Cheese Database

Bryndza vs Sirene

Bryndza, field guide plate
Bryndza, photographed

Bryndza

Facts

Milk
Sheep
Texture
Soft
Type
Fresh
Rind
No rind
Country
Poland

Bryndza is a soft sheep's milk cheese eaten in Poland and in several other countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The paste is white, crumbly, and salty, and it spreads more easily than it slices. Makers crumble a fresh sheep cheese, salt it, and work it into a moist mass that is often sold from a tub. The taste is tangy and sharp rather than mild or buttery. It belongs in savory cooking as much as it belongs on bread.

Sirene, field guide plate
Sirene, photographed

Sirene

Facts

Texture
Semi-hard
Type
Brined
Rind
No rind
Country
Bulgaria

Sirene is the white brined cheese of Bulgaria, sold in blocks that sit in salty liquid. The paste is white and slightly grainy, and it breaks into moist crumbs rather than bending like a soft bloomy cheese. Salt is part of the identity, because the cheese finishes in brine. In Bulgaria the name means this everyday white cheese, not one branded wheel. A block can taste fresh and tangy, or firmer and saltier, depending on its time in the brine.