🧀 Livanjski sir

Livanjski sir is a hard, full-fat cheese made from pasteurised, thermised or raw cows' milk, sheep's milk or their mixtures. ³ It takes its name from Livno in western Bosnia, where a state agricultural station began the work in 1888, and in 2024 the EU registered it as a PGI. ²⁴

The cheese is cylindrical with flat bases; a wheel is 18-28 cm in diameter and 7-10 cm high and weighs 1.8-3.5 kg, and smaller wheels of 0.6-1.2 kg are also made. It contains at least 60% dry matter and at least 45% fat in dry matter, with 1.8-2.2% salt. The rind is smooth, hard and golden yellow. Ripening lasts at least 60 days and optimally 90 days. The paste is light yellow, compact, weakly elastic and easy to cut, with no holes or a few small regular ones; cheese from raw milk may have more, often irregular, holes. The taste is slightly sweetish, reminiscent of walnut kernels, and slightly piquant in ripe cheese; the aroma recalls the aromatic herbs of the area. ³

The animals graze for 6 months of the year; hay or haylage prepared in the area makes up 75% of the dry matter of the daily ration, and up to 40% of the bulky fodder may come from outside the area. Milk comes from the municipalities of Livno, Tomislavgrad, Kupres, Glamoč, Grahovo and Drvar. The cheese itself is made in a narrower traditional area: the whole municipality of Livno and parts of Glamoč, Kupres and Tomislavgrad. According to the specification, the specific method of production has been kept in this area since the end of the 19th century. ³

Cutting and grating are done at the place of production, and the pieces are packed under vacuum or in a modified atmosphere; cheeses under 1.2 kg are sold only as whole wheels. The label states the producer, the name 'Livanjski sir', the PGI sign and whether the milk is raw, pasteurised or thermised, with the type and proportion of milk by animal. Cheese ripened for at least 6 months may carry the PREMIUM mark. ³

Swiss masters in Livno. Before this cheese, the area made sour milk, kajmak, butter and simple local cheeses. In 1888 the provincial government in Sarajevo founded an agricultural station in Livno, then under Austria-Hungary. Cheese masters from Switzerland brought hard cheese from sheep's milk, modelled on Gruyère, which is why locals first called it "Swiss cheese". They also ran courses, so shepherds took up the method. ⁴

A Frenchman and a cave. The specification gives the largest role to Cyprian Jaillet, who arrived from France at the very end of the 19th century. Under him the station made several foreign styles, including a Roquefort type ripened in a natural cave above Duman, which won a medal in Budapest in 1896. Roquefort was later dropped, and from 1905 the main product was full-fat Livanjski sir. In 1903 baker Anto Tadić opened the first private dairy, and by 1933 there were over 20 around Livno. ⁴

From sheep to cows. Sheep give milk only in season and in limited amounts, while demand kept growing. So makers moved from sheep's milk to mixtures, then in the second half of the 1970s to mainly cow's milk, especially in autumn and winter. That also widened the milk area beyond Livno. The state farm's own sheep's cheese ended in 1968. So "Livanjski sir" today can mean quite different cheeses, and the label must say which. ⁴

Why it matters to you. Read the label: it must state the animal, the share of each milk and whether it is raw, thermised or pasteurised, which decide the taste. Family farms usually use raw milk, dairies pasteurised. Look for the casein mark with a serial number and LS, and PREMIUM for at least 6 months of ripening. Cut pieces lose that mark, so they rely on the batch code. The EU's representative called it the first Western Balkan food with EU protection. ⁴⁵