Smoked cheeses
Oscypek, scamorza affumicata, Idiazabal and Bandel: cured over wood smoke for colour and flavour.
Smoked cheeses are hung or laid in smoke from smouldering wood, which browns the rind and gives a flavour of bacon, campfire and toast. Smoking began as a way to dry and protect cheese kept near the hearth, and many smoked cheeses still come from mountain and shepherd cultures: oscypek of the Polish Tatras, Idiazabal of the Basque Country, scamorza affumicata of Italy, and Bandel, the small cheese of colonial Bengal.
Cold and hot smoke
Most traditional smoking is cold smoking, at temperatures low enough that the cheese does not melt, over hours or days. Hardwoods are preferred: beech, alder, oak, birch, applewood and hickory each give a different note. Smoke dries the surface, darkens the rind from straw to deep brown, and carries its flavour a short way into the paste. Some modern cheeses are given smoke flavouring instead of real smoke, which the ingredients list should show.
Shepherds' smoked cheeses
Oscypek is a spindle-shaped sheep's milk cheese of the Polish Tatra highlands, pressed into carved wooden moulds that print a pattern on its sides, soaked in brine and smoked for several days. It was registered as a protected name in the European Union in 2008, and Slovakia has the related oštiepok. Idiazabal, made from the raw milk of Latxa and Carranzana sheep, was once ripened in shepherds' huts where the hearth smoked it naturally, and smoked Idiazabal is still made.
Bandel and beyond
Bandel cheese was introduced by the Portuguese at their settlement of Bandel on the Hooghly river, north of Kolkata, and was made by local cheesemakers under Portuguese direction. Small, flat and salty, it is sold plain or smoked, and only a few families still make it; Kolkata's New Market is where most people find it. Elsewhere, Galicia smokes its pear-shaped San Simón da Costa over birch, Asturias makes the lightly smoked blue Gamonéu, and Bavaria its sausage-shaped Rauchkäse.
Worth knowing
- Oscypek: Smoked sheep's milk cheese of the Polish Tatras
- Idiazabal: Basque sheep's milk cheese, often smoked
- Scamorza affumicata: Smoked stretched curd of southern Italy
- Bandel cheese: Small salty cheese of Bengal, plain or smoked
- San Simón da Costa: Pear-shaped Galician cheese smoked over birch
- Gamonéu: Lightly smoked blue of Asturias
- Rauchkäse: Bavarian smoked cheese
Good to know
- Smoked cheese keeps a little longer than its unsmoked twin, but should still be wrapped and chilled.
- Its smell travels, so keep it in a closed box.
- Use a little where you want depth without meat: in gratins, beans or mash.
- In Zakopane, grilled oscypek is served with cranberry jam.
Sources and further reading
Original text by the EveryCheese desk, written with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Customs are described as tradition, not as advice. If we have something wrong, tell us.
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