Pljevlja cheese is the white cheese that Montenegrins measure all others against. It is made from raw, full-fat cow's milk in the high country around Pljevlja, sliced and layered with salt in tubs and left to ripen under its own whey. It has had a protected designation of origin since 2017, and the best place to buy it is from the producers themselves.
Pljevaljski sir is a soft white cheese of raw cow's milk, ripened in its own whey. How it's made, its protected name and where to buy it in Pljevlja.
A cheese with a long history
Pljevlja sits in a high basin in Montenegro's far north, close to the borders with Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, in country made for cattle. Its cheese has been traded for a very long time: Dubrovnik's archives from 1348 record trade in livestock products, cheese among them, between Dubrovnik and Breznica, as Pljevlja was then called. The specification written by the producers calls it a synonym for brined cheese in Montenegro, and the skill of making it is on the national register of intangible cultural heritage.
It used to be made in small huts called mljekari. The rules for the protected cheese allow one milk only: raw, full-fat cow's milk.
How it's made
The milk may only be cooled, never otherwise treated, and the only additions are animal rennet and salt. It is set at 28–33 °C, and the curd is cut into cubes a few centimetres across, drained in cloth for one to three hours and pressed under a wooden disc for four to six hours. Then it is sliced, 1.5 to 3 cm thick, and layered with salt in tubs, traditionally wooden ones.
The tubs are weighted so the slices sit under their own whey, and the cheese ripens at 15–25 °C for at least 15 days. What comes out is white to pale yellow, with a mild, lactic, slightly sour taste and moderate salt: at most 4 per cent, with at least 45 per cent fat in the dry matter. At least 80 per cent of the cows' feed must come from the area, and they graze from mid-May to the end of October.
Did you know?
Pljevlja cheese was already being traded in 1348: Dubrovnik's archives record trade in cheese and other livestock products between Dubrovnik and Breznica, as Pljevlja was then called.
A protected name
In 2017 Pljevaljski sir became the second Montenegrin product with a protected designation of origin. Under that name it may only be made in the Pljevlja area and only by the rules of its specification. That is why the safest place to buy it is Pljevlja itself, straight from the people who make it.
Where to buy and taste it
The town's dairy market, the MlijeÄŤna pijaca, is where producers sell cheese and kajmak. Every year in late October or November the municipality holds Pljevlja Cheese Days, Dani pljevaljskog sira, at Hotel Pljevlja, with judged categories for aged cheese, young and aged kajmak, sheep's and goat's cheese. Restaurants serving national cuisine in town also put Pljevlja cheese on the table.
