Tulum
A Turkish cheese packed and ripened in a goat- or sheepskin bag, crumbly, rich and sharp.
Also: tulum peyniri, Erzincan tulum, skin-bag cheese
Tulum peyniri takes its name from the tulum, a bag made from a whole goat or sheep skin, turned inside out and cleaned, in which the crumbled and salted curd is pressed and left to ripen in a cool place for months. The skin lets the cheese breathe and lose moisture while protecting it, giving a dense, crumbly, buttery, sharp cheese. Erzincan tulum, made from the milk of sheep on the high summer pastures of eastern Anatolia, is the most famous, and İzmir and Divle tulum are also celebrated; Divle tulum is aged in a cave. Today plastic bags and casings are common, but the traditional skin is still used for the best cheese.