Cheeses of Turkey: 3. Varieties containing herbs or spices Ali A. Hayaloglu, Patrick F. Fox To cite this version: Ali A. Hayaloglu, Patrick F. Fox. Cheeses of Turkey: 3. Varieties containing herbs or spices. Dairy Science & Technology, EDP sciences/Springer, 2008, 88 (2), pp.245-256. hal-00895678 HAL Id: hal-00895678 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00895678 Submitted on 1 Jan 2008 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. Dairy Sci. Technol. 88 (2008) 245–256 Available online at: c INRA, EDP Sciences, 2008 www.dairy-journal.org DOI: 10.1051/dst:2007015 Review Cheeses of Turkey: 3. Varieties containing herbs or spices Ali A. Hayaloglu 1*, Patrick F. Fox2 1 Department of Food Engineering, Engineering Faculty, Inonu University, 44280 Malatya, Turkey 2 Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences, University College, Cork, Ireland Received 16 July 2007 – Accepted 11 October 2007 Abstract – Ripened cheese varieties containing herbs are traditional in Turkey and have been man- ufactured for more than 200 years in the east and southeast of the country. They are manufactured from raw milk, semi-hard in texture and salty in taste and have the aroma of garlic or thyme due to added herbs. Twenty-five types of herb, including Allium, Thymus, Silene and Ferula species which are most popular, are used individually or as appropriate mixtures. The most popular of these cheeses is Otlu which is produced mainly in the Van province of Turkey in small dairies and vil- lages, but now is produced in other cities of the eastern region of Turkey and its popularity increases continuously throughout Turkey. The manufacturing technology, chemical, biochemical and micro- biological status of Otlu cheese and the most common herbs used in its manufacture are reviewed. The possible effect of herbs used on the biochemical and microbiological characteristics of the cheeses are discussed also. In addition, some varieties of Otlu cheese and cheeses flavoured with spices (chilli pepper, black pepper, cinnamon, allspice, mint, thyme, cumin, etc.), including Carra, Surk and related cheeses, are discussed briefly. cheeses of Turkey / Otlu cheese / herbs / spice / proteolysis / microbiology 摘要 – 土耳其干酪 3: 含有药药草草和香料的干酪。摘要 : 在土耳其的东部和东南部地区, 生产 含有草药的传统成熟奶酪已有 200 多年的历史。这些干酪是用生鲜奶制作, 属于半硬质干 酪, 较咸, 由于添加了草药, 所以有大蒜或百里香的味道。葱、百里香、蝇子草和大茴香等 25 种草药是最常用的, 它们可以单独使用或几种混合在一起使用。其中最受欢迎的是奥特 卢干酪 (Otlu), 它最早是在土耳其 Van 省的小牧场和小村庄生产, 现在在土耳其的东部城市 也有生产, 并逐渐在全国范围内生产和销售。本文对奥特卢干酪的生产技术, 化学特性, 生 化特性和微生物学特性及制作干酪中常用的草药进行了论述。也讨论了草药对干酪的生化 特性和微生物学特征可能产生的影响。此外, 还简单介绍了奥特卢干酪的品种和用其他香 料 (如辣椒、黑胡椒、肉桂、多香果、薄荷、百里香、孜然等) 制作的干酪, 如 Carra、Surk 等。 土耳其干酪 / 奥特卢干酪 / 草草药药 / 香料 / 蛋白水解 / 微生物学 Résumé – Fromages de Turquie : 3. Variétés aux herbes et aux épices. Les variétés de fro- mages contenant des herbes sont traditionnelles en Turquie et sont produites depuis plus de 200 ans dans l’est et le sud-est du pays. Elles sont produites à partir de lait cru, ont une texture semi- dure et un goût salé et des arômes d’ail ou de thym apportés par les herbes ajoutées. Vingt-cinq sortes d’herbes, incluant les espèces Allium, Thymus, Silene et Ferula qui sont les plus populaires, sont utilisées individuellement ou en mélange. Le plus populaire de ces fromages est l’Otlu qui est produit principalement dans la province de Van en Turquie dans des petites laiteries et des vil- lages, mais actuellement aussi dans d’autres villes de la région Est de la Turquie et sa popularité * Corresponding author (通讯作者): [email protected] Article published by EDP Sciences and available at http://www.dairy-journal.org or http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/dst:2007015 246 A.A. Hayaloglu, P.F. Fox grandit continuellement dans tout le pays. La technologie de fabrication, le statut chimique, biochi- mique et microbiologique du fromage Otlu et les herbes les plus courantes utilisées dans sa fabri- cation sont présentés dans cette revue. L’effet possible des herbes utilisées sur les caractéristiques biochimiques et microbiologiques des fromages est aussi discuté. De plus, quelques variétés d’Otlu et de fromages aromatisés avec des épices (piment, poivre noir, cannelle, poivre de la Jamaïque, menthe, thym, cumin, etc.) incluant les fromages Carra, Surk et apparentés sont brièvement présen- tées. fromage de Turquie / Otlu / fromage aux herbes / fromage aux épices / protéolyse / microbiologie 1. INTRODUCTION chemistry of matured cheese. In this paper, the emphasis is mainly on Otlu cheese, but Ripened cheeses containing herbs or manufacturing technology, chemistry and spices may be similar to some other Turk- the characteristics of other types of Otlu ish cheeses in terms of their manufactur- cheese, Carra and Surk, are discussed also. ing technology, such as brined varieties, but they differ from other brined cheeses due to their appearance, flavour and taste. 2. OTLU CHEESE Addition of herbs or spices has made it possible to produce speciality cheese. They Otlu cheese is a very famous brined are produced in a restricted area of Turkey cheese in Turkey and its popularity has where people with particular cultures re- been increasing gradually; it has long side, e.g., in eastern (Otlu cheeses) and been produced traditionally (more than southern (Carra or Surk cheeses) Turkey. 200 years) in eastern cities, particularly Otlu-type cheeses have been produced in in Van province. Although its produc- these areas for more than 200 years us- tion is concentrated in eastern Turkey, ing traditional and artisanal techniques, Otlu cheese is marketed throughout Turkey but nowadays the cheeses are manufac- and has export potential to EU coun- tured also in some dairies (in eastern or tries after industrialization of its produc- other parts of Turkey) with developed tion. The use of herbs gives Otlu cheese techniques, such as, the use of pasteur- its characteristic appearance (Fig. 1) and ized milk, a starter culture, commercially- aroma/flavour. The herbs are essential for produced coagulants, etc. The manufacture the special flavour of the cheese but also of Otlu cheese in small dairy plants or extend its shelf-life. It has been shown marketing in big cities has increased its that ethanol and methanol extracts of some popularity and the level of production has herbs, including Allium vinale, Chaero- increased gradually in recent years. How- phyllum macropodum and Prangos feru- ever, Carra and Surk cheeses are manu- lacea, have antibacterial activity against factured only in Hatay province by tradi- Listeria monocytogenes serovars [36]. Otlu tional methods and are consumed only in cheese is ripened in brine or in earthen- the region where they are produced. It is ware or plastic containers using a dry- believed that these cheeses are produced salting method and it has a semi-hard also in some cities of neighbouring Syria texture and salty taste. When dry-salting by Arabic people and it is thought that the is used, the cheese is ripened under- cheeses acquire their characteristics from ground for at least 3 months. However, cultural interactions between the two na- this traditional production method has tions. There is no detailed information on been replaced in dairies by brine-salting Carra and Surk cheeses or on the effects of and marketed vacuum-packed in contain- adding spices on the microbiology and bio- ers [8, 15]. Cheeses of Turkey with herbs and spices 247 Figure 1. Otlu cheese (courtesy of U. Kamber). 2.1. Manufacturing procedure 14–16% (w/v) NaCl brine or dry-salted. In for Otlu cheese the case of dry-salting, “lor”or“cacik” obtained by heating whey or defatted yo- 2.1.1. Cheesemaking gurt, respectively (for further information see Sects. 3.1 and 3.2), is filled into the In the traditional method, raw sheep’s spaces between the cheese blocks in plastic milk is used and no starter is added, or earthenware containers. The containers but in industrial production, pasteurized filled with Otlu cheese are inverted (to pro- milk is preferred. When pasteurized milk mote whey drainage and to give the cheese was used for production, the milk was typical aroma/flavour characteristics) and acidified by a mesophilic starter cultures, ripened underground (about 50 cm under e.g., Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis plus the soil) for 2–3 months. In the brining L. lactis subsp. cremoris.Ifinsufficient method, the cheese blocks are placed in sheep’s milk is available, cow’s or goat’s 14–16% NaCl brine for 6–10 h and then milk is added. Traditionally, home-made transferred to tinned cans (preferably) and calf rennet is used as coagulant (see for ripened in the cans for at least 1 month. detail Hayaloglu et al. [19]) and the clot- ting time ranges from 60 to 120 min at 30– 35 ◦C. After the coagulum has been cut, 2.1.2. Herbs used in the manufacture it is transferred to a cotton bag and the of Otlu cheese herbs are added to the curd and mixed well without whey draining. The level of herbs About 25 herbs are used in the man- ranges from 0.5 to 2 kg to the curd ob- ufacture of Otlu cheese, the principal of tained from 100 kg of milk [8, 42]. Then, which are listed in Table I [8, 42]. Al- the curds are pressed for 3–4 h for whey lium is the most widely used, probably drainage and then cut into blocks about due to its abundance in the mountains 7 × 7 × 2 cm.