Cheese making

The island of Lemnos is deeply associated with cheesemaking, particularly with two specific types of cheese: Kalathaki and Melipasto/Melichloro Lemnou.

Kalathaki is a brined cheese that was granted Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status as early as the 1990s, while Melichloro/Melipasto is a semi-hard cheese whose PDO recognition is eagerly awaited by the local community within this year. Both cheeses are made from sheep and goat milk, which is curdled within 24 hours of milking and then placed in traditional molds called tyrovólia to drain and take the shape that gives Kalathaki its name (“little basket”).

The seasonality of the milk and the island’s vegetation play such a vital role that traditionally, different cheese types correspond to different milking seasons: in spring, when vegetation is at its peak, the brined cheese Kalathaki is produced, whose fat content does not affect its final taste or culinary use. Melichloro and Melipasto—essentially the same cheese with varying hardness—are produced in summer for two important reasons: firstly, because this cheese undergoes drying in special wooden crates called kafásia or tyrokófina, which can only be done during the dry summer months; and secondly, due to the milk’s richness at this time, the cheese develops a dense, yellowish hue that largely inspired its name.

It is worth noting that Melipasto cheese has only recently begun to be produced in the island’s dairies. Historically, and still today, both Melichloro and Melipasto were made in the homes of shepherds due to the labor-intensive and time-consuming process required before the cheese is ready for consumption.

Alongside these two cheeses, one can also find the “fresh” version of Kalathaki, an almost unsalted cheese consumed one day after being placed in the mold. It is a local tradition to eat this fresh cheese mainly during the week that follows Orthodox Easter Finally, during autumn, a creamy cheese called “mts’i” is made from sour milk, typically aged in cotton sacks kept in the shade.

Cheese has been the foundation of the Lemnian diet, alongside bread, and for this reason, it has never ceased to play a significant role not only at the dining table but in life in general: Melichloro/Melipasto in particular has been used as a form of rent by Lemnian kechagiades (land tenants) to pay landowners for grazing rights. It is also offered to saints during local summer festivals and given as a gift to close friends and respected individuals, embodying a food that encapsulates the worldview and traditions of the people of Lemnos.