World Cheese Encyclopedia - Each Sunday learn all about a new cheese. 

This week Nanoški Sir from Slovenia. 

Country: Slovenia 🇸🇮

Region: Vipava Valley, Karst Plateau

Made from: Cow’s milk

Pasteurised: No

Texture: Firm

Taste: Salty, spicy, nutty

Certification: PDO

Ageing: at least 60 days up to 12 months

Nanoški Sir PDO is a hard cheese from Slovenia made from cow's milk. It is a large round cheese printed with a flower design. It is the first and only cheese from Slovenia to have PDO status. 

It is made only from the milk of cows that are pastured on the slopes of the Nanos mountain in the Vipava Valley and on the Karst plateau. This is a well-known wine-growing region in Slovenia. The area is also known for its strong winds called Bora which is why Nanoški sir is also sometimes called the cheese that « tastes like the wind «. 

It gained its PDO status in 2011 and as a result, must be produced according to strict standards.

The milk for Nanoški sir must be heat treated within 72 hours of the first milking. The milk is heated to between 63 °C to 69 °C, after which rennet is added. The milk is then left to coagulate before the curd is cut into squares and pressed into large round moulds. Each wheel of cheese is then salted in a sea-salt solution for three days. They are then aged for at least 60 days. During the first two weeks, the cheese is wiped and turned over every three days, and after that, they are turned at least once per week. When the cheese is at least 60 days old each wheel is branded with a stamp bearing the symbol of a narcissus flower and the inscription 'Nanoški sir'.  

The wheels of Nanoški sir are very large. Each wheel weighs between 8 and 11 kilos and has a diameter of about 35 cm and a height of 15 cm. The rind is yellow to peachy brown in color, smooth and dry. When cut open, the cheese's interior paste is a strong yellow color, smooth and firm with a few eyes scattered in it. It has a clean, mild aroma and a pleasant flavour, salty and a little piquant. Both the aroma and the flavour become stronger the longer the cheese is aged.

History

Nanoški Sir PDO is an evolution of "nanos" cheese which was produced on the Nanos plateau from sheep’s milk since the 16th century. The land register of the Vipava manor from that time shows that the lords of the manor were paid partly in cheese by their tenants. By 1935 sheep breeding in the area was declining and died out altogether during WWII. With the decline of the sheep in the area so went the decline of Nanos cheese. The last Nanos cheese is said to have been available in Trieste in 1954. However, this was not the end of the story. In 1986 the Vipava Dairy brought the tradition back to life, and began production of Nanoški sir using cow's milk due to the lack of sheep's milk and in 2011 Nanoški sir became the only Slovenian PDO cheese.

How to enjoy it

Nanoški sir should be kept in the refrigerator or in a cool, dry place. 

It is delicious on its own, but also goes very well as an ingredient in pasta dishes, salads, on a sandwich, or melted in a gratin. It pairs well with a full-bodied white wine, or for a more aged Nanoški sir, pair it with a glass of local red wine such as Teran from the same Karst region where the cheese is produced.

Sources: tasteatlas.com, qualigeo.eu, catalog-cs.info, Delo.si

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