOLOGY IN PROCESSING SHEEP AND GOAT DAIRY PRODUCTS

• Animal husbandry

Animal husbandry is the agricultural practice of breeding and raising livestock and has been practiced for thousands of years, since the Neolithic Age.

Greece ranks seventh in global goat milk production (5, 2%) and second among European Union countries (28, 1% of total goat milk production in the EU). Greece also breeds the 47, 7% of goats in the EU. These two sectors of animal production (sheep and goat) are of paramount importance not only for economic reasons, but because they also have social repercussions, especially in mountainous and hilly regions of Greece, as they help sustain the social fabric of local societies.

Sheep and goat farming systems fall into three main categories: 1/Home-fed: In this category a small number of animals, usually from high performance breeds, are kept inside barns, as farming is intensive. 2/ Intensive farming: Under this system, practiced mainly in lowlands, animal farms are of small or medium size (60 to 80 animals). Sheep and goats belong to high performance breeds or to indigenous breeds that have been successfully cross-bred and give high yields. Basically they are kept in barns and graze in neighbouring pastures for only a few hours per day. 3/Extensive farming (with or without seasonal movement): This system is practiced in mountainous or hilly regions and herds number between 100 and 600 animals. Animals belong to indigenous breeds (mountain or island) of low performance, in spite of the fact that sheep and goats graze freely in natural pastures, all year long.

In Greece pasture land is the most extensive natural land resource with tremendous economic and environmental value. It involves a surface of approximately 53 million hectares or 44% of total land surface. In general, designated pasture lands in our country are characterized by a great variety, either in relation to terrain or altitude, or vegetation and productivity.

Given the large number of sheep ((9.300.000) and goats (5.500.000) that graze in grasslands, it is quite evident that grazing burdens the ecosystem of herbaceous and shrubby pastures alike. Consequently, the above mentioned animal population in relation to the aforementioned production of forage material and its relatively low nutritional value, can only subsist for a few months time, without any damage to the pastures. However, in practice, animal herds are kept in pastures all year long, weather permitting, that is why there is the phenomenon of over-grazing; indeed, pasture lands are being constantly downgraded in terms of biodiversity and productivity.

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Nowadays, nomadic pastoralism faces a lot of difficulties, that is why it is being gradually abandoned in favour of intensive farming. At the same time, strong objections have been proclaimed by scientist and environmentalists, on the issue of free grazing. The honorary chairman of the Greek Society for Environmental protection, Mr. Georgios Sfikas, says characteristically: “A lot of Greek mountains are completely barren nowadays, due to over-grazing and fires. Fir wood mountains, such as Ainos and Kitheronas, have essentially died. It is as if you go into a village and all you see is old men and no children. It is 40 years now that not a single fir tree has grown because of goat grazing; as soon as a small plant starts to grow, goats eat it immediately.” He adds: “It has been decades now that in European countries free grazing has been prohibited by law. The only countries allowing it are Greece and Albania”. Consequently, intensive farming is gaining more and more ground, thus avoiding seasonal herd movement. Moreover, another advantage is that animal feed is better controlled, in order to assure its nutritional value and vets have more opportunities to check the animals. Breeding centers are relatively close to urban centers (as opposed to nomadic pastoralism) and this facilitates transportation and marketing of the products. In spite of the fact that in both animal husbandry and farming there is a reduction of people involved in these activities, production is increasing. The reason is mechanization of production that makes the whole activity less labour intensive.

Animal farming parks In an attempt to reconstruct the country’s farming sector and promote farmers’ entrepreneurial spirit the government is considering a new, flexible and innovative institutional framework that will encourage the creation of animal farming parks. Animal breeders will be given strong incentives to establish their businesses in these parks, benefiting form the whole infrastructure. These zones have been designed so that infrastructure satisfies the farmers’ needs and specific land plots are given to each one of them. The whole study takes into account the number of animals that these farms can accommodate as well as the relevant density quotient. Animal farmers have multiple benefits from such schemes. First of all farmer’s income is improved and mountain regions manage to retain their population. From an environmental point of view, the whole environment benefits as pastures become more productive and suffer less damage, landscape is preserved, dairy products have a better quality and animal breeders enjoy better living conditions. Indeed, their self- esteem soars as they consider themselves as businessmen and organize their production accordingly. Training in order to modernize production methods is of essential value as well.

• Milk production and harvesting

Traditional animal farming is based on experience of many centuries, the only real difference being that milk processing does not a place next to the sheep barn but in specially designed dairy installations, where traditional making methods are still preserved, but in a modern context of health and security standards, as they have been established by EU legislation. Milking is done either manually or with a milking machine. If it is done manually then the number of animals that a farmer can milk cannot surpass 70 – 100 per hour. On the contrary, when a milking machine is used then numbers exceed 150 animals per hour, while milk is of better quality, provided of course that standards are followed. However, such an installation is quite expensive, that is why the number of animals to be milked should exceed 150 per hour and the average annual production should be over 150kg per head. Milking machines can easily be installed in mountainous animal farms, so that animal breeders can cope better with bigger herds and a dwindling available labour force. Naturally, their living conditions benefit considerably from the mechanization of production and milk of better quality, complying with all standards, is an added value. Indeed, the produced milk does not come into contact with human hands, as it is automatically transported to special storage vats.

Cheese production has been proven an efficient way for the exploitation of milk from indigenous small ruminants’ breeds, since the ancient years. It is well known that ewe’s milk is the most appropriate milk kind for cheese making, due to its high casein and fat content. This is especially true for indigenous ewe breeds. Also the composition of goat’s milk from indigenous Greek breeds has a remarkable high fat and casein content. In fact most of Greek cheese varieties are produced from mixtures of ewe’s and goat’s milk. The latter being about 20-30% of the cheese/milk mixture. The production of milk and dairy food is of major economic importance in Greece, although the quantities of milk originating from ewes and goats are highly seasonal. In 2008, about 1.890.000t of milk were produced in the country, 37% of which was ewe’s and 22% was goat’s milk. Therefore, annual small ruminants’ milk production is more than 100 kilos per habitant, derived mainly from autochthonous breeds of animals. Apart from liquid milk for human consumption, the major dairy products produced in the country are yogurt and cheese. In fact, more than 80% of small ruminants’ milk is used for cheese production. The 2/3 of the total cheese production, estimated to about 185.000 t in 2008, were made from ewe’s or goat’s milk, and about 50% was cheese.

• Cheese manufacturing

Cheese making in Greece has a centuries old tradition. The Greek word “tyros” (cheese) appears on Linear B inscriptions. . Diodorus Sicilius (1rst century BC), the Greek historian from Sicily, wrote that Aristeus, son of Apollo and grandson of Zeus, who had learnt the art of cheese making from his nannies, the nymphs, was sent by the gods at Olympus mountain to teach the how to make cheese. Given the value of cheese as a food, it is not surprising that ancient Greeks considered cheese as a divine invention and gift. Homer in his Odyssey describes succinctly the shepherd and cheese maker Polyphemus of the 12th century BC, giving a full description of cheese making that archaeological excavation has proved to be valid in the Aegean islands.

Sheep and goat sheds are found all over the Aegean islands, from North Aegean to Crete, in the south. They are given different names, according to the local dialect, but in terms of functional characteristics they present a lot of similarities. A characteristic example is the Cretan “metato”, a combination of seasonal dwelling and barn, where milk production would take place in situ. On the Nida plateau, on the high mountain of Psiloritis, there are several such buildings, dry stone walls and dome, testimonies of an ancient construction tradition. Sometimes they form whole complexes with additional barns. The etymological origin of the word is probably Latin, as “Metatum” meant military dwelling. In Byzantine times the term was used in the sense of provisional shelter and it continues to have the same meaning in Crete today.

Traditional cheese is not considered as merely food, but it is a valuable source of information about its place of origin, namely, natural environment, food preferences, social and cultural customs, as well as way of life.

The cheese that Homer described seems possible to be the ancestor of Feta and it is the main cheese manufactured in Greece from the ancient times till today. Meanwhile various cheese types evolved through the centuries, so that nowadays each area, almost every island has its individual unique tradition in cheese manufacture.

Lately, the EU supports the local products and the traditional technologies. “Typical” foods are considered as safer and healthier by the consumer and “typicality” has been established as a recent way to understand the quality of a product. Numerous traditional are made throughout Greece today. Some of them are in fact types of the same variety, have somewhat different steps in technology or possibly the same technology, but known with different local names. Twenty of them were recognized as PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) cheeses and there are others were for their recognition. As a total, Greek traditional cheese could be grouped, according to their technology of manufacture as: cheeses in brine, soft cheeses, semi-hard cheeses, hard cheeses, cheeses.

PDO cheeses in Greece Under Regulation 1107/96, 126 cheeses in Europe have been defined as PDO. 37 French, 30 Italian, 20 Greek, 11 Spanish, 10 Portuguese, 8 English, 3 German, 3 Danish, 2 Austrian and 1 Belgian. Once a product has been acknowledged as PDO, then noone can give another product even a related name as the one of the protected traditional product. In order to acknowledge a product as Protected Designation of Origin, it must meet the following conditions:

Α. It is produced and ripens within a strictly defined geographical area. Β. Its first material is also produced within the same geographical area. C. No chemical additives are used in its production. D. It is produced using traditional techniques under natural conditions.

Greece is third in place in terms of the number of cheeses, thus proving our true cheesemaking tradition. It is easy to realize that the Mediterranean countries, including Portugal, comprise 108 out of the 126 cheeses and not at all by chance. In Southern Europe, cheese has been and still is a favorite food. In addition, goat and sheep rearing has greatly developed in contrast with Central and Northern Europe. Greek POD cheeses are: Anevato, Batzos, Feta, Formaella Arachovas, Galotyri, Agrafon, Graviera Kritis, Graviera Naxou, Kalathaki Limnou, , , , , , , , Pichtogalo Chanion, San Michali, Sfela or Fire Feta, Xynomyzithra Kritis.

All Greek cheeses are traditionally produced, with fresh milk. The milk is mainly or sheep milk containing up to 20% of goat milk. Cow milk is not used often; only two of the POD chesses are made of cow milk: Graviera Naxou and San Michali. Metsovone is made of a mixture of sheep and cow milk. The fact is that sheep and goat rearing is much easier in Greece because of the uneven and mountainous terrain that does not favor cow rearing.

1. Cheeses in brine

1.1 Batzos cheese, PDO

Young girl making batzos cheese (Thessaly, late 19th century)

Batzos is a low-fat, semi-hard, white brined cheese with a sourish and lightly piquant taste and a large number of “holes” in the body. It is made either of caprine or ovine milk or mixture of both milks. The cheese is made at home by the traditional method as well as at creameries of Western Macedonia, and the nearby Thessaly, using modifications of the traditional method and technological innovations.

1.2 Feta cheese, PDO

Greece is a country where feta cheese is produced and consumed at a very high rate. Recent data show an annual local consumption of over 20kg of feta cheese per capita. Data show that during the period between 1990 and 1995, Greece was steadily exporting more than 7000 tons of feta cheese per annum. Feta is a semi-soft, white brined cheese, with slightly acid taste, firm and smooth texture. No gas holes should be present, but irregular small mechanical openings are desirable. It is made from ovine or from mixtures of it with caprine milk (up to 30%). The cheese is produced all over the country.

1.3 Kalathaki of Limnos, PDO

This cheese type is made at Limnos island (North Aegean) with a technique similar to feta, with the exception that the curd is drained into round baskets (in the old times made of reeds, nowadays made of plastic), where it is also surface salted.

1.4 Sfela (Feta of fire)

Sfela is a semi-hard cheese produced in South Peloponnesus, particularly in Messinia province. The cheese is often called “feta of fire” because the curd is cooked at 36-38 C. The cheese is made from raw ovine milk, mixtures of ovine and caprine milk, and it nowadays ripens in barrels like feta.

2. Soft Cheeses

2.1 Anevato, PDO

Anevato is a spread type cheese made from raw ovine or caprine milk or mixtures of both. The traditional cheese has a pleasant taste, especially the product made of goat milk. The cheese is produced at home as well as creameries at in the mountain region of Western Macedonia in north west Greece and the nearby Thessaly.

2.2 Galotyri PDO

Galotyri is a soft cheese with sourish taste, made from ovine milk at the end of the lactation season. The cheese is made in all regions of the country by processes differing from region to region. Nowadays the cheese usually ripens in barrels instead of goat skins bags. In this case, in order to avoid thw growth of moulds, the cheese surface is covered with melted fat.

3. Semi-hard Cheeses

3.1 Kasseri, PDO

Κasseri is a traditional Greek cheese with a pleasant flavor, manufactured from ovine milk or mixtures of ovine and caprine milk. The cheese was introduced to Greece from the neighboring Balkan counties at the end of the 19th century, initially to Thessaly, Central Greece, from where its manufacture was spread to other areas of the country.

4. Hard Cheeses

4.1 Graviera, PDO

Graviera is the finest cheese among the Greek hard cheeses. It is distinguished for its pleasant aroma and its fine taste. Ovine milk is mainly used for cheese manufactured, but cow’s milk or mixtures of it with ovine and Capricorn milk are also used, the latter not exceeding 20%. The mature cheese has a smear rind and usually exhibits small or larger irregular openings.

4.2 Ladotyri, PDO

Ladotyri is a hard cheese, produced mainly in the island of Mytilini (North Aegean). The cheese is made from ovine or mixture of ovine and goat’s milk raw at home or pasteurized in dairies. Ladotyri is preserved in , as indicated by its name (ladi=oil, tyri=cheese).

4.3 Xinotyri

Xinotyri is a farm cheese variety, manufactured from raw goat’s milk from indigenous breeds in the island of Naxos (Cyclades complex).

4.4 Melichloro (melipasto)

Melichloro is the traditional cheese of Limnos island (North Aegean). The cheese is made from raw ewe’s milk at the end of the lactation season.

5. Whey cheeses

5.1 Manouri, PDO

Manouri is a that has many similarities with myzithra, but it is creamier and less salty, with a delicate texture and superior sensory quality. Manouri is a traditional product of Western Macedonia, in northern Greece, and it has long been made from the whey obtained during the production o batzos, a semi-hard cheese derived from caprine and ovine milk. Today manouri is also produced from the whey of cheeses made solely from ovine milk, and although a whey cheese, it is the main product of this cheese making process.

5.2 Myzithra

Myzithra is a traditional Greek whey cheese made by heating the whey at a temperature of 88-92 C, with a fat content of up to 19% It is used as a table cheese but more commonly as an ingredient of certain foods (eg cheese pies). It is also encountered in a partially dehydrated form, called dry myzithra, used for grating.

5.3 Xinomyzithra, PDO

This type of myzithra is made from the whey obtained during the production of and Graviera from sheep’s and goat’s milk. It is a traditional product of Crete Island. For the production of xinomyzithra, myzithra is first manufactured, which is cooked and drained more severely, and it is then pressed for one week. Salt is added after that and the cheese is stored in barrels.

• Contemporary Dairy Units

Dairy plant in Andissa, Lesvos Island

Milk harvesting starts very early in the morning at dawn. After milking the animals, the harvested milk is put in special 'Ice banks', that were the first type of bulk milk cooler, in order to preserve milk at +2C. Sheep and goat milk are then separately transported to the dairy plant where cheese making takes place. There it is also preserved at low temperature in big containers (up to 8tn) till the process starts. Twice or three times per month, health controllers check the milk’s quality before its commercialization.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Moatsou Golfo, Govaris Alexandros, “White-brined Cheese: a diachronic exploitation of small ruminants milk in Greece”. Laboratory of Dairy Research, Department of Food Science and Technology, Agricultural University of Athens, Greece

Anifantakis, E.M.,”Greek Cheeses” in: “Α Τradition of Centuries”, National Dairy Committee of Greece, Athens 1998

Litopoulou-Tzanetaki, E., Tzanetakis N., “Microbiological characteristics of Greek Taditional Cheeses”. Small Ruminant Research, Athens 2011

Zygouris, N.P., “Milk Industry”, Ministry of Agriculture, Athens 1956

Kandarakis, I.G., “Traditional Whey Cheeses”. Bulletin of the International Dairy Federation 202, Athens 1986

Statistical Service of Greece, 1993-1998, Athens, Greece

Hellenic Ministry of Agriculture, Athens, Greece

Moatsou Golfo, Govaris Alexandros, “White-brined Cheese: a diachronic exploitation of small ruminants milk in Greece”. Laboratory of Dairy Research, Department of Food Science and Technology, Agricultural University of Athens, Greece

Eleftherotypia newspaper, « Only in Greece and Albania goats graze free!”, by Christina papastathopoulou [email protected], Thursday, 27 of August 2009

http://www.anogialand.gr

EnviFriendly / Life-Environment – Environmental friendly Technologies for Rural Development, ΕΚΚΕ – Institute of Urban & Rural Sociology ‐ Environment Group, [email protected]