Grilled Cheese · Mountain Specialty

Oscypek

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This smoked sheep's-milk cheese is legally protected — only cheesemakers in one patch of the Tatra Mountains are allowed to call it oscypek.

Oscypek is a smoked, salted cheese made from sheep's milk, hand-pressed by mountain shepherds into decorative spindle-shaped molds and smoked for up to two weeks. At street stalls in the Tatra Mountains region it's pan-grilled and served warm with a spoonful of tart cranberry sauce.

Why it's made this way: The recipe and shape come from centuries of highland shepherding tradition in the Podhale region, and it now carries EU Protected Designation of Origin status that restricts production to that area.