Mostviertler Schofkas
Mostviertler Schofkas is a fresh sheep's milk cheese from the Mostviertel in Lower Austria, shaped into rolls of about 100 to 250 g and sold in sealed cups with the whey around them. It is made from pure sheep's milk or from sheep and cow milk with at least 51 percent sheep. Austria lists it in its register of Traditional Foods (no. 31); it has no protected designation. The register names the Melktal among the valleys where farms have made it for generations and counts the Melk district in the Mostviertel; Melk is the western end of the Wachau. Käsehütte Maria Taferl, with market stalls in Melk and Krems, lists Mostviertler sheep cheese in its range.
Taste: Mild to slightly sour, with a fine, creamy structure and a smooth, glossy surface without a skin. Pure sheep's milk gives a firmer, richer body than the sheep and cow mix. Fat is at least 45 percent of dry matter, about 15 percent absolute.
Ageing: Fresh: rested 24 hours, then sold; about a week of shelf life from the farm
Made in: Mostviertel, Lower Austria (districts Amstetten, Waidhofen an der Ybbs, Scheibbs, Melk, Lilienfeld, Tulln and St. Pölten)
