These are few and simple because shepherds make cheese for two to three months (April-June) high up in the mountains where the flocks move in the summer, using improvised dairies.
The basic implements are the copper pots or
kazania
for milking and cheese-making, and cheese-cutters (
tyrokoftes
) for cutting the set cheese in the kazani.
Only two types of cheese-mould are used in Crete, baskets which last a long time.
The
toupi
is a type of basket unique to Crete, made by a large family in a village of western-central Crete, who retain the secret of its construction and supply baskets to all the island’s cheese-makers. Various sources show that this form was found in antiquity but for a different use. This is the mould for first-class cheese, which is somewhat similar to gruyère.
The second type of cheese-mould is a finely woven little basket without a handle called a
madaria
. This is used for soft cheeses made from the curds boiled for a second time, with a little fresh milk added. This soft cheese is called
myzithra
and is eaten on the spot, or salted and aged for 3-4 months, in which case it lasts a long time and is called
anthotyros
.
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