Sheep have been raised for milk and cheese for thousands of years. There is no conclusive evidence indicating where sheep cheesemaking actually began, but proposed dates for its origin range from around 1000 B.C. to around 3000 B.C., when sheep were first domesticated. Two of the earliest sources mentioning its consumption are Homer's Odyssey (8th century B.C.), describing the Cyclops making and storing sheep cheese, and the Bible.
Today, the world's commercial dairy sheep industry is concentrated mainly in Europe and the countries on or near the Mediterranean Sea. Most of the sheep milk produced in the world is made into cheese with Feta being the most famous.
Sheep cheese is naturally more nutritious than goat or cow cheese. Due to its high calcium and zinc content, it is very good for the prevention of osteoporosis. As an excellent source of iron, magnesium and vitamins A, D, E, B1, B2, B3, B5, B6 and B12, it is also suitable for children and adults suffering from vitamin deficiency. People who develop intolerances to cow or goat dairy products often find that sheep products are the only dairy products they can safely eat. They contain a higher proportion of medium and short chain saturated fatty acids, which are the types of fats that are absorbed quickly by the body for efficient energy production, and it is believed that this leads to a higher lactose absorption in the body. The fat in sheep cheese is heart friendly; according to scientific research, it has no known negative impact on cholesterol.
Now that you know how healthy sheep cheese actually is for your body, let me introduce you to one of my favourite energy-boosting meals: fried egg with sheep cheese, tomato, olives and herbs.
Being Slovene, I enjoy the smell and taste of sheep cheese. With this recipe in particular, I like to use the Bovec sheep cheese, one of the finest and oldest brands in our country. Its birthplace is in the unspoiled pastures and valleys under the Julian Alps near the Italian border.
Dating back to the Middle Ages, this cheese is produced predominantly from pure ewe's milk of the autochthonous Bovec sheep. It is made exclusively by cheese makers in the Soca Valley region, which is known throughout Europe for its beautiful nature and the crystal-clear Soca River.
Bovec cheese is a full-fat hard cheese, characterized by a well-rounded, aromatic, and slightly spicy taste. Sometimes small quantities of cow or goat milk are added to it, but usually not more than 20 percent. The brand is also registered as Protected Designation of Origin.
Using the Bovec sheep cheese with this recipe isn't neccessary. Any brand of full-fat hard sheep cheese can be used instead, but if you ever visit the town of Bovec or any other place in the So?a Valley, do try it, and savour its rich alpine taste. It is sold at tourist farms in and around Bovec, where parts of Prince Caspian, the sequel to the 2005 hit The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe were filmed.
This recipe won't take you more than 10 min to prepare, and after you have tasted it, you will probably want to include it into your recipe collection.
Ingredients:
- 1 or 2 eggs
- sheep's milk hard cheese
- 1 small ripe tomato or 4 cherry tomatoes
- dry basil, oregano,marjoram
- sweet pepper powder
- ground white pepper, salt
- olive oil
- a thin slice of butter
- 2 olives
- a small amount of chopped leek or spring onion
Directions:
- Cut the tomato into slices or quarters. Take the slicer, and cut a small block of cheese into 4 or 5 thin slices, and then slice them further into smaller pieces. Remove the pits from the olives and chop them up. Also chop up a small amount of leek or spring onion.
- Place the frying pan on the burner at low heat, put in 3-5 tablespoons of olive oil and a thin slice of butter. As the pan is slowly heating up, crack your egg into the mixture of oil and butter, but only when the butter has completely melted into the oil.
- Scatter the cheese all over the egg white and into the buttery olive oil. Continue with tomato slices, chopped leek or onion, and chopped olives. Avoid placing any of the 3 ingredients over the egg yolk.
- Sprinkle a pinch of sweet pepper, salt and white pepper over the yolk.
- Add a pinch of dry basil, oregano and marjoram to the dish.
- Now fry the egg over medium heat for a minute or two (depending on how you like your yolk done). The cheese should slowly melt into the buttery oil. Be careful not to burn the cheese.
- Serve with any type of bread (a hint: the dish tastes best with corn bread).
Tanja Batista - Tanja Batista has a BA in English Language and Literature from the Faculty of Arts, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
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