View source for Bryndza

{{Short description|Sheep milk cheese made in several European countries}}
{{Wiktionary}}
{{Use dmy dates |date=March 2022}}
{{Infobox cheese
| name = Bryndza
| image = [[File:Chleb z bryndza.jpg|200px]]
| region = Central and Eastern Europe<ref name="cheese.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.cheese.com/Description.asp?Name=Bryndza |title=Cheese Description: Bryndza |access-date=2008-06-11 |publisher=Cheese.com }}</ref>
| source = Sheep, goat, cow
| pasteurised = No
| texture = Depends on variety
| fat = Depends on variety
| certification = {{lang|pl|[[Bryndza Podhalańska]]}}: PDO<ref name="pl bryndza">{{cite web |url=http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32007R0642:EN:NOT |title=Commission Regulation (EC) No 642/2007 of 11 June 2007 registering a name in the Register of protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications Bryndza Podhalańska (PDO) |access-date=2008-06-10 |author=European Commission |author-link=European Commission |date=2007-06-11 }}</ref><br />{{lang|sk|[[Slovenská bryndza]]}}: PGI<ref name="sk bryndza">{{cite web |url=http://eur-lex.europa.eu/Notice.do?checktexts=checkbox&checktexte=checkbox&val=474677%3Acs&pos=1&page=1&lang=en&pgs=10&nbl=1&list=474677%3Acs%2C&hwords=&action=GO&visu=%23texte |title=Commission Regulation (EC) No 676/2008 of 16 July 2008 registering certain names in the Register of protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications |access-date=2008-07-23 |date=2008-07-16 |author=European Commission |author-link=European Commission }}</ref>
}}

'''Bryndza''' or '''brynza''' is a [[sheep milk]] [[cheese]] made across the countries in [[Central Europe|Central]] and [[Eastern Europe]], most notably in [[Slovakia]] and Moldova.<ref name="cheese.com" /> Bryndza cheese is creamy white in appearance, known for its characteristic strong smell and taste. The cheese is white, tangy, crumbly and slightly moist. It has characteristic odor and flavor with a notable taste of [[butyric acid]]. The overall flavor sensation begins slightly mild, then goes strong and finally fades to a salty finish. Recipes differ slightly across countries.

[[File:Bryndzové halušky so slaninou.jpg|thumb|250px|In Slovakia, bryndza serves as the main ingredient to {{lang|sk|[[bryndzové halušky]]}}, which is regarded as a national dish.]]

Bryndza is an essential ingredient in preparing traditional Slovak dishes such as ''podplamenníky s bryndzou'' or ''[[bryndzové halušky]]''.

==Etymology==
''Bryndza'' or ''Brynza'', a word borrowed from Romanian ''brânză'' ("cheese"), is used in various European countries,<ref name="Bryndza etymology1">{{cite encyclopedia |first=Max |last=Vasmer |author-link=Max Vasmer |author2=Oleg Trubachyov |author2-link=Oleg Trubachyov |encyclopedia=Этимологический словарь русского языка (Etymological dictionary of the Russian language) |title=бры́нза |url=http://starling.rinet.ru/cgi-bin/response.cgi?root=config&morpho=0&basename=%5Cdata%5Cie%5Cvasmer&first=1&text_word=&method_word=substring&text_general=bryndza&method_general=substring&text_origin=&method_origin=substring&text_trubachev=&method_trubachev=substring&text_editorial=&method_editorial=substring&text_pages=&method_pages=substring&text_any=&method_any=substring&sort=word |access-date=2008-07-22 |language=ru |edition=3rd |year=1996 |isbn=5-7684-0023-0}}</ref> due to its introduction by migrating [[Vlachs]]. The word ''[[:wikt:brânză|brânză]]'' ({{IPA|ro|ˈbrɨnzə}}) is simply the generic word for "cheese" in [[Romanian language|Romanian]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=Dictionar Englez Roman - English Romanian Dictionary Online |title=cheese |url=http://www.dictionare.com/english/dictionaries1.htm |access-date=2008-07-09 |publisher=Industrial Soft |quote=brânză |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080708151139/http://www.dictionare.com/english/dictionaries1.htm |archive-date=2008-07-08 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

According to the Romanian Explanatory Dictionary the etymology of ”brânză” is unknown.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://dexonline.ro/intrare/br%C3%A2nz%C4%83/6747|title = Dexonline}}</ref>
It is a word presumably [[List of Romanian words of possible Dacian origin|inherited by the Romanian language from Dacian]],<ref>Ion I. Russu, Limba traco-dacilor, Editura Ştiințifică, 1967</ref><ref>Ariton Vraciu, Limba daco-geților, Timişoara: Editura Facla, 1980</ref> the language of the [[Dacians|pre-Roman population]] in modern-day [[Romania]]. Other theories suggest, on the basis of what is used to make cheese, a derivation from Latin brandeum (originally meaning a linen covering, later a thin cloth for relic storage). Alternatively, it is possibly related to Albanian brëndës (“intestines”). Originally it referred to cheeses prepared in a sheep's stomach by reacting with the rennet inside.<ref>Vladimir Orel, Albanian Etymological Dictionary, s.v. "brenda" (Leiden: Brill, 1998), 35.</ref> Outside Slovakia, Romania, Ukraine and the flanking regions of southern Poland, it is still popular nowadays in the Czech Republic under the Czech spelling "brynza".

Other regional names for the product include ''juhtúró'' in Hungarian, ''брынза'' in Russian, ''brenca'' in Serbian, ''Brimsen'' in German, ''бринза'' and ''бринзя'' in Ukrainian and ''ברינזע'' in Yiddish.<ref>{{cite web|title=Rumania, Rumania!|url=https://yiddishlyrics.wordpress.com/2010/12/26/rumania-rumania-%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%9E%D7%99%D7%99%D7%A0%D7%99%D7%A2-%D7%A8%D7%95%D7%9E%D7%99%D7%99%D7%A0%D7%99%D7%A2/|website=Yiddish Songs and Lyrics}}</ref>

==History==
The word was first recorded as ''brençe'', described as "[[Vlach]] cheese", in the Croatian port of [[Dubrovnik]] in 1370. Bryndza was first recorded in the Slovak [[Counties of Hungary (1000–1920)|counties of Hungary]] in 1470 and in the adjacent Polish region of [[Podhale]] in 1527.<ref name="votruba">{{cite web |url=http://www.pitt.edu/~votruba/qsonhist/bryndza.html |title=Bryndza |access-date=2008-12-07 |last=Votruba |first=Martin |archive-date=31 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081231015212/http://www.pitt.edu/~votruba/qsonhist/bryndza.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
In Slovakia, bryndza is regarded as a typically Slovak product and it is one of the main ingredients in the national dish [[bryndzové halušky]]. The modern version of the soft spreadable bryndza is believed to have been developed by entrepreneurs from Stará Turá (Western Slovakia) toward the end of the 18th century.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.trencinregion.sk/en/26579/bryndziar-vagac|title = Bryndziar Vagač}}</ref> They founded bryndza manufactures in mountainous regions of Central and Northern Slovakia, where local sheep cheese manufacturing had deep roots. They traded bryndza and popularized it all around the Austrian [[Habsburg monarchy]]. In Austria, it was called [[Liptauer]], after the northern Slovak Liptov region. The Viennese speciality Liptauer, a savoury cheese-based spread, has replaced bryndza with common cows' milk cottage cheese because the original Slovak bryndza disappeared from Austrian market after the [[Dissolution of Austria-Hungary]].

==Geographical indications==
* ''Slovak bryndza'' from [[Slovakia]] was registered in the EU's ''Register of protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications'' on 16 July 2008<ref name="sk bryndza" /> as a [[Protected Geographical Indication]] (PGI). The geographical indication was requested on 4 October 2007.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2007:232:0017:0022:EN:PDF|title=Publication of an application pursuant to Article 6(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 510/2006 on the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs (2007/C 232/10)|author=European Commission|author-link=European Commission|date=2007-10-04|access-date=2010-08-30}}</ref> Slovak bryndza must contain at least 50% of sheep milk. ''Sheep (ovčia) bryndza'' contains 100% sheep cheese.
* ''[[Bryndza Podhalańska]]'' from [[Poland]] has been registered in the EU's ''Register of protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications'' on 11 June 2007<ref name="pl bryndza" /> as a [[Protected Designation of Origin]] (PDO). The [[geographical indication]] was requested on 23 September 2006.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:52006XC0923(01):EN:NOT |title=Publication of an application pursuant to Article 6(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 510/2006 on the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs |access-date=2008-06-10 |date=2006-09-23 |author=European Commission |author-link=European Commission }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Brânză de burduf]] from [[Romania]], made from [[caș]]
* [[Hutsul bryndza]]
* Austrian [[Liptauer]]
* Bulgarian [[sirene]]
* Greek [[feta]]
* Italian [[ricotta]]
* Mexican [[queso fresco]]
* [[List of cheeses]]

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book | last1=Ehlers | first1=S. | last2=Hurt | first2=J. | title=The Complete Idiot's Guide to Cheeses of the World | publisher=Alpha Books | year=2008 | isbn=978-1-59257-714-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sjW9adVFS2kC&pg=PA117 | access-date=May 19, 2016 | page=117}}
{{Polish cheeses}}{{Romanian cheeses}}{{Ukrainian cheeses}}{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Brined white cheeses]]
[[Category:Slovak cheeses]]
[[Category:Romanian cheeses]]
[[Category:Polish cheeses]]
[[Category:Ukrainian cheeses]]
[[Category:Sheep's-milk cheeses]]