Paški sir is a renowned hard sheep cheese from the Adriatic island of Pag in Croatia, granted EU Protected Designation of Origin in 2019.
Firm and crystalline, it crumbles into savoury, nutty shards with a lingering salty-herbal tang from the island's wild flora. Older wheels turn sharp and almost piquant, like a Mediterranean cousin of aged pecorino. A few slices with bread and olives make a perfect starter.
Salt-laden, aromatic island grazing passes herbal compounds into the milk, giving the cheese its distinctive flavour. Brining and long ageing draw out moisture and concentrate proteins, producing the hard, crystalline, sharp-tasting result.
Variations
young creamy Pag cheese, aged grainy wheels, served with fig jam, paired with prošek dessert wine
On the Palate
Where Paški Sir (Pag Cheese) sits in the Croatian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 12How it's made
8 steps · 1 hour
- 160 min
Collect fresh sheep's milk from Pag's island flocks.
- 230 min
Gently warm the milk and add starter culture and rennet.
- 345 min
Let the milk coagulate into a firm curd.
- 440 min
Cut the curd, then heat and stir to expel whey.
Watch outHeat and stir the cut curd to drive off whey until the pieces firm up and shrink — well-expelled whey is what lets it age hard instead of staying moist.
- 530 min
Press the curd into moulds to form dense wheels.
- 61440 min
Brine the wheels in salt water to season and firm the rind.
- 715 min
Rub the surface with olive oil during ageing.
- 8127440 min
Age in a cool cellar for several months until hard and grainy.
Watch outAge until it goes properly hard and grainy with tiny crystals — that crumbly, crystalline bite is the sign it's fully mature.
