The local cheeses of Tokaj with the local wines that suit them, and why they work.
The cheeses of Tokaj with the wines made beside them. Pairings marked as a local tradition are the ones a regional source names; the rest are our own picks, and say so.
Parenyica is lightly smoked and, per the HÍR collection, pleasantly salty; the high acidity of an unoaked or lightly oaked dry Furmint refreshes the palate between bites and keeps the smoke from lingering.
Bottles to try:
Gomolya is a fresh, lactic and pleasantly salty cheese, per the HÍR collection; the floral notes of a dry Hárslevelű sit alongside it without overpowering it.
Bottles to try:
Sweet Szamorodni is aged in oak and keeps a high acidity; its oxidative or nutty warmth meets the smoke of a salty parenyica roll, and its sweetness softens the salt.
Bottles to try:
Dry Szamorodni is oxidative and nutty, a different register from dry Furmint; that nuttiness can sit alongside a smoked parenyica roll without covering the milder cheese.
Bottles to try:
The HÍR collection describes parenyica as ham-like, lightly smoked, full and pleasantly salty. A dry Furmint aged in oak barrels keeps a high acidity that cuts the salt, and its time in oak suits the smoke.
Bottles to try:
Gomolya is a fresh cheese, eaten plain, grilled or kept in spiced oil; the high acidity of an unoaked or lightly oaked dry Furmint cuts through the cheese and the oil.
Bottles to try:
A late-harvest Tokaj of Furmint and Hárslevelű is sweet and fruit-led with a high acidity; beside fresh gomolya, plain or grilled, it plays the part that fruit or honey plays beside a fresh cheese.
Bottles to try:
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No. Slovenská parenica is a protected geographical indication for cheese made in Slovakia, entered in the EU register on 11 July 2008. Tokaji Sajt in Tokaj sells its own cheese as parenyica.
The Hungarian HÍR collection of traditional foods says it was once made from raw sheep's milk and is now made mostly from cow's milk. Hungarian Wikipedia, describing the Slovak cheese, says the sheep's milk share must be at least 50 percent.
The HÍR collection gives about 0.3 kg for a roll 7 to 8 cm across, wound from a ribbon 6 to 7 cm wide. Slovak and English Wikipedia give about 100 g for a typical Slovak roll.
Per the HÍR collection, rennet was stirred into warmed milk, the curd was broken after an hour to free the whey and poured through a loose-woven cloth whose size set the size of the cheese, then left to drip and dried on a cheese table or pressed. Today it is salted and drained to its final shape in cloth.
Zempléni Sajt in Tarcal lists a grill gomolya on its webshop in 250 g packs, sent vacuum-packed; its terms of sale also allow collection at the dairy at a time agreed in advance.
