Suluguni

Suluguni is a Georgian cheese, the most widely used cheese in Georgian and Caucasian-Russian cooking. It is a brined, semi-firm cheese with an elastic, slightly stringy texture when melted, a salty flavour and a faint tang. Made from cow's, buffalo's or goat's milk, it is produced primarily in the Samegrelo region of western Georgia. Its melting quality makes it the standard filling for khachapuri, where it stretches into long strings. It is also sliced and fried (a popular street snack), grilled, or eaten fresh with herbs and bread. Adopted across Russia wherever Caucasian food is eaten, it is sold in rounds or blocks in markets and supermarkets. The cheese holds protected geographical indication status in Georgia, registered since 2012.

Semi-firm, elastic, salty and faintly tangy, with a clean milky flavour. Melted, it stretches into long strings; fried, it develops a golden crust with a soft, gooey centre. Eaten with bread, herbs and tomatoes.

Suluguni is a brined cheese made by a stretched-curd (pasta filata) technique similar to mozzarella. Milk is curdled with rennet, the curds heated and stretched in hot water until elastic, then shaped into rounds and brined in salt water for several days. The stretching gives the characteristic stringy, elastic texture when melted, and the brining gives the salty flavour and firm rind. The cheese is eaten fresh (within weeks of making), when it is still moist and elastic. Unlike aged cheeses, it does not develop a hard rind or crumbly texture. The PDO specifies the milk source, the region (Samegrelo) and the production method.