Culture Magazine

62 culturecheesemag.com T R AV E L 202 2 With only about 200 animals, Maeras is one of the island's smaller producers. Despite his relatively modest production, he has chosen to obtain the Protected Destination of Origin (PDO) certification for his Arseniko. A recent phenomenon—PDO for Arseniko Naxou was granted by the EU in 2020—it's an opportunity several of the island's cheesemakers have embraced. To have the PDO means more than just the ability to export the cheese to other European countries; for some cheesemakers, like the Babounis family, it also means growing awareness of their cheeses. "We are interested in making the product more recognizable on the Greek market," says Manolis Babounis, a third-generation cheesemaker who, with his son, George—the fourth generation—became the first on the island to apply for and receive the PDO for Arseniko. "[Later] the goal is to develop older versions of the cheese [to] show its true character," he adds. The Babounis family's animals—about 1,000 heads in all—graze on the sea-mist-swept phrygana of the Agiassos Bay and often drink seawater, which, according to Manolis Babounis, adds to the complexity of the cheese's taste. International judges must agree: the family has won several awards for their Arseniko, the most recent a Bronze at the 2021 World Cheese Awards. Receiving PDO for Arseniko Naxou is meant to provide shepherds with added value they otherwise wouldn't get from their dairy production. Selling Arseniko isn't allowed without certification, and for those shepherds who have yet to get the PDO, that means living off sales of the milk. I meet one of them—Giorgios Manios—at his mazomos near the summit of Mount Zas, which sits about 1,000 meters above sea level. The views are dizzying, but it's not the vistas that Manios is most proud off. At 70 he is still working—intent on following in the footsteps of his father, who worked until he was 100. Every morning, with his son and grandson, he milks the family's goats by hand. With about 700 animals in his care, Manios would like to expand into producing cheese rather than selling the milk to a larger cheese producer, but the mazomos—which he built himself— doesn't have electricity or running water; using a gas tank to heat the milk, he makes small amounts of cheese for the family. Although Arseniko is normally produced between November and April and I visit in June, he offers me a demonstration of his cheesemaking skills. From pouring the fresh milk into the cauldron to adding rennet to stirring the mixture and then packing the curds into molds, the process is done entirely by hand. "Our production is traditional," Manios says, "Not industrial." In addition to Arseniko, the island's cheesemakers produce other kinds of cheeses. Both Manios and Maeras make mizithra—a white, soft cheese with a creamy texture. Prepared immediately following Arseniko by adding fresh milk to the remaining whey and then heating the mixture, glykomizithra—a sweet mizithra—is a favorite of children who eat it with bread for breakfast or with watermelon as a snack. When aged, glykomizithra turns into what Naxians refer to as thiliko, a semi-hard or hard white cheese with a slightly salty and nutty flavor. With its name derived from the Greek word for "feminine," thiliko is milder and contains less fat than the "masculine" Arseniko, from the remnants of which it has been produced. While glykomizithra and Arseniko are made during the winter months, xynomizithra—the sour mizithra—is usually a warmer weather special. Made with full-fat goat's and Demetris Verykokos (left) and Giorgios Manios There are about 150,000 free-roaming goats on Naxos

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