Croatian traditional cheeses- characteristics and production technology

Sir je nutritivno vrlo vrijedan proizvod te je stoga vrlo cijenjen u mnogim zemljama svijeta. Danas u svijetu postoji mnogo poznatih i priznatih vrsta sireva. Posebna pažnja pridaje se tradicionalnim sirevima, koji osim svoje bogate nutritivne vrijednosti, nose u sebi i kulturu te obilježja neke zemlje ili zemljopisnog područja. Takve vrste sireva sve više prepoznaju potrošači koji, u novije vrijeme, više brinu o podrijetlu, autentičnosti i vrijednosti proizvoda koje kupuju. Republika Hrvatska bogata je reljefnom te klimatsko- vegetacijskom različitošću, što za posljedicu ima proizvodnju različitih tradicionalnih vrsta sireva u pojedinim regijama što kontinentalne, što primorske Hrvatske. U ovom radu opisane su karakteristike najvažnijih hrvatskih tradicionalnih sireva, kao i tehnologija njihove proizvodnje.Cheese is nutritionally a very valuable product, and therefore is highly valued in many countries around the world. There are many recognized and well-known types of cheese in the world nowadays. Special attention is being paid to traditional cheeses, which, in addition to their rich nutritional value, also carry the culture and characteristics of a country or geographical area. These types of cheeses are more and more recognized by consumers who, nowadays, pay more attention to the origin, authenticity and value of the products they buy. Croatia is rich in various types of relief, as well as in climatic and vegetation diversity, which results in the production of various traditional types of cheese in certain regions of both continental and coastal Croatia. This paper describes the characteristics of the most important Croatian traditional cheeses, as well as the technology of their production