🧀 Metsovone

Metsovone is a smoked Greek cheese with a protected designation of origin (PDO). The Ministry of Agriculture recognised the name in 1994 (Decision 313070), and it became an EU PDO on 21 June 1996. It is made traditionally in the province of Metsovo in the prefecture of Ioannina from cow's milk, or from cow's milk mixed with sheep's and goat's milk, the latter two together not exceeding 20% of the total. The milk must come exclusively from that area.

The milk comes from cow, sheep and goat breeds adapted to the area and must be curdled within 48 hours of milking.

The milk is curdled at 32-35 C in 10-15 minutes. The curd is cut, reheated to 46-48 C, pressed and left in a wooden vat to acidify to pH 5.3-5.1. It is then cut into strips, kneaded in water at 75-80 C until smooth and pliable, and moulded into cylinders. The cheeses are salted in 18-20 Baume brine for as many days as they weigh in kilograms, tied with string and ripened at 15-17 C for at least three months. After ripening they are smoked for 1-2 days with natural smoke from burning plants of the production area and then coated with paraffin.

How is Metsovone different from an ordinary smoked cheese? Smoking is only the last step. The cheese is first ripened for at least three months at 15–17 °C, and before that the curd is reheated to 46–48 °C, left to acidify to pH 5.3–5.1 and kneaded in water at 75–80 °C until smooth and pliable. The smoke comes from burning plants of the production area, and a paraffin coat follows. The base is cow's milk with at most 20% sheep's and goat's milk together.

Look for the name “Metsovone” and the EU PDO symbol, the protected designation of origin. The cheese is a cylinder of about 1.5, 2.5 or 4.5 kg, tied with string, with a thin, dry rind from yellow to chestnut brown under a paraffin coat, and a compact, straw-coloured body. It is usually sold whole or in cut pieces at delicatessens, specialist cheese shops and the cheese counter of larger supermarkets, often in the Greek-products section.

The specification sets a maximum moisture of 38% and a minimum of 40% fat in dry matter. The cheese is a cylinder weighing about 1.5, 2.5 or 4.5 kg, with a thin, dry rind from yellow to chestnut brown and a semi-hard to hard, compact, straw-coloured body. Colourants, preservatives and antibiotics are not allowed.