Chechil

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Template:Short description

Page Module:Infobox/styles.css has no content.

Chechil
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:InfoboxImage/data' not found.
Other namesSee here
RegionShirak (Armenia),
Meskheti and Achara (Georgia),
Erzurum (Turkey)
Source of milkCow, sheep, goat (mainly skimmed cow's milk)
PasteurizedSometimes
TextureStringy, braided, or bundled
Fat contentUp to 10% in dry matter
Weight3–4 kg per coil
Aging timeFresh or brined
Page Template:Sister-inline/styles.css has no content.Script error: No such module "Sister project logo". Script error: No such module "Commons link".

Chechil[a] (also chechili)[b] is a brined string cheese primarily made from skimmed cow's milk, though it can also be produced from mixtures of cow, sheep, and goat milk.[4] It is a pasta filata-type cheese that is pulled into thin strings and typically formed into braids.[5]

Chechil is similar to mozzarella.[1][6] It occupies an intermediate position between rennet- and acid-set cheeses and is sometimes classified as a sulguni-type cheese.[7][4] The cheese is popular in Armenia and Georgia.[8]

Etymology, names and origin

The word ჩეჩილი (chechili) in Georgian directly means "[something] that is unraveled/separated", which derives from the Georgian verb ჩეჩვა (chechva), meaning "to tear apart" or "to unravel or "to separate". The root ჩეჩ- (chech-) conveys the act of pulling apart, unraveling or shredding, while the suffix -ილი (-ili) is a common Georgian nominal suffix that acts as a resultative participle that forms nouns from verbs, often denoting a resulting state or characteristic.[9][10][11] The verb chechva ("to tear/shred") also gives rise to the past participle forms dachechili ("torn") and gachechili ("shredded") when combined with a preverb, while chechili is the form without a preverb and belongs to the oldest layer of Georgian agricultural terminology.[10][3]

In Armenian, the word chil literally means "lean" or "stringy",[12][13][14][15] and chechil translates as "that separates into threads" (թել-թել բաժանվող).[12] Other names are also used in Armenian, such as chechil panir,[c] tel panir,[d] husats panir,[e] chil panir,[f] as well as chivil panir.[g]

In Russian, the cheese is known as syr-kosichka.[h][citation needed] In Turkish, the cheese is referred to as çeçil, civil peyniri, saçak, tel, dil, or örgü cheese.[citation needed]

The Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary mentions the cheese chil (or tchil), identifying these names as Armenian terms.[17] The Oxford Companion to Cheese lists chechil panir as an Armenian cheese.[5] The cheese is also referred to as twisted string cheese.[5]

History

According to the 19th-century Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary, the cheese chil (or tchil) was being produced in the Alexandropol district of the Erivan Governorate from skimmed milk.[i][17] Milk was left to sour in shallow wooden vats, the cream separated, and a starter culture added.[17] The resulting curd was salted, kneaded in salted water, and formed into large circles or bundles of thin strands, known as chetchil or chechil.[17]

The original chechil was made through direct acidification, without rennet.[5] In the former Soviet countries, chechil production increased with the advent of automated production lines in the late 20th and early 21st centuries,[7] with major producers including the Giaginskiy [ru] and Ruzaevsky dairy factories in Russia.[7]

In Western countries, chechil is often referred to as Armenian cheese or Syrian cheese.[6] Armenian refugees who settled in Syria after the 1915 Armenian genocide introduced the cheese there.[6]

Production technology

File:Cutting Smoked Cheese (Armenia).jpg
Cutting smoked chechil cheese in Armenia

The cheese is made from skimmed milk with high acidity.[18][4] To achieve the desired acidity, the milk is left to sour at a temperature of 35–40 °C, or acidic whey, sour milk, or matzoon (a fermented milk product) is added.[4] Rennet or pepsin is added when the acidity of the milk reaches 45–50 °T for cow's milk and 100–110 °T for sheep's milk.[4] The coagulation temperature is 38–40 °C, and the process lasts 5–10 minutes.[4]

After the curd forms, it is heated to 48–54 °C with continuous stirring.[4] The curd turns into flakes, which stick together and form a long ribbon.[4][18] The cheese mass is gathered, kneaded, stretched, and tied into skeins.[4] The fresh mass is aged in brine with a concentration of 16–19%; sometimes it is mixed with curd or other cheeses and stored in unglazed jugs or in a sheep's skin.[4]

Regional variants

Armenia

File:Չեչիլ պանիր.jpg
Armenian chechil

In Armenia, chechil is most common in the Shirak region.[19] Armenian varieties include husats and tel panir, which are made by repeatedly stretching heated cheese curds into thin strands and twisting them into ropes.[18][5][6][19] Traditionally, these cheeses were stored in brine in clay pots, and later in enamel or glass containers.[19] Gyumri chechil with blue mold is another regional variant.[citation needed]

Chechil is used as a main ingredient in the traditional dish panrkhash.[20]

The tradition of making chechil and braided cheeses in the Shirak region is included in the intangible cultural heritage list of Armenia.[21]

Georgia

In Georgia, there are varieties such as Meskhuri chechili and Acharuli chechili. In the United Kingdom, Meskhuri chechili is a protected geographical indication by agreement between the UK and Georgian governments."[22]

Turkey

File:Queso çeçil turco.jpg
Turkish çeçil

In Turkey, civil peyniri is a similar or identical brined string cheese.[23][24][25][26] In 2009, Erzurum civil peyniri was officially registered with the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office and granted a geographical indication.[27][28]

Another form of civil peyniri is produced in the city of Erzurum, and uses Penicillium roqueforti to produce a blue cheese variety of chechil.[29] It is locally known as göğermiş peynir, and has also been registered and received a geographical indication from the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office.[citation needed]

Chemical composition

The cheeses are twisted into coils weighing 3–4 kg.[4] Before consumption, due to their high salt content and firm texture, chechil is soaked in warm or cold water.[18]

Microbiology

Research by M. A. Volkova and Z. K. Dilanyan shows that the microflora of chechil cheese reaches its peak within the first day.[4] The main microorganisms are Lactococcus lactis (47%) and Lactobacillus casei (53%).[4] The development of lactic acid bacteria occurs faster than in other cheeses, and their dominance persists until the end of ripening.[4] One gram of chechil contains approximately 580,000 lactic acid bacteria according to the MPA method and about 5 million according to the maximum dilution method.[4]

See also

Lua error in mw.title.lua at line 404: bad argument #2 to 'title.new' (unrecognized namespace name 'Portal').

References

Notes

Page Template:Reflist/styles.css has no content.

  1. ^ Template:Langx, Script error: No such module "IPA".
  2. ^ Georgian: Script error: No such module "Lang".[1][2][3]
  3. ^ Template:Langx
  4. ^ Template:Langx,[12] Script error: No such module "IPA".
  5. ^ Template:Langx
  6. ^ Template:Langx[12][13][14][15]
  7. ^ Template:Langx[12][15][16]
    The term ճիւիլ (jivil/chivil) is recorded in the Karin dialect of Western Armenian, while the form ճիվել (jivel/chivel) appears in the Khotorjur dialect.[12][16]
  8. ^ Template:Langx
  9. ^ The Alexandropol district of the Erivan Governorate corresponds to the modern-day Shirak Province in Armenia

Citations

Page Template:Reflist/styles.css has no content.

  1. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Burford, Tim (2024-08-09). Georgia. Bradt Travel Guides. ISBN 978-1-80469-287-5.
  2. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Chitadze, T.; Dundua, T.; Ebralidze, I.; Gigauri, M.; Jorjadze, M.; Khazalashvili, N.; Lomidze, D.; Zhuzhunadze T. (2022-08-11). Georgia – Agritourism guide to Samtskhe-Javakheti: Places, people, products. Food & Agriculture Org. ISBN 978-92-5-136544-1.
  3. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Topchishvili, Roland (2014). ქართველთა კვებითი კულტურის ისტორიიდან [From the diet history of the Georgians: suluguni] (in ქართული). Tbilisi State University. p. 327. ISBN 9789941224393.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Zaven Dilanyan [in հայերեն] (1984). Сыроделие [Cheese-making] (in русский) (3rd ed.). Moscow, USSR: Light and Food Industry Publishing House. pp. 207–208.
  5. ^ a b c d e Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.The Oxford Companion to Cheese. Oxford University Press. 2016. p. 694.
  6. ^ a b c d Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Petrosian, Irina; Underwood, David (2006). Armenian Food: Fact, Fiction & Folklore. p. 47.
  7. ^ a b c Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Kuznetsov, Vladimir Vasilyevich; Shiller, Gerhard Heinrichovich (2003). Справочник технолога молочного производства [Technologist's Handbook of Dairy Production]. Vol. III. St. Petersburg: GIORD. ISBN 5-901065-47-6.
  8. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Gardens of biodiversity : conservation of genetic resources and their use in traditional food production systems by small farmers of the Southern Caucasus. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 30 December 2010. p. 235. ISBN 978-9251066133.
  9. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Nizharadze (1971). ქართული ენის აჭარული დიალექტი [Adjarian dialect of Georgian language] (in ქართული). Soviet Adjara. p. 403.
  10. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Ბერიძე, Მერაბ (2011). სოფლები და ნასოფლარები მოგვითხრობენ (in ქართული). Tbilisi: უნივერსალი. p. 88. ISBN 978-9941-17-415-5.
  11. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.ღლონტი, ალექსანდრე (1984). საქართველოს პარლამენტის ეროვნული ბიბლიოთეკა (in ქართული). თბილისი: განათლება. p. 509.
  12. ^ a b c d e f Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Institute of Language after Hrachia Acharian (2007). Հայոց լեզվի բարբառային բառարան [Dialect Dictionary of the Armenian Language]. National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia.)
  13. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Aghayan, Eduard (1976). Արդի հայերենի բացատրական բառարան [Explanatory Dictionary of Modern Armenian] (in հայերեն). Yerevan, Armenia: Hayastan Publishing House.
  14. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Mirzoyan, S.S. (2007). Կողբոփոր - Նոյեմբերյան. անցյալը, կյանքը, կենցաղը [Koghbapor–Noyemberyan: The Past, Life, and Everyday Life] (in հայերեն). Yerevan, Armenia: Zangak-97.
  15. ^ a b c Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Malkhasyants, Stepan (1944). Հայերէն բացատրական բառարան [Armenian Explanatory Dictionary] (in հայերեն). Yerevan, Armenian SSR: State Publishing House of the Armenian SSR.
  16. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Adamyan, Vahagn; Babayan, Jasmine (2015). Հայկական խոհանոցի բառարան [Dictionary of Armenian Cuisine] (in հայերեն). Yerevan, Armenia: Unknown publisher.
  17. ^ a b c d Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary (in русский). Saint Petersburg. 1890. pp. 837–838.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  18. ^ a b c d Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Piruzyan, Aram S. (1960). Армянская кулинария [Armenian Cooking] (PDF) (in Russian). Moscow: Gostorgizdat. p. 172.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  19. ^ a b c Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Alexandrovich Arutyunov, Serguei; A. Voronina, T. (2001). Традиционная пища как выражение этнического самосознания [Traditional food as an expression of ethnic self-awareness] (in русский). Nauka. p. 123. ISBN 9785020087569.
  20. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Bassil, Mona (27 July 2024). "15 Dishes And Drinks From Armenia You Need To Try At Least Once". Tasting Table. Retrieved 31 January 2025.
  21. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."ՀՀ ՈՆՄԺ Արժեքների Ցանկ" [List of Intangible Cultural Values of Armenia]. int-heritage.am (in հայերեն). 19 April 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2025.
  22. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Meskhuri Chechili". Gov.uk. Archived from the original on 2021-09-14. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
  23. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Türkiye'nin peynir röntgeni - Timeturk Haber". www.timeturk.com (in Türkçe). Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  24. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.TATTERSALL, Aynur (13 January 2021). "Anadolu'da peynir peşinde bir yolculuk". www.hurriyet.com.tr (in Türkçe). Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  25. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.QuarkPlayer, player-inline {display: inline-block;padding-bottom: 56 25%;position: relative;width: 100%;z-index: 5;} player-box {height: 100%;left: 0;position: absolute;top: 0;width: 100%;}$ ready{quarkPlayer = new; bufferLength:5; true, autoPlay; false, subTitles; false, showAds; false, showNotification; showB; true, widthSelector; false, customMenu. "Civil peynir, göğermiş peynir ve kadayıf dolmasından sonra su böreği de tescillendi". Milliyet (in Türkçe). Retrieved 2021-05-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  26. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.bakkaya; bakkaya (20 January 2021). "Türkiyede üretilen peynir çeşitleri". Posta (in Türkçe). Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  27. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Arşivlenmiş kopya". Archived from the original on 25 July 2021. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  28. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Arşivlenmiş kopya" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
  29. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Cakmakci, Songul; Gurses, Mustafa; Hayaloglu, A. Adnan; Cetin, Bulent; Sekerci, Pinar; Dagdemir, Elif (7 September 2014). "Mycotoxin production capability of Penicillium roqueforti in strains isolated from mould-ripened traditional Turkish civil cheese". Food Additives & Contaminants: Part A. 32 (2): 245–249. doi:10.1080/19440049.2014.997808. ISSN 1944-0049.
  • Page Template:Sister-inline/styles.css has no content.Script error: No such module "Sister project logo". Media related to Script error: No such module "Commons link". at Wikimedia Commons

Template:Cuisine of Armenia Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Navbox/configuration' not found.

Retrieved from "https://cosmopedia.co/index.php?title=Chechil&oldid=7127359"