Ezine Cheese

Ezine cheese is a brined white cheese - the family Turkish cooking calls beyaz peynir - made in the Troad, the rolling country south of Çanakkale, and it carries a protected designation of origin: to be sold as Ezine it must come from a defined area covering the Ezine, Bayramiç and Ayvacık districts, and it must be made from a specified mix of sheep's, goat's and cow's milk from animals grazed on the Mount Ida foothills. That grazing is what producers credit for the flavour - the herbs and the mountain pasture. The curd is set, cut, salted and matured in tins of brine for several months, coming out firm, crumbly and considerably saltier and sharper than supermarket white cheese. It is the standard breakfast cheese across the region, eaten with bread, olives and tomato. Dairies and roadside shops along the highway sell it by weight, and tasting before buying is normal.

Highlights

• The brine tins - cheese maturing in salt at the dairies.
• The mixed milk - sheep, goat and cow from the Ida foothills.
• The roadside shops - dairies along the Çanakkale-Ayvalık road.
• The breakfast plate - cheese with olives, tomato and bread.

When to go

Year-round. Weekday working hours at the dairies; the roadside shops on the main highway are open daily.

Good to know

It is genuinely salty - a shock to anyone expecting mild white cheese. Many products are labelled Ezine without qualifying; look for the protected designation. It needs refrigeration for travel.

Nearby

Assos and Adatepe are south along the coast; Troy and Çanakkale are north.