engleski

Cheese maturing in lamb skin sacks on Dinara Mountain – the traditional that is dying out

Dinara Mountain is mentioned as the cradle of traditional production of cheese maturing in animal skin sacks, which is prepared from unpasteurized milk without the addition of the starter cultures. The specific objective of this paper is to present an overview from the historical and ethnological, as well as the sociological aspect of the traditional production of cheese maturing in lambskin sacks on Dinara Mountain, which is unfortunately recording a trend of dying out. Lamb or goat skin (sack) is very appropriate equipment for cheese transport during the stay on Dinara Mountain. On the feast day of St. Anthony (13th June), sheep are herded to Dinara Mountain where they stay until the beginning of September (the Nativity of Mary 8th September). In the pastures on the Dinarides there are dwellings with cabins and sheepfolds made of stone. The cabin is divided into two sections, where one section is intended as storage of milk and cheese and the other to accommodate people. The sheepfolds are divided by a passage, locally referred to as “struga” where sheep are milked. The interviews with the remaining shepherds (one family only) on the slopes of Dinara Mountain provided the information on the lifestyle, the number of sheep that were herded to Dinara, the method of milking, cheese production and storing of cheese in lambskin sacks. The findings show that until the 1970’s the number of sheep herded to Dinara Mountain ranged from 30, 000 to 40, 000. Irrespective of the fact that currently the number of sheep herded reaches merely between 800 and 1, 000 sheep, they certainly contribute to the biodiversity of these pastures, while the lifestyle and sheep husbandry, as well as cheese production technology have eventually remained virtually unchanged.

Cheese maturing in lamb skin sack, Tradition, Dinara Mountain

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