Sirene Cheese

A friend from Poland who traveled extensively in Europe before he came to the US introduced me to this. Sirene is the Bulgarian version of the goat, sheep or cow milk white cheese that has variations in most areas of Central/Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean. These cheeses are usually soft to crumbly and are brined. In many areas the cheese is known as brinza, which is a word of Romanian origin. Of course, feta is the Greek variant. Feta is quite crumbly and very salty. It's got its place, no doubt, but I've really come to enjoy sirene, which is more creamy and smooth tasting, with less salt. It comes in big cans I get at the local immigrant food store and, while it's not cheap ($17/can, which has over a pound of cheese), it's worth it. I like the Dairyland/Sudtiyari brand with the label "Piknik White Cheese" and the picture of a bearded farmer driving a donkey cart. Other brands seem to be more like feta.

You could use it in place of feta for most recipes, at least assuming the saltiness wasn't the point or you wanted to cut the saltiness down, but my favorite application is simplicity itself:

2 slices of a good crusty bread
2 oz of sirene, sliced
1 tbsp apricot jam
1 tbsp black currant jam
light squeeze of lemon juice

The sweetness of the jam, slight salty creaminess of the sirene, tartness of the lemon, all held together by the bread is perfect. If I were serving this for someone else I might be tempted to throw a mint chiffonade on it or add some extra fruit but for me, I don't bother. Serve with coffee and an anisette, a good white wine or a nice light and dry beer.