Ġbejna
Maltese cheese made from sheep's milk / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Ġbejna?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
Ġbejna (Maltese pronunciation: [dʒbɛɪ̯na], plural ġbejniet) is a small round cheese made in Malta[1] from sheep milk, salt and rennet.[2] Most sheep's milk produced in Malta is used for the production of these small cheeses.[3]
Ġbejna is the diminutive of the Maltese word ġobna, which means "cheese"; it is synonymous with the Maltese English word "cheeselet", i.e. "little cheese". The fully qualified name Ġbejna tan-nagħaġ means "sheep cheeselet".
Milk in Malta was traditionally sold fresh, immediately after milking goats on the streets.[4] The unpasteurised milk sold was one of the causes of the spread of brucellosis (Maltese: Deni Irqiq; "Maltese fever") in the late 19th to the early 20th century. Themistocles Zammit is credited with stopping the pandemic.[4]
Malta Competition and Consumer Affair Authority accepted Malta's request to protect the name 'ġbejna' as a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), however, after national objection period, the application was rejected because the term 'ġbejna' now refer to all cheeselets generically.[5][6][7] Following this rejection, the Xirka Produtturi Nagħaġ u Mogħoż applied for the term 'Ġbejna tan-nagħaġ'. This application is currently under scrutiny by the European Commission [8] and if accepted, it will be the first registered Geographical Indication for a Maltese food product.