Kopanisti Mykonou

Kopanisti is a salty, spicy cheese, with protected designation of origin (PDO) produced in the Greek islands of the Cyclades in the Aegean Sea such as Mykonos, Tinos, Andros, Syros, Naxos etc.; it has been produced in Mykonos for more than 300 years. It owes its special peppery and spicy taste to rapid and extensive lipolysis and proteolysis caused by abundant microbial growth encouraged by repeated kneadings performed during the ripening process. In Turkey it is known as kopanisti peyniri or acı peynir (kopanisti cheese and bitter cheese, respectively, in Turkish), and is traditionally made in Çeşme and Karaburun districts of İzmir Province. In Turkey, it is normally made from goat's milk. "Kopanisti" in the Greek language is used to describe something that has been beaten. In Kopanisti cheese this refers to its technique of preparation: the cheese is left to age in wide-necked containers until it develops abundant microbial flora, which is then mixed throughout the cheese mass by kneading. This is repeated three or four times until the ripening of the cheese is complete, after 30 to 40 days. It is made from cow, sheep or goat's milk or a mixture thereof.

Source: Wikipedia