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What are the main types of Georgian cheese and how do you store them?

Main cheese types and storing them in brine.

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Short answer

Georgia makes around 60 types of cheese, including Imeruli, Sulguni, Narchvi, Tushetian Guda and Dambalkhacho. Traditional producers talk to customers at farmer's markets. At home, cheese is kept in brine or frozen in a sealed bag.

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Why

  1. Imeruli is made by hand from raw milk, salted with rock salt and stored in brine.
  2. Sulguni is made from fresh cow or buffalo milk, kneaded in hot water and shaped into balls, and it can be smoked for at least two months.
  3. Narchvi, a Svan cheese made from cow milk, is pressed in wooden boxes and aged until Christmas.
  4. Tushetian Guda is made from sheep or mixed sheep and cow milk and aged for about 60 days in a sheepskin bag.

Details

Besides the ones above, there are Dambalkhacho (a mountain blue-type cheese from Tianeti and Pshavi, soft and golden inside) and Meskhetian Tenili (made from sheep or cow milk, packed into a clay pot and aged for at least two months). Chogi, Kalti, Kobi, Chechili and Kazla are also made.

For storage, use a brine of rock salt, sugar, vinegar and boiled water, in which cheese keeps for about a year. Cheese can also be frozen in a sealed bag, but avoid thawing and refreezing because the flavor changes. For more gift ideas see What to bring from Georgia, and for what to taste on the spot see What food to try in Georgia.

Tip

When buying cheese at a farmer's market, ask the producer what milk it is made from and how long it has been aged, so it is easier to choose between fresh Imeruli and aged Guda.

What may differ

Recipes and ageing times depend on the region and the producer. Rules for taking cheese to other countries depend on the destination, for example dairy products in luggage are not allowed into the EU (see the answer about taking churchkhela, spices and cheese to the EU).

Common misconception

All Georgian cheese is Sulguni and Imeruli.

What actually happens

Around 60 types are known, including Narchvi, Guda, Tenili and the blue-type Dambalkhacho.

People also ask

  • What types of cheese are there in Georgia?

Sources

This answer is for reference. Rules for taking cheese abroad depend on the destination country.

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