Together with high quality cottage cheese, Bovec cheese is the main product of the regional herdsmen. It is made out of raw sheep’s milk, which is in comparison to cow’s milk more nutritious, as it naturally contains 50 % more fat and proteins. Therefore, it is classified as full-fat hard cheese. Sometimes small quantities of cow or goat’s milk are added to it, but not more than 20 %. A cheese wheel has a round shape, and its light yellow inner part is moderately perforated with small holes. To make sales easier, each wheel today weighs 3 kilos on average, while in the past wheels weighing up to 6 kilos were produced for easier transportation to the valley.
Bovec cheese-making culture is unique to the Slovenian Alps. It is the only area in Slovenia where sheep breeding is intended exclusively for cheese-making, as full-fat-hard sheep’s cheese is produced in this region only. The excessive lambs that are sold mainly for meat in the spring time are the only exception. Bovec cheese, or Caseus de Plezio, was first mentioned as a means of payment in the first Tolmin land register that dates back to 1377. Bovec cheese as a name was first recorded on a price list in the Italian town of Udine in 1756, while the Alpine dairy farming in this area boasts a rich heritage from the 15th Century. As can be inferred from the price list, Bovec cheese had a significantly higher price than other cheese types. This traditional product has also managed to retain its special position in modern times, having been granted the trademark ‘Traditional Specialty Guaranteed’ by the European Union.
THE CHEESE-MAKING PROCESS
Production of Bovec cheese, in general does not differentiate itself from the usual hard cheese-making process. However, quality milk is a precondition. Figuratively speaking, good cheese starts being made in the stable, and a well-known unwritten rule among cheese-makers states that one should never produce cheese in a rush. It takes a great deal of knowledge, patience and determination, as well as love, to produce a good cheese.
Nowadays cheese is still produced on numerous farms in the valley and on three high alpine pastures, and is mostly being sold on the spot. It represents the importance of continuity, as well as the transfer of the skill of cheese-making over generations. So when we taste Bovec sheep’s cheese, we do not only taste its full and gently spicy flavour, but also encounter a more than 500-year old tradition of cheese-making in this region.
Work under the ARTISTIC project resulted in launching the pilot action „Cheese making”, which is significant for the region. The Association of small cattle of Upper Soča Valley has been working hard on a setting up a model, to develop cheese making as an important economic and touristic story based on connecting cheese makers under one roof - “common cheese making factory”. The Fundamental idea and benefit of this action is to unload the farmers of some work. This way they can focus on their primary activity which is small cattle breeding and high quality milk production. This pilot action will enable also connecting tourism providers and tourist farms.
Pamoja na jibini ya hali ya juu ya cottage, jibini ya Bovec ni bidhaa kuu ya wachungaji wa mkoa huo. Maziwa ya kondoo ni muhimu kwa afya ya binadamu, kwa sababu ni ya asili na ina mafuta na protini zaidi ya 50%. Kwa hiyo, huorodheshwa kuwa jibini gumu lenye mafuta mengi. Wakati mwingine kiasi kidogo cha maziwa ya ng'ombe au mbuzi huongezwa, lakini si zaidi ya 20%. Mzunguko wa jibini una umbo la mviringo, na sehemu yake ya ndani ya rangi ya manjano-nyeupe imechimbwa kwa kiasi na mashimo madogo. Ili kuwezesha mauzo, kila gurudumu leo lina uzito wa kilo tatu kwa wastani, wakati zamani gurudumu lenye uzito wa kilo sita lilitengenezwa ili kuwezesha usafirishaji hadi bonde. Utamaduni wa kutengeneza jibini la Bovec ni wa kipekee katika Milima ya Alps ya Slovenia. Ni eneo pekee katika Slovenia ambapo uzalishaji wa kondoo ni lengo peke kwa ajili ya kutengeneza jibini, kama kamili-mafuta-mgumu kondoo jibini ni zinazozalishwa katika mkoa huu tu. Kondoo-dume wengi sana ambao huuzwa hasa kwa ajili ya nyama wakati wa majira ya kuchipua ndio tofauti pekee. Kesi ya Bovec (Caseus de Pleczio) ilitajwa kwa mara ya kwanza kama njia ya malipo katika orodha ya kwanza ya ardhi ya Tolmin, ambayo ilitoka mwaka 1377. BOVEC (Bovec cheese) ni jina la kwanza la cheese la Italia ambalo lilitokea katika mji wa Udine, Italia, mnamo 1756 na kwa sasa ni jina la kwanza la cheese la Italia. Kama inavyoweza kuelezwa kutoka kwa orodha ya bei, jibini la Bovec lilikuwa na bei ya juu sana kuliko aina nyingine za jibini. Bidhaa hii ya jadi pia imeweza kudumisha nafasi yake maalum katika nyakati za kisasa, baada ya kupewa alama ya biashara ya "Utamaduni wa Utamaduni uliohakikishwa" na Umoja wa Ulaya. Bidhaa za BOVEC ni bidhaa za kawaida za keki za keki za keki za keki za keki za keki. Hata hivyo, maziwa yenye ubora ni sharti la kwanza. "Kwa mfano, ""jiwe zuri huanza kutengenezwa katika ghala,"" na sheria moja isiyoandikwa inayojulikana sana miongoni mwa watengenezaji wa jibini inasema kwamba mtu hapaswi kamwe kutengeneza jibini kwa haraka." Inahitaji ujuzi mwingi, subira na azimio, na pia upendo, ili kutengeneza jibini nzuri. Leo jibini bado hutengenezwa katika mashamba mengi katika bonde na katika malisho matatu ya juu ya alpine, na kwa ujumla huuzwa mahali hapo. Inawakilisha umuhimu wa kuendelea, pamoja na uhamisho wa ustadi wa kutengeneza jibini kwa vizazi. Kwa hivyo wakati tunapokula jibini la kondoo la Bovec, hatuonja tu ladha yake kamili na laini ya vikolezo, lakini pia tunakutana na utamaduni wa zaidi ya miaka 500 ya utengenezaji wa jibini katika mkoa huu. Kazi chini ya mradi wa ARTISTIC ilisababisha uzinduzi wa hatua ya majaribio ya <unk>Kufanya jibini<unk>, ambayo ni muhimu kwa mkoa. Chama cha ng'ombe wadogo wa Upper Soča Valley imekuwa ikifanya kazi kwa bidii juu ya kuanzisha mfano, kuendeleza utengenezaji wa jibini kama hadithi muhimu ya kiuchumi na utalii kulingana na kuunganisha watengenezaji wa jibini chini ya paa moja - "kiwanda cha kawaida cha kutengeneza jibini". Wazo la msingi na faida ya hatua hii ni kuondoa kazi kwa wakulima. Kwa njia hii wanaweza kuzingatia shughuli zao za msingi ambazo ni uzalishaji wa ng'ombe wadogo na uzalishaji wa maziwa ya ubora wa juu. Hatua hii ya majaribio itawezesha pia kuunganisha watoa huduma za utalii na mashamba ya utalii.