Cascaval Cheese from Balkan, - now with truffle

In Transylvania, in a small non-industrialized hidden valley in Carpathian Hargita mountains, some dozens of cows give rich milk for producing traditional Cascaval. Cascaval is made of from non-pastourized milk and it is married to black truffles, the treasure of Transylvanian forest. Terfezia recipes introduce us to a unique flavour travel from tradition to natural and organic gourmet food. Let’s join us and taste! Terfezia  Cascaval de Hargita.


Terfezia Cascaval de  Hargita Truffled Cheese

Origin

Cascaval is a type of cheese made of from cow's milk, sheep's milk or both. The name and the cheese, Kaskhaval, (Cascaval, Kashcaval, Cashcaval) is derived in Balkan countries Romania, Serbia, Macedonia, but it is well known also in Turkey and Near-East. This cheese is also known in Italy as Caciocavallo.

The name in all language refers to the word of horseman, cavalier, related to cavallo word in Romance-Latin languages. The word cas (cheese) was combined with cavallo referring to the movement to the mountain pastures during summer. We should look for the origin of this cheese and its name among a group of native Balkans known as the Aromanians, the nomadic Vlachs. These Vlachs (Aromanians) spread this type of cheese also throughout the modern-day Balkans and even in the Near East. It is started from Balkanian mountains to get to Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland (Rhaeto-Romance), Bulgaria, Greek, and Turkey. Turkey was the cultural transport point to further to Near-East, where this type of cheese known and popular from middle age.

Terfezia Cascaval de Hargita married to Black Truffe Tuber Uncinatum in middle, and without truffle matured Italian Silano Caciocavallo DOP on left, and fresh Transylvanian DOP Harghita de Cascaval on right.

Artasian Process

Cheese was made by leaving milk buckets curdle as they were transported astride during transhumant peregrinations and during nomadic migrations. Nowadays of course the ancient nomad technology is adapted to settled rural handcrafted methods.

Cascaval is stretched-curd cheese, in Italy special name is Pasta filata. This kind of cheese have in common the process called filatura (melting and stretching). The curds are steeped for some hours in a bath of very hot whey, or salted water up to 95°C. This results in curd “plasticizing” that gives the finished cheese its characteristic fibrous structure, along with melting and stretching properties. The curd mass is aftermath divided (often by pulling out a thick strand and chopping it) and shaped into individual cheese moulds. The discover that heating the curd with hot water results in making it stretchable dates back to the Middle Age.

This procedure unconsciously and unintentionally selected the thermophilic bacteria removing most of the viable mesophilic.

The Pasta Filata cheese is classified into two main categories: hard cheese such as Caciocavallo, Provolone, the Mexican Oaxaca and Palmito and of course Cascaval; and soft, moist cheese such as Mozzarella, Provole, Scamorze.

Cascaval de Hargitha is a DOP geographically protected cheese in Europe. Hargita is the Hungarian name of Hargitha county (Judet) in Romania. Terfezia Hargita de Cascaval currently could not use DOP Cascaval de Hargitha, because our product does not fit to traditional Cascaval, due to truffle ingredients, we may apply for that later.

Fresh artasian Terfezia Cascaval de Hargita, just arrived in wheels appr. 2,5 kg per round, but you can order in slice 250g per piece, too.

Usage and Consumption

The Terfezia Cascaval de Hargita is not a long-matured cheese, we have a ripening term just 30 days. Inspite if short ripening, it is so rich in flavours, that your experience can exceeds many 6–12-month cheese. Keep cool around 15 °C and you can enjoy one of your favourite cheeses for 3 months. In refrigerator you can have it even for 9 months. After cutting the wheel or opening please keep in refrigerator and consume in 14 days. The tastes, scents and flavours can prevail at 12-21 °C.

This gourmet food is healthy and organic. Does not contain artificial preservatives and colours. The ecological milk is from cows kept on natural mountain valleys. The cheese is made from non-pasteurized milk with gentle and traditional processes. The proteins of cheese are the most essential type of proteins to be built to organ, even most easily built in also. The cheese is one of the best ways to take Calcium to your body and bones to avoid weak bones in your older age.

The truffle is a superfood with numerous essential minerals, and impacts. It certainly is not accidentally, that truffles linked the ambrosia food sense in different places of ancient world. In the ancient Greek myths, ambrosia, means in ancient Greek: ἀμβροσία, "immortality", is the food or drink of the Greek gods, often depicted as conferring longevity or immortality upon whoever consumed it.

Energy                                     1205kJ/290kcal
Protein (g)                                22,00
Carbonhydrate (g)                     1,50
Fat (g)                                       22,00
Saturated Fat(g)                       12,00
Trans Fat(g)                                1,00
Sugar (g)                                    1,00
Salt (g)                                       1,00

You can eat with tomato, paprika, and different sausages as Hungarian and Transylvanian people. You can put on pasta dishes or white meat courses as Italians. Italians also offer wide range of recipes, from grilling the cheese to top salads or potatoes, to using it in Risotto. You can still use in delicious sandwiches. Nevertheless, this cheese and even truffle are highly characteristic and it does not fit with other offensive flavours. Dry Tokaji Szamorodni is our offered wine for this cheese. Tokaji Szamorodni is a traditional wine from Tokaj wine region in Hungary and its tastes harmonized well with Terfezia Cascaval de Hargita.