It is a place where the sun without disturbing the shadows illuminates the mountains, houses, vineyards and fields. It is a place where, even when it rains, it does not cool the stone in summer. There, everyone greets each other with a smile with the question “Who is your family” and continues the conversation, because even though you are not their family, you are somehow their relative.
Gange can still be heard here, the most beautiful stone is dug, people sit in front of the house and eat the best prosciutto, drink the most beautiful wine and lightly squeezes the cheese from the bellows. All this and much more is Herzegovina, because no matter how many times you return to it, you will never get bored.
What makes this area specific is the preservation of the tradition that Herzegovinians are very proud of. A large part of the local culture is gastronomy, and the dishes remain characteristic and the same to this day, because they are passed down from generation to generation. Thus, one of the indispensable gastronomic pearls is bellows cheese, which has been made on the same principle since the Middle Ages and is an indispensable part of this region.
“Cheese from the bellows is mentioned for the first time in the 14th century, this information was found in the records of the Dubrovnik archives. Its production is characteristic for the entire Dinaric area, but the area of Herzegovina is completely dedicated to the production of this cheese, especially the Municipality of Nevesinje. Namely, cattle breeders go to the mountains during the summer, where they spend the whole summer in katuns. And the cheese from the bellows was created as a form of canning dairy products while staying on the mountain“, said Božana Đuzelović, senior curator, ethnologist and anthropologist at the Trebinje Museum of Herzegovina.
As Đuzelović points out, today this cheese is made in an identical way as it was made in the Middle Ages, and the very method of production indicates its authenticity and specificity when it comes to the production of this cheese.
Bellows cheese is an authentic product from the area of eastern Herzegovina and its production is the same everywhere, curd cheese is placed in the bag, left for at least three months to get a recognizable color, slightly yellowish, hardness and, of course, the smell, which is due to the bag itself.
“The bellows cheese is made by pasteurized cow’s milk, sometimes sheep’s or goat’s, but mostly cow’s milk is used (35 degrees Celsius), home-made rennet is added to it, the cheese is curdled, drained well, then cut into pieces (lumps) and put in the bellows. The cheese is mostly sheep, sometimes goat, but less often in Herzegovina. The bag is first thoroughly cleaned, then disinfected by smoking it for a few days on the smoke in facilities called dryers. Pieces of cheese are put in a bag, then it is tightly closed, covered with butter to keep air out and it stays that way for at least three months“, explained Đuzelović.
As she states, bellows cheese stands out primarily for its method of production, where the same principle has been used since the Middle Ages. It is this principle that gives a specific product, which has a special smell and taste. That is why bellows cheese is rarely used as one of the culinary ingredients, but exclusively as a stand-alone dish. The art of the producers themselves is to open the bag at the right time, to make the cheese ripe, with good taste and color. If it happens that the cheese stays in the bag for a long time, it can age, get a strong yellow color, and thus the taste changes, so it is important to take care of the cheese, as well as the preparation of the bag and the time in which the cheese stays in a closed bag, which is kept in a closed dark space.
Today, there are only a few people left who make this cheese, and one of them is Željko Bogdanović from Ljubinje, who learned how to make cheese from his ancestors. Today he owns only two cows and independently produces a ton of cheese a year.
“This cheese has a specific smell, which is given to it by the bag in which it is stored. I can recognize it any time and everywhere“, said Bogdanović with a smile that could be seen through his thick mustache, drinking brandy and cheese on a toothpick at a “pleasant” 37 degrees.
As Bogdanović says, today it is difficult to earn some money from the sale of this cheese, because more and more people avoid it because it is greasy, but also because of its smell, but he does not complain, because he still manages to sell all the cheese he produces.
“I buy smaller bellows because the cheese dries faster in them. There is so much work in the preparation of cheese, and we sell a kilogram for only 10 BAM“, said Bogdanović.
Unlike him, who sells cheese only to his regular customers, Zdravka Ružić sells cheese at the Trebinje market and offers cow’s and sheep’s bellows cheese.
“You have to be extra careful when shaving the wool from the bellows so that it does not break anywhere, there must not be even the smallest hole, because then it will break. And it is very important to put the cheese well in the bag so that there is no air“, explained Ružić.
This cheese as such is an authentic product, which should be on the list of special gastronomic offers of eastern Herzegovina. And the organization “Slow food” from Trebinje put it on the list of 10,000 most authentic gastronomic specialties in the world.
“The bellows cheese is on the preliminary list of intangible heritage of RS, i.e., BiH. The initiative for it was started by the local organization “Slow Food” from Trebinje. Since this organization launched the project “Virtual Journey – in the footsteps of ancestors”, where the basis was traditional food and drink in eastern Herzegovina and primarily their protection, and then promotion, we came up with the idea to nominate bellows cheese on the UNESCO list of intangible heritage“, pointed out Đuzelović, representative of the Museum of Herzegovina.
As they point out from “Slow Food”, one of the goals of the project “Virtual journey – in the footsteps of ancestors”, in which the partners were the Agricultural Cluster “Old Herzegovina”, “Slow Food” Trebinje, Herzegovina, the Museum of Herzegovina, Trebinje High School and Photo cinema club Trebinje, was to inform local entities about the various possibilities of protection and valorization of food heritage, and through local workshops to come up with proposals how produce and protect them.
“By being on the UNESCO list, we will first commit ourselves to preserve our heritage from disappearance and oblivion. It will be a sign to young people that they should not crave attractions around the world, but be more aware that we have enough valuable attractions here through tourism because UNESCO heritage sites, whether tangible or intangible, are much more sought after than other destinations. In everything we do today, and especially in agriculture and culture, we must look for a way to involve young people, because it is time, or the last moment to transfer interest to young people and care for the future in general. We are not aware of the overall cultural heritage that we have here.”, said Gordana Radovanović, vice president of the Association “Slow Food” Trebinje, Herzegovina.
According to her, food as part of our culture is as important part of our identity as language or religion. And this is best experienced and confirmed when you talk to Herzegovinians from the diaspora – their biggest nostalgia is usually related to bellows cheese, raštan and the like.
“In the years ahead and through various projects, we only viewed bellows cheese and traditional products in general as an economic category, which is understandable, but also wrong, especially since over time more and more cultural traditions, even those related to food, are lost. Also, in recent years, we had the opportunity to present the cheese to tourists as a kind of cultural monument and realized that all tourists experienced it and cited local food as one of the biggest impressions from traveling in BiH. That only confirmed to us that this product is a special cultural heritage“, Radovanović emphasized.
In an interview for “Nezavisne”, she also mentioned Slavica Samardžić’s doctoral dissertation on the topic of bellows cheese in Bologna in 2004, with the support of “Slow Food”. According to her research done by Slavica Samardžić for the purpose of her doctoral dissertation on cheese from the bellows, the first consumers are the local population, followed by tourists, those who are aware of supporting the survival of local production systems, and emigrants from Herzegovina around the world. “I think that we should not try to export it as Italians export parmesan and mozzarella all over the world, but bring the market to Herzegovina through tourism and presentation of bellows cheese as a special cultural heritage,” Radovanović explained.
Did famous Herzegovinian writers like Dučić enjoy this specific cheese – there is no written information about that, but it is very likely that they did.
Jovan Dučić was a worldly man who loved the city of his birth and often visited it. He gave a lot to make Trebinje a city of culture and a city where people will come with joy and stay in it with love. And it is possible that the people of Trebinje hosted him. Thus, when he would come and sit in one of the city’s taverns, the hosts would treat him to Herzegovinian prosciutto, bellows cheese, dried skripavac cheese and Trebinje cavatas (tomatoes), all of which they would eat with Trebinje žilavka wine.
But the problem that arises today is that young people are ashamed to live in the countryside and engage in agriculture and the production of traditional products. That is a big problem that we have to face immediately.
“We noticed that young people are ashamed of their cultural heritage through the project “Virtual journey – in the footsteps of ancestors”. We had five local workshops and we insisted on the participation of young people. So, we do not see our traditional agriculture as something we should be proud of, because of the bad influence of globalism and the pursuit of other types of prestige, we are ashamed of our tradition and consider it irrelevant,” said Radovanović.
Still, bellows cheese is special and irreplaceable and like few other foods is eaten as a standalone product. It goes best with prosciutto, tomato and parsnips, and it is best to complete all that with some Herzegovinian wine. Trebinje restaurants ranked it among the best cold appetizers. Thus, all visitors to Herzegovina can enjoy its taste and smell, and Herzegovinians are sure that they can satisfy even the most demanding fans of traditional food because, as Ivo Andrić said: It is a land with stone, and little of everything else, but all products it produces are nutritious and noble, and with water and air it gives healthy and sensible people”.
