Bryndza Podhalanska

Bryndza podhalanska is made from the milk of Polish mountain sheep grazed on the Podhale and Tatra pastures, curdled, drained, matured briefly, then broken up, salted and worked into a soft spreadable paste. It is sharp, salty and distinctly of the pasture, and it is the base of the region's food - stirred into potatoes, spread on bread, used in dumplings. In 2007 it became the first Polish product to receive EU Protected Designation of Origin, which restricts the name to cheese made from milk of specified breeds grazed within a defined area of the Tatra and Beskid foothills, and only from May to September when the sheep are on the mountain pastures. That seasonality is the thing to know: genuine bryndza is a summer product. It is sold at markets in Zakopane and Nowy Targ and directly from the bacowka, the shepherds' huts, along with oscypek, the smoked hard cheese from the same milk.

What to look for

• Soft salted sheep cheese - broken, salted and worked into a spreadable paste.
• A seasonal product - made only while the sheep are on the pastures, May to September.
• The first Polish PDO - protected in the EU from 2007, with a defined area and breeds.
• Sold from shepherd huts - the bacowka, alongside smoked oscypek.

When to go

June to September. An hour.

Before you go

Much sold as bryndza outside the season or the region is not the protected product. It is very salty and strongly flavoured. It does not keep long. Cheese sold at Zakopane tourist stalls is often industrial.

Nearby

Zakopane and the Podhale villages are where the markets are.