Croatian ewe's milk cheese tops Manchego

Pag sheep forage on rocky island pastures

A Croatian ewe’s milk cheese, which has just been launched in the UK, is outselling Manchego at one of the first retailers to stock the creamy hard cheese.

The Cheese Hamlet in Manchester has seen sales of Paški Sir or Isle of Pag Cheese outstrip Manchego since it started listing the cheese, while the Cheese Society in Lincoln said that it was also proving popular with customers. 

The pasteurised cheese is made by Sirana Gligora using milk from the Pag breed of sheep, which produces milk with high fat (9%) and protein (6.5%) levels. The sheep forage among the rocky pastures on the island, eating wild herbs such as Dalmatian sage.

Gligora marketing manager Simon Kerr, who moved to Pag with his Croatian wife last year, told FFD that the company was in discussions with several British distributors and wanted to expand sales among independent delis and cheese shops.

Gligora Dairy employs 26 people and produces over 50 tonnes of Paški Sir a year, as well as over 150 tonnes of other cheese products. The milk is sourced from over 200 shepherds on the islands.

* First published in the Cheeswire section of Fine Food Digest's Dec 2010 issue. Click here