Cheese Database

Wagasi vs Warankasi

Wagasi

Facts

Milk
Cow
Texture
Fresh
Type
Fresh
Rind
No rind
Country
Benin
Place
Northern Benin

Wagasi is a fresh cow's milk cheese from Northern Benin. Herders and market sellers know it as a soft white cheese that is often shaped into rounds or balls. The curd is set with plant sap rather than with the rennet many European cheeses use, which gives Wagasi its own mild, milky character. It is an everyday food cheese, not a long-aged wheel with a thick rind. People fry it, simmer it, and add it to sauces.

Warankasi

Facts

Milk
Cow
Texture
Soft
Type
Fresh
Rind
No rind
Country
Nigeria

Warankasi is a soft white cheese from Nigeria, made from cow's milk. The Yoruba name is also shortened to wara, a word tied to milk. Makers curdle fresh milk with an extract of the sodom apple plant, Calotropis procera, known locally as bomubomu. The curds are mild, moist, and usually eaten soon after they are formed. It is ordinary street food, not a long-aged wheel.