Publication of an application pursuant to Article 50(2)(a) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs
Date: 2013-06-15
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Lithuania, consumer information, cows’ milk cheese, designation of origin, foodstuff, product designation








C_2013170EN.01004601.xml










15.6.2013   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 170/46





Publication of an application pursuant to Article 50(2)(a) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs
2013/C 170/11
This publication confers the right to oppose the application pursuant to Article 51 of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (1).
SINGLE DOCUMENT

COUNCIL REGULATION (EC) No 510/2006


on the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs
 (2)


‘LILIPUTAS’


EC No: LT-PGI-0005-0868-14.03.2011


PGI ( X ) PDO ( )

1.   Name

‘Liliputas’
2.   Member State or third country

Lithuania
3.   Description of the agricultural product or foodstuff

3.1.   Type of product







Class 1.3.


Cheeses




3.2.   Description of product to which the name in point 1 applies

‘Liliputas’ is a handmade, high-fat (50 % in dry matter), semi-hard cheese in the shape of a cylinder with rounded ends. It is 7,5-13 cm in height, 7-8,5 cm in diameter and 0,4-0,7 kg in weight. The cheese is made in the village of Belvederis from pasteurised, standardised cow’s milk, by coagulating the milk and then processing the coagulum, wrapping the cheese mass in woven cotton napkins and pressing it in the traditional cylindrical moulds. The cheese is matured for at least a month by means of internal microflora and surface microflora, namely the microscopic mould Penicillium pallidum Smith, which grows naturally in cheese cellars in the geographical area defined in point 4.
The cheese got the name ‘Liliputas’ because of its size and derives its organoleptic characteristics from maturing in small rounds in the presence of the microscopic mould Penicillium pallidum Smith.

Table 1


Organoleptic indicators of ‘Liliputas’ cheese







Indicator


Description




Appearance


The rind is smooth, with no thick layer underneath, and is covered with a paraffin/polymer or other composite coating. It may bear the imprints of the napkin and the cheese mould




Flavour and aroma


Lactic acid, fresh flavour and aroma that is distinctive to this fermented cheese. There may be a slight sharpness and saltiness




Texture


Homogeneous, quite firm, elastic, yielding in the mouth




Cross-section


The cross-section may or may not show small, unevenly distributed oval, angular or slightly flattened holes




Colour


Cream to yellow, uniform throughout








Table 2


Physical and chemical characteristics of ‘Liliputas’ cheese







Indicator


Amount (%)




Fat content in dry matter


50 ± 1,6




Minimum dry matter content


56




Common salt content


2-3








Table 3


Average nutritional value of 100 g of ‘Liliputas’ cheese










Fat (g)


Protein (g)


Carbohydrates (g)


Energy value




kcal


kJ




30


23,5


—


364


1 510




3.3.   Raw materials (for processed products only)







—


cow’s milk,










—


lactic acid and aromatic bacteria starter cultures,










—


milk-coagulating enzymes,










—


common salt.




3.4.   Feed (for products of animal origin only)

There are no specific quality requirements or restrictions as regards place of origin.
3.5.   Specific steps in production that must take place in the identified geographical area







—


Preparation and enzymatic coagulation of the milk: Milk for cheese production is pasteurised and standardised in such a way that the fat content in dry matter of the mature cheese meets the requirements laid down in point 3.2. The milk is coagulated by adding the enzyme, starter cultures and calcium chloride.










—


Processing of the coagulum and curd grains: The coagulum is mechanically processed until the grains are of the required size and then stirred. During formation of the curd grains, a third of the whey is drained off, after which the curd grains are heated. After heating, the curd grains are stirred until they reach a size of 4-5 mm, are no longer sticky and become dry and solid. The moisture content of the cheese must be no higher than 44 %.










—


Shaping and pressing of the cheese: The cheese is formed from the curd layer. The process takes 20 to 25 minutes, after which the curd layer is cut into pieces, which are placed in the cylindrical moulds by hand to compress under their own weight. During self-pressing, the cheeses are turned in the moulds two or three times. Self-pressing takes 20 to 25 minutes.
After self-pressing, the cheeses are taken out of the moulds, wrapped in damp napkins to allow a rind to form and placed back in the moulds before putting the lids on. The moulds containing the cheeses are placed in presses and pressed for between one and a half and two hours. After pressing, the cheeses are taken out of the moulds, the napkins are removed and any crusts that may have formed between the cheese mould and the lid during pressing are trimmed off.










—


Salting of the cheese: The cheeses are weighed and placed in brine. After 48 hours, the cheeses are removed from the brine, placed on shelves, dried for 24 hours and then placed on the maturing racks in the cellar, which is kept at a temperature of 10-14 °C and a humidity of 93-94 % and where the microscopic mould Penicillium pallidum Smith grows naturally.










—


Maturing of the cheese: The cheeses on the racks are turned every five days, as described by the first producers of the cheese, in order to prevent them from lying on their sides and to maintain their shape. After several days, the surface of the cheese becomes covered with a coating of microscopic mould, which is washed off after 15 days. The cheese is dried and returned to the rack to continue maturing. After 30 days, when the cheese has fully matured, the coating of microscopic mould that has again covered the surface of the cheese like a cocoon is washed off, and the cheese is dried and covered with a wax coating.




3.6.   Specific rules concerning slicing, grating, packaging, etc.

The cheeses are packaged in cardboard boxes. To preserve the unique characteristics of the cheese, to protect it from drying out if the protective paraffin layer becomes damaged, and because of its small size (weighing 0,4-0,7 kg), it is sold only uncut.
3.7.   Specific rules concerning labelling

The label must clearly show the product name, i.e. ‘Liliputas’, the name of the manufacturer, the words ‘protected geographical indication’ and/or the EU symbol.
4.   Concise definition of the geographical area

‘Liliputas’ cheese is made in the village of Belvederis, which is a small Lithuanian village in Jurbarkas District Municipality that is situated in the Panemunė Regional Park, on the right bank of the River Nemunas, 1 km west of Seredžius.
5.   Link with the geographical area

5.1.   Specificity of the geographical area

Belvederis is the historical cradle of dairy specialists in Lithuania. In 1921, an agricultural school was set up in the manor house, where the subjects taught included dairying. After a few years, it was reorganised as a dairy college and, in 1944, as a technical dairy college. For many years, it fostered Lithuania’s dairy training traditions. During its 34 years of existence, the college/technical college trained more than 800 dairy specialists, most of whom gained their experience in Lithuania’s oldest cheese dairy, which was built in 1928 and is where ‘Liliputas’ is made. The milk used to produce the cheeses was heated in a vat with a wood-burning furnace. The separator was manual, and the cheese moulds wooden. The cheeses were washed using hand-held brushes, in the cellar in winter and in the open air in summer. The cheese dairy was next to an ice house, which was used to store blocks of ice brought from the River Nemunas. The ice was used to cool the cheese cellars. Initially, Belvederis cheese dairy produced larger (2,5-3 kg), round semi-hard cheeses, but, from 1958, when the dairy was extended, it started to produce small 0,4-0,7 kg cheeses, and the name ‘Liliputas’ caught on right away. Master cheese-maker Jonas Jarušaitis was the first to master the production of this cheese. In its first year of production, barely 8 tonnes of the cheese were matured, but, 40 years later, production had increased to 130 tonnes. The old wooden cheese moulds have been kept for posterity at Belvederis cheese dairy, along with souvenir cardboard packaging boxes and a postcard dating from the mid-20th century, which depicts cheeses being washed in a vat and issues an invitation to attend a kingly banquet and taste handmade Belvederis cheeses and other delicacies.
Today, ‘Liliputas’ is still made using the unique and authentic technology of 1958. The production skills and knowledge handed down from generation to generation by the employees of the cheese dairy have made it possible to preserve the product’s distinctive size, organoleptic characteristics and quality.
5.2.   Specificity of the product

A specific characteristic of ‘Liliputas’ cheese is that it is small, weighing only 0,4-0,7 kg, and is covered by a wax coating that protects it against damage. ‘Liliputas’ cheese gets its fresh, lactic-acid flavour and aroma from maturing in small rounds in a cool, damp cellar, cloaked with spores of the microscopic mould Penicillium pallidum Smith. No traces of the microscopic mould are visible on the walls, shelves or ceiling in the maturing room, but, a few days after the ‘Liliputas’ cheeses have been salted and lined up on the shelves, they start to resemble silkworm cocoons. In order to prevent the microscopic mould from penetrating into the cheese while it matures, it is protected by the rind formed during pressing. In order to form the rind, the cheeses are removed from the cylindrical moulds after self-pressing and wrapped in woven cotton napkins before being placed back in the cylindrical moulds and pressed in presses.
The cheeses are produced in the traditional way, almost entirely by hand, i.e. the curd layer is cut and placed in the moulds and the cheeses are wrapped in napkins, turned, washed, wiped and waxed by hand, a process during which each individual cheese is handled more than 50 times.
5.3.   Causal link between the geographical area and the quality or characteristics of the product (for PDO) or a specific quality, the reputation or other characteristic of the product (for PGI)

The application for registration of a protected geographical indication is based on tradition, the specific production method and reputation.
In the public consciousness, Belvederis, as the cradle of dairy science in Lithuania, is directly associated with the peerless ‘Liliputas’ cheese, which has been produced in the same way since 1958. Belvederis cheese dairy is currently the only producer of this unique handmade cheese.
‘Liliputas’ cheese gets its specific flavour and aroma from maturing in small rounds by means of internal microflora and the microscopic mould Penicillium pallidum Smith, which grows in cellars in the geographical area defined in point 4 when they are kept at a constant temperature of 10-14 °C and a humidity of 93-94 %.
‘Liliputas’ cheese has been exhibited at many exhibitions, both in Lithuania and abroad, meeting with great success at exhibitions in Leipzig, Poznań, Zagreb, London, Paris, Copenhagen, Vienna and elsewhere. ‘Liliputas’ won a gold medal at the ‘Agra-76’ exhibition in what was then the German Democratic Republic. It was awarded a first-class diploma in the cheese quality survey/competition in 1984 in Uglich, USSR, and won a gold medal in the ‘Lithuanian Product of the Year 2002’ competition, which was organised by the Lithuanian Confederation of Industrialists. At the international food and drink exhibition ‘World Food Moscow 2005’, it won a bronze medal, and, at the international exhibition for the agricultural and processing industries ‘Zolotaya osen 2008’, also in Moscow, ‘Liliputas’ graced the Lithuanian national stand put together by the Lithuanian Ministry of Agriculture. At ‘AgroBalt 2010’, a specialised international exhibition for companies in the agricultural, food and packaging industries, ‘Liliputas’ won an award for its natural and ecological qualities. Both ‘Liliputas’ and its dedicated producers have been written about many times in the Lithuanian press (1999-2003).
Although ‘Liliputas’ costs twice as much as cheese produced in a mechanised dairy, it has a loyal following of customers who appreciate quality and natural and handmade products. Production volumes have remained stable over the years.

Reference to publication of the specification

(Article 5(7) of Regulation (EC) No 510/2006 (3))
http://www.zum.lt/l.php?tmpl_into[0]=index&tmpl_name[0]=m_site_index2&tmpl_into[1]=middle&tmpl_id[1]=2704


(1)  OJ L 343, 14.12.2012, p. 1.

(2)  OJ L 93, 31.3.2006, p. 12. Replaced by Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012.

(3)  See footnote 2.