Many people associate Chechil cheese with a braid. It is a relative of Suluguni, although it has its own original taste. Looking a little into the history of the appearance of this product, you can find out that its homeland is the Caucasus. During its preparation, each strip, as thick as a hair, was pulled out. Chechil is good not only with beer and wine, but also adds some zest to the salad.

If we compare Chechil with Suluguni cheese, then the first option has greater layering and a rich sour-milk flavor. This cheese has several options:

Pigtail
Noodles
Spaghetti
Straw
Glomeruli

To add piquancy to this product, it is sent for smoking. This is the option that beer fans really love. Smoked Chechil becomes dried and salty, which is an ideal option in addition to foamy.

In the Caucasus, the quality of this pickled cheese is checked as follows: if it is prepared according to all quality standards, then its fibers can be pulled through the eye of a needle. In its homeland, it is eaten white and washed down with wine. It goes well with dense red wines ( cabernet sauvignon, malbec, shiraz ). A popular recipe for making cheese is fried Chechil. All smoked fibers are carefully cut horizontally and placed in a frying pan. Fry the product on one side until a golden hue appears, and then turn it over to the other side and get the same color. After this preparation, Chechil becomes fragrant and tender.

Making Chechil cheese (pigtail)

This type of cheese can be prepared independently at home. To do this you will need the following ingredients:

low-fat cow's milk - 4 liters;
rennet – 1 g;
salt to taste;
water.

Once all the ingredients are prepared, you can proceed directly to cooking.

Pour the milk into a large saucepan and put on fire. We warm it up to a temperature of 38C. It is best to use a food thermometer to achieve the desired result.
Once the required temperature is reached, you can add rennet and mix everything well.
Now you can remove the pan from the stove and leave to cool for 30-40 minutes.
The mass will slowly thicken. It needs to be cut into small pieces and left for another half hour so that the whey is completely separated.
Take a sieve and line the bottom with gauze.
Pour the cheese into it and leave again for 60 minutes. This way we allow all the whey to drain off.
Then we put the cheese into hot water and try to pull it into strings.
In a separate container we make a saline solution. You can add salt to your taste and send the prepared threads into it. The cheese should sit in the solution for a day.
We take the product out of the solution and now weave a braid or wind a ball. All is ready! Bon appetit!

Chechil cheese is a very healthy and nutritious product for every person. It contains very little fat, so it is classified as a dietary product. Calcium and vitamins make it indispensable on the table, and the energy value per 100 g of product is 280-350 kcal.

To taste a wonderful salty snack, you don’t have to run to the supermarket and buy incredible delicacies. Today we will talk about how to make Chechil cheese at home, the recipe for which you will find in our article along with detailed instructions. It turns out incredibly tasty, juicy and, most importantly, without the slightest suspicion of the presence of GMOs or other unhealthy components in the composition.

Chechil cheese is known to us under another name - “Pigtail” cheese. We can find it on the counter of any store. It is considered the closest “relative” of suluguni; it is similar in taste and consistency, but its taste and density are still different.

There is no need to age Chechil cheese for weeks; it is prepared quickly both in industrial conditions and at home.

Well, let's try to do it?

Ingredients

— 3 l + -
Pepsin – 10 g + -

For the brine

- taste + -
- taste + -

Cooking at home

The recipe calls for the use of rennet or pepsin. You can buy such “exotic” in almost any pharmacy.

Add pepsin at the rate of 1 g per 300 ml of liquid.

If we have village milk in front of us, it must be “skimmed” or skimmed, since in the original technology Chechil cheese is made from milk with a low percentage of fat.

To do this, put raw milk in a saucepan or jar in the refrigerator overnight, and in the morning remove the top layer, that is, the cream, with a ladle. We remember that this will reduce the volume of milk, so in advance we pour it into a pan larger than 3 liters by about 20-25%.

Then we leave the milk in the open air and let it sour naturally during the day - this way the cheese will turn out more tasty and will stretch better.
It is the acidity of the milk in this recipe that determines how well the cheese pieces can be turned into threads. The optimal moment is when it begins to curl.

We install a divider on the gas stove so that the milk in the pan heats up gradually and evenly, and heat it to 32 - 35 ° C, remove from the heat.
Pour in pepsin in proportion and leave for half an hour. There is no need to touch or interfere with anything - just let it sit.
Over time, a dense mass forms in the pan, put it back on the stove and heat it to 50°C, stirring gently. This will help the serum separate completely.
Then we filter the resulting flakes through cheesecloth and place them on the table. We put on gloves and pull the flakes into threads. They can be twisted into balls or braided, as we are used to seeing.
We make a saline solution and put the resulting chechil cheese in it overnight. In the morning the product is ready for use. You can eat it straight or put it in the smoker to acquire a bright color and spicy aroma.

But there is a faster way to prepare a delicious snack at home.

How to make chechil from fresh milk

For this recipe we need 4 liters of fresh low-fat milk.

How to make Chechil cheese

Warm the milk to a temperature no higher than 38°C and add 1 g of rennet. Mix everything thoroughly and immediately remove from heat.
Leave it to curl and thicken for 35-40 minutes, and then cut the resulting mass into squares directly in the pan - this will ensure better separation of the whey. Leave again for half an hour.
In the meantime, prepare a colander, a large sieve or sieve - cover it with several layers of gauze. We discard the resulting cheese and let it drain for an hour.
We heat water over the fire so that the hand can tolerate it, put pieces of cheese into it and pull them into threads. Thanks to the temperature, they will become more plastic and will not tear.
We twist the finished chechil in any convenient way and place it in a pre-prepared saline solution.

Now you know how to make Chechil cheese at home. Cooking recipes vary, so we try different ones to choose the right one, because making cheese is not just a labor-intensive, but also a very delicate process. Who knows which method will work in your hands and in your kitchen?

Share the details of making Chechil cheese in the comments and post photos of the finished product, friends!

Chechil cheese was invented in the Caucasus by Armenian shepherds who stored milk for the winter by making cheese from it. You can probably try real Chechil cheese only in the villages of Armenia, although modern cheese producers do everything they can to bring their cheeses as close as possible to the taste of the original Chechil cheese, prepared at home.

How Chechil cheese is made

To produce Chechil cheese, pasteurized milk is used. The fat content of such milk should be very low; skim milk products are most often used. The milk is heated to thirty-two degrees, after which rennet, pepsin, is added to it. After some time, curd lumps and clots form in the milk. After the formation of such lumps, the mixture is mixed well and heated to sixty degrees. The temperature is constantly monitored; if the mixture is heated too high or, conversely, too low, the cheese will not turn out.

As a result of heating, cheese flakes are formed, which float in the resulting whey. The flakes are filtered, separating the whey, salted well and laid out on a flat surface. They are then manually formed into threads. When the raw materials are properly prepared, cheese flakes become very plastic, so stretching and forming a thread of the required thickness and size is not difficult for an experienced cheese maker. These threads are wound into balls or braided into short tight braids, and then soaked in brine. The brine is prepared not very strong, since over-salting the product will make it tougher. The cheese must lie in the brine for a month, during which the product matures. In a braid, thanks to the dense weaving, the cheese retains many useful substances for a long time, although it can be stored for no more than two and a half months. After this period, cheese made without adding preservatives may spoil.

What are the benefits and harms of Chechil cheese?

Due to the fact that the cheese is made from low-fat or skim milk, Chechil has a fat content of 10%. Thus, Chechil is one of the lowest calorie cheeses, it is perfect for those who adhere to various weight loss diets.

If you use Chechil instead of fatty gourmet cheeses, the calorie content of your diet will be significantly reduced, since one hundred grams of this cheese contains about 300-350 kilocalories. For comparison: the energy value of fatty cheeses averages 500-600 kilocalories.

Cheese is perfect for those who consider themselves fans of fashionable protein diets, “Protasovka” and others. It contains very little fat and no carbohydrates at all, but contains a large amount of protein.

At the same time, eating too much cheese is not recommended. Due to the high (up to eight percent) salt content in Chechil cheese, this product should be limited to those who suffer from kidney and cardiovascular diseases. Those who want to lose weight should also use this cheese with caution, since salt retains water in the body and contributes to weight gain.

Unfortunately, not entirely natural Chechil cheese, produced using simplified technologies, is often found on sale. For example, cheese braids are not smoked in the classical way, but are treated with so-called “liquid smoke.” Sometimes preservatives, dyes, and flavors are added to cheese for better storage. All these additives can cause allergic reactions and make the cheese more harmful.

Varieties of Chechil cheese

Chechil cheese always has the shape of long threads, more or less wide. These threads can be rolled into balls or strands, braided into short braids or wreaths. Interestingly, the shape of a short tight braid made of cheese strings is patented.

The name of the cheese means “confused” in Armenian. Many believe that the highest quality Chechil cheese has the form of the finest threads, which, if desired, can be passed through the eye of a needle. But in reality, there are many varieties of this cheese, and the threads do not always have to be so thin. For example, thick sticks of this cheese are optimal for frying. In addition, it will probably be difficult to check the quality of cheese in a store in this way.

Chechil cheese can be salted or smoked. The second variety is easily recognized by its specific aroma and golden brown crust. Regular salted strings of cheese have a pale yellow, almost white hue and a soft, almost imperceptible crust. Smoked cheese is considered one of the best snacks for beer; it is also suitable as an accompaniment to young grape wine.

The closest relative of Chechil cheese is Suluguni. But Chechil has a more pronounced fermented milk taste and a pronounced fibrous, layered structure.

What do you eat Chechil cheese with?

The taste of Chechil cheese is soft, salty and slightly piquant. It is very good as a snack on its own, for example, on the go. Since the taste of cheese is self-sufficient, it does not need to be combined with other products, although Chechil harmonizes perfectly with bread and fresh vegetables. It can be cooked with vegetables, added to salads, or combined with fried or stewed mushrooms. Interesting combinations of this cheese with meat or seafood. There are even recipes for soups with Chechil cheese. Cheese is added to the soup shortly before the end of cooking. It not only gives the dish an original look, but also significantly enriches the taste.

Smoked cheese is a great appetizer for beer. Unsmoked cheese goes better with grape wine. In Armenia, such cheese is often fried in a frying pan, giving it an original spicy flavor. In this case, savory herbs and spices are often used to change the taste of the cheese.

If Chechil turns out to be too salty, then it can be soaked in fresh milk for several hours and then dried thoroughly. This will give the cheese a delicate taste and pleasant consistency.

Maria Bykova

Chechil cheese: a Caucasian dietary product

Tight fibrous braids, woven from an elastic cheese mass, rightfully coexist on the shelves of gastronomic departments next to other cheeses. Chechil is a pickled cheese, the brother of Suluguni, but it has its own hardened character and individual delicate taste. The history of this product is interesting: it is produced in the Caucasus only by hand, drawing threads to the thickness of a hair. Chechil goes harmoniously with beer or wine, decorates a salad or sandwich, and adds a piquant appearance to a rich cheese plate.

What is Chechil

The Armenian national cheese, which consists of fibrous balls or braided braids, is chechil. Due to the fact that the cheese is simply tied into a bundle, all the nutritional juices and natural properties of dairy raw materials are retained in the product. Chechil refers to pickled cheeses, those that ripen in a salty solution, therefore they have a watery structure and a high salt content. The name of the cheese comes from a Caucasian word that also sounds like “chechil”, which means “confused”.

Chechil differs from suluguni, a close relative, by increased layering and a more pronounced fermented milk taste. There are many varieties of chechil: in addition to the traditional braid, it is produced in the form of spaghetti, ropes, straws, noodles, and balls. Quite often, this type of brine cheese is smoked, which adds piquancy to the finished product. This modern transformation of fibrous cheese appealed to beer lovers: the product is dry and salty, indispensable as an addition to a foamy drink.

How it is produced

Chechil is produced from fresh pasteurized cow's milk with reduced fat content, which is fermented using animal rennet. First, the milk is heated to 32 degrees, then pepsin is added. After a clot has formed, the fermented milk mixture is stirred and heated to 60 degrees. The resulting flakes are collected, separated from the whey, heavily salted and placed in the sun. Then they are stretched by hand on the table in the form of threads, wound into balls of five kilograms, or immediately braided into braids. The cheese is stored in a salty solution until fully ripened for almost a month. The maximum shelf life of cheese on sale is no more than seventy-five days. This is a living product, without preservatives, therefore it is subject to oxidation and rapid spoilage.

The copyright for the production of braids from chechil belongs to Karan Abrahamyan, head of the cheese workshop at the educational and research center of the Kyiv Agrarian University, Fastovsky district (Velikaya Skitynka village). The author has a patent for an invention and an industrial design, a certificate for a mark for goods and services. Initially, the braid was made from Italian Mozzarella cheese; much later, the braid began to be made from suluguni, and only then from chechil.

The benefits of Chechil cheese

The elastic, dense consistency of the cheese has a low fat content - up to 10%, which is why Chechil is classified as a dietary product. Due to its low fat content, this type of pickled cheese is used in diets. For example, Protasov’s diet is based on the consumption of raw vegetables and low-fat dairy products. At the same time, chechil has a fairly high moisture content - up to 60% and salt - 4-8%. Rich in calcium and vitamins, chechil is a truly healthy product. The energy value of one hundred grams of cheese ranges from 280 to 350 kcal.

This is interesting

If chechil is prepared correctly, following all the secrets of technology, its fibers can be pulled through the eye of a needle. This is how cheese is checked for quality. The capricious nature of the product is due to a special technology: if the raw materials are of poor quality, or if a non-professional hand touches the cheese production, Chechil simply will not work.

A variety of snacks are prepared from cheese and added to soups and salads. In the Caucasus, chechil is eaten fresh and white, washed down with homemade wine. The most common recipe is fried chechil. To do this, smoked fibers are cut horizontally and placed in a heated frying pan. As soon as an appetizing golden crust appears, the cheese is turned over and fried on the other side. This savory appetizer gives chechil a special tenderness and aroma.

Zhanna Pyatirikova

Chechil is a Caucasian pickled cheese with an interesting history and a lot of useful properties.

What is Chechil

How it is produced

The benefits of Chechil cheese

If chechil prepared correctly, observing all the secrets of technology, its fibers can be pulled through the eye of a needle. This is how cheese is checked for quality. The capricious nature of the product is due to a special technology: if the raw materials are of poor quality, or if a non-professional hand touches the cheese production, Chechil simply will not work.