14 Feb Two creameries in Tenos island with extraordinary cheeses!

Aggela Rouggere Creamery
Tsiknias Mt., Tenos island, Cyclades, Greece
M. +30 6948 259427

Kariki cheese

A cheese for acquired tastes, also called the blue cheese of Tenos. Depending on the degree of maturation it may either resemble roquefort or stilton cheese. Its secret is that the maturation process takes place in an empty gourd, a type of pumpkin, for a period that varies between 40 days and 7 months! In order to eat kariki cheese you must first remove it from the gourd. It is a semi-soft cheese that you cannot spread and when you try to cut it it crumbles like a parmigiano does. It is salty and spicy, hard on the outside but softer on the inside. A cheese not even the Tinians really know as it was mostly made in the past in the mountainous villages of Tenos island, under Mt. Tsiknias, before its “art” was recently revived by Ms Rouggere. Raw material is collected in-house as Ms Rouggere has her own cows and grows her own gourds. By the way, its name is derived by the local name of the gourds: «καρίκι» {kariki}…

Malathouni cheese

A pear-shaped cheese that is let to drain in small straw baskets, which incidentally lend their shape to it, before it is hanged to air-dry naturally.

San Lorenzo Creamery
Kechros Village, Tenos island, Cyclades, Greece
T. +30 22830 41549

“Petroma” cheese

A fresh cheese from cow milk that is drained by being pressed between two heavy slabs of stone so that most of the liquids are removed. An unsalted cheese with a rich buttery taste. During spring time
“petroma” cheese is made from sheep milk and is richer in taste and even more tasty.

“Balaki” cheese or little ball

It is derived from “petroma” cheese and is popular in Tenos. It matures for about 45 days and has a 43% fat content. A creamy and tight in texture cheese that has milky aromas as well as those of grass with a rich and slightly sour taste.

Other cheese by this creamery are:
Kastellano, a chewy cheese from cow milk
Tinian gruyere matured for about 3 months
“Kopanisti” cheese, derived from “petroma” cheese and matured for 45 days

The creamery also produces a fresh traditional butter.

Enjoy!!