Prästost

"Prästost" ("priest cheese", sometimes spelled "prastost" or "prestost") is a Swedish cheese with historical roots in Sweden's one-time custom of paying tithes with agricultural goods including milk. [cite book|author=Ridgeway, Judy|title=The Cheese Companion: The Connoisseur's Guide|publisher=Quintet Publishing|id=ISBN 0762405007 p. 20] It was common for the church to make cheese from this milk from the 16th though 19th centuries. Today, this style of cheese once produced in churches across Sweden is factory-made from pasteurized cow's milk. The shortened name Präst was granted European Union trademark protection in 2001. [Nilsson Blom, Ulla-Kerstin and Per-Olof Wereen (2002. [http://www.bioscience-explained.org/EN1.2/pdf/cheeseEN.pdf "Cheese and cheese-making: With a special emphasis on Swedish cheeses"] . Bioscience Explained, Vol 1, No 2, 2002.]

"Prästost" is sometimes soaked or cured in whisky or other spirits; "Saaland Pfarr" is one such whisky-soaked variant. [Carlton Brown, Robert (1955). [http://www.gutenberg.org/files/14293/14293-h/14293-h.htm#AtoZ_S The Complete Book of Cheese] . Gramercy Publishing Company: New York, 1955.] A version of "prästost" aged for 12 months and cured in Absolut vodka has been marketed as VODCheese. [ [http://www.igourmet.com/reviews/pwr/product-reviews/Cheese/Sweden/p/745-VODCheese.html Cheese, Sweden] . Product review. Igourmet.com, 2007.]

A 1969 USDA booklet describes the manufacturing technique for one whisky-cured style of "prästost":

:"Fresh, whole milk is set with rennet at a temperature of 90° F. When the curd is very firm, it is cut coarsely, then put in a sieve to allow the whey to drain off. The curd is collected in a cloth and kneaded to expel more whey. Whisky is mixed with the curd, then the curd is packed in a basket and salt is sprinkled on the surface. Curing is done in a cool, moist cellar. The cloth covering is changed daily for 3 days, and the cheese is washed with whisky after the third day." [cite book|author=Doane, C.F.; Hargrove, Robert C.; Lawson, H.W.; Matheson, K.J.; Sanders, G.P; Walter, Homer E.|title=Cheese Varieties and Descriptions|year=1969|publisher=U.S. Department of Agriculture p. 95. ]

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