Sifnos Recipe
Xynomyzithra
Fresh, slightly sour whey cheese — eaten with honey, in salads or on bread.
Cooking time
1 day
Serves
1 small wheel
Xynomyzithra is the fresh, slightly sour whey cheese of Sifnos. It is made from the leftover whey of harder cheeses, with a little milk, heat, and lemon to bring the curds up. Soft. Tangy. Eaten with thyme honey at breakfast, or with oil and oregano on bread, or crumbled on caper salad.
It is not ricotta and it is not manoura. Manoura is the aged wine-wheel. This one does not keep for months. Village dairies and taverna breakfast plates are where you find it. If it tastes bland, someone has sold you a milder mainland myzithra.
On a fasting-day table it sits with chickpeas and capers. On a meat day it still starts the meal. The hard cheese is manoura. The rest of the kitchen: Sifnos cuisine.
Ingredients
- •5L sheep's milk whey (leftover from harder cheeses)
- •1L fresh sheep's milk
- •Lemon juice
- •Coarse salt
Preparation
- 1.Combine whey and milk in a heavy pot. Heat slowly to 90°C.
- 2.Add a splash of lemon juice — curds will form on the surface.
- 3.Skim curds into a cheesecloth-lined colander; drain 4 hours.
- 4.Salt lightly and chill overnight.
- 5.Eat with thyme honey for breakfast, or with olive oil and oregano.
Where to try it
Most Sifnos tavernas as a meze.
Most Sifnos tavernas as a meze, and on breakfast plates with honey. Village dairies if you want to buy a small piece. Eat it fresh; this is not a cheese you forget in a bag for a week.
Frequently asked questions
A fresh, slightly sour whey cheese from Sifnos. Soft, white, tangy. Honey at breakfast, oil and oregano as a meze.
Xynomyzithra is fresh and sour. Manoura is hard, wine-aged, and sharp. Same island, opposite ends of the dairy.
It is in the same whey-cheese family, but the Sifnos version is meant to taste sour (xyno). If it is sweet and bland, it is not the local one.
Yes, as a cheese. Rennet practice varies by dairy; if you need microbial rennet, ask. Honey on top is the usual breakfast.
Taverna meze lists and breakfast. Some village shops sell it by the piece. Order it the day you want it.
If you have whey from another cheese, yes — heat, lemon, drain, salt, chill. The recipe on this page is the home method. It will not taste identical to a Sifnos dairy.
Gallery
