Arseniko cheese is often referred to as the King of Greek cheeses because of its potent, piquant taste, that gets stronger as it ages. It’s one of the oldest Greek cheeses, still made the traditional way today. I visited Yiannis and Kostas at Armeos farm on the island of Naxos, a 350-year-old family farm, to see how the cheese is made.
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I’m Claudia, a journalist and producer reporting on food. I was born and raised in Bari, Italy, and I have been living in London, UK since 2012. I enjoy learning what goes behind the scenes in the food industry, how traditional dishes are made and why certain foods are so important to countries and cultures around the world. Follow me for more food videos!
How One of the Spiciest, Oldest Cheeses in Greece is Made at a 350-Year-Old Family Farm (Arseniko)
#arseniko #greekfood #cheese
CHAPTERS
00:00 Intro
01:03 Separating the curds and whey with an olive wood stick
02:38 Taking out the curd and giving the cheese shape
05:07 Why Arseniko is called the “male cheese”
05:25 Flipping and salting the cheese
06:05 Some Arseniko wheels can age for over two years
06:58 Washing the cheese in olive oil
08:49 Tasting
10:55 Old cheesemaking tools from 350 years ago
13:23 A glimpse of the road to get to the farm!
49 Comments
Keep the collections in the museum safe. They are collector's items and could be stolen and sold for profit.
A beautiful Italian 🇮🇹 woman in Greece 🇬🇷 … 🧀 🌹
Claudia, please do a European bread series, starting from Italy from your amazing breads like Pane di Altamura! No pizza pls!
the spice comes from the arm hair
Only once did I find superb Lesbian figs in Athens. I asked why. The Lesbians eat them all. That Island, Lesbos, also has the name Mitilene.
I recommend that you look into traditional "gamonéu" cheese from northern Spain, quite fascinating. Great video as always!
It’s the lush Greek arm hair that really gives this cheese its flavour!
Ο Θεός να σε έχει καλά Γιάννη!! Εσένα και τα ζωντανά σου! Fantastic video!
Chicken: "Let's goooooo!"
I love these videos. One of my favorite cheeses may not have a "super traditional" version (or maybe it does), but it is Gligora "Zigljen Ekstra Stari" from Pag Island Croatia. It is like a parmigiana but nuttier tasting, and is fantastic for risotto.
Not even greeks know this cheese, the hell did she find it from
Lovely episode. Have you grated it over pasta yet?
I wish I had a chance to taste this cheese! Total fan of Claudia's!
I love watching the traditional cheese making methods Claudia! it is so tactile, and it looked delicious!
Hi, Claudia. Do you sell Arseniko Cheese?
omg is Yannis married 😍
Claudia, you have my dream job. Kia Ora from Aotearoa New Zealand!
I was a cheesemonger for years, I also come from a Greek family. I have always really struggled to come across the hidden culinary and cheese gems of Greece in my ancestral region sadly…
Do you know what the English word spicy means?
Yannis has a warm smile and a calm demeanor, as well great craftsmanship and skill. What a beautiful man.
Α μωρη Αξά μαθατε και το αρσενικό
Greece's cuisine is truly heaven, ranks in all recent years polls in the absolute top of top rankings. And yet most people have no idea of even a fraction of Greece's cuisine.
Greece's cuisine is 25 local cuisines, in areas each with thousands of years of history. And in a place where even tectonically Asia, Europe, Africa tectonic plates come together in Greece. It's climate wise in the perfect position being in the top 3 best climates on earth, and it's historically and geographically in the perfect position. Produce in Greece is taken care with the highest of excellence and you see that in every ranking.
This years rankins of World Taste Atlas put Greece's cuisine in top 3 in the world, 3 out of 5 best pistachio's on earth from Greece and nr1 is from the Greek island of Aegina. Best apples from Greece, Cheeses are dominated by Greece and Italy. Top 10 out of 100 best olive oils are entirely dominated by Greece with 9 of the 10 best olive oils in World Taste Atlast rankings being Greek. 3 of the 10 best coffees in the world being Greek. And endless other rankings like that having Greece being at the top rankings.
Greece is a nation where quality stands supreme. And this is not the case with many nations where far larger populations makes companies focus on quantity at the loss of quality.
For example, by far the lowest quality honeys in the EU market are Turkish and Chinese ones. The vast majority of them are adulterated with sugars and chemicals, which is how they try to gain profits by quantities. While Greek honeys are dominating best rankings on earth. Greek honey is renowned as being the best honeys.
Very nice your video Claudia!!! I would suggest to visit Crete and make a video for the cheese of hole , in Greece we call it the cheese of “tripa”https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=x0CErZAYU1s&pp=ygUVzqTPhc-Bzrkgz4TPgc-Fz4DOsc-C
Very nice!
These aren't obscure terms. Find a variable interpreter.
I really wanna visit Naxos, as far as I understand they have really a lot of regional cheese and food made specifically from the island so since it also has surfing beaches its my next go to island
The best non-brined cheese we have in Greece. I'm glad it's receiving some of the love it deserves!
Thank you so much for all the work you do recording this invaluable culinary heritage. Your features on cheese are the golden standard by which all similar works are judged.
This is the most exciting cheese-making process and result Ive ever seen of any cheese!
PS: Im curious about the "rock" by the open window. Is it an ancient cheese? I thought that a good idea to place one there, so it perhaps confers the old cultured spores into the room and onto the other aging cheeses?
I don't understand why Americans tend to clink with the food… Why would you do it? In Europe we do it only with drinks especially alcoholic drinks served in glass.
It's cane, not bamboo 😂
Amassing cheese ! If you can find it don't make second thoughts ,just give it a chance !
Thank you Claudia for this beautiful video !Greetings from Athens !
That was very interesting. I am Greek and I didn’t know about this cheese. Obviously such small production is not sold in supermarkets or delis, so you can only get it if you visit the island and this man in particular.
Hi from Greece, Claudia what a simple but superb video for one of our traditional products.Unfortunately, fewer farmers and breeders stay every decade of years! Please continue these nice and useful videos.Thanks, Dimitris !
Metsovone (Μετσοβονε)
Graviera Naxos, Creta (Γραβιερα)
Anevato Grevena (Ανεβατο)
Arseniko Naxos (Αρσενικο)
Ladoryri Lesvos (Λαδοτυρι)
Batzos (Μπατζος)
Feta Varelisia (Φετα)
Those are just some of my favorite Greek cheeses 🧀 ❤
Great video Claudia 📹 👍
shes really something else <3
Eating Arseniko along with fried potatoes in Naxos was a revelation. So simple yet so tasty
This is amazing!
this cheese is incredible tastefull!
The marvels of Greece. This country amazes me every day, although I have been spending time in it for more than three decades.
What a marvellous process for a unique product
Why is Yiannis not speaking? He doesnt know modern English Language? Damn he is that Old JK JK😃 He seem like nice person and very hardworking😍
That’s the thing with Greek food I’ve been saying for years, they don’t export like 98% of what they create. The only Greek cheese anyone has heard of is Feta. Compare with Italy! Greece has a many cheeses but the world does not know about them. It’s like Greece as a nation needs a class in Branding. Haha- I’m joking – it just must be a nice surprise for the people lucky enough to visit and find out for the first time Greece is about more than just Feta!! yassou!! 💙🤍
I hope that they have a patent for it, otherwise all over Europe now they know the way to make fake Arseniko cheese!
Come to Sifnos to see a small difference of this one!
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I never knew Ian Botham became a cheese maker in Greece…
It is amazing that even Greeks can make cheeses with their primitive techniques and equipment!
Arseniko is easily one of the best cheeses in the world. Great video by the way.