Brataliv Cheese Dairy in the village of Velykyi Brataliv in the Liubar region makes over three dozen craft cheeses from cow's milk, including aged hard cheeses with local herbs. Cheese making was taken up professionally here in the summer of 2022, when cheese makers from occupied Berdiansk arrived in the village and helped set up production; it has been operating as a separate cheese dairy since 2023.
How and What They Make
Up to 500 litres of milk are processed here daily, yielding about 45 kilograms of cheese. The milk is heated or cooled, curdled, cut into curds, formed into heads, pressed, soaked in brine, and then aged for at least three months in chambers at a temperature of 12 °C and a humidity of 85 %; the finished heads are stored in a specially built cellar.
Some of the cheeses are made according to European recipes, but with local names. Asiago, based on an Italian recipe, ripens for three months and has a slightly salty taste with a mild bitterness, Canestrato with fenugreek has a walnut aftertaste, and the signature Liubart is a cheese with large eyes. Flavours include elderberry, honey, tomatoes, adjika, and cheese aged in grape leaves. In addition to hard cheeses, burrata, stracciatella, labneh, and processed cheeses are made here.
Photo: Brataliv Cheese Dairy.
