Cherni Vit vs Sirene
Cherni Vit
Facts
- Milk
- Sheep
- Texture
- Soft
- Type
- Brined
- Rind
- Natural rind
- Country
- Bulgaria
Cherni Vit is a sheep's milk cheese from Bulgaria, known for the green mold that forms a crust. It begins as a white cheese kept in brine, in the broad family of Balkan sirene. Wooden casks and the air of its home area let that mold grow after the casks are opened. The interior stays pale, while the outside turns green. The taste is sharp and hotter than a plain white brine cheese.
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.