Wide view of a white Acharuli Chlechili cheese braid on a handmade plate against a wooden table.

YieldAbout 450 g fresh cheese

Serving1/6 recipe, about 75 g

DifficultyModerate; curd temperature needs close attention

DietContains milk; vegetarian only when made with microbial or vegetarian rennet

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The dish

About Ajarian Spinning Cheese (Acharuli Chlechili)

Ajarian Spinning Cheese: Fresh Braided Cheese Threads

In Adjara, “spinning cheese” refers to a local cheese shaped by pulling, twisting and braiding fine strands. The protected regional product is known as Acharuli Chlechili. This home method borrows its thread-like form, but uses a quick curd process and is not the registered cheese.

The recipe makes a mild, fresh cheese from pasteurized cow's milk. Warm curd is stretched into fine ribbons, braided while pliable, and briefly salted in a chilled brine. The braid is delicate, gently elastic and best eaten fresh.

Use pasteurized, non-UHT milk and a thermometer. Milk treatment and acidity shape whether a curd will stretch; this simplified formula may behave differently with local milk. Do not treat the quick method as a substitute for the traditional Ajarian seasonal process.

Georgia Travel places spinning cheese among Ajarian dairy products and associates its special making techniques mainly with the highlands. The protected product specification calls it Acharuli Chlechili and describes a fibrous cheese that is twisted or braided. Adjara's traditional cheese has a particular seasonal and regional context; this quick household version does not meet that specification.

Fine threads are the defining visual and textural feature. Stretch the curd only while hot and pliable, then gather the strands loosely into a braid rather than compressing them into a dense block. A cold brine seasons the fresh cheese without leaving it at room temperature.

Fresh string cheese is distinct from Meskhetian Tenili, already listed separately in this collection. Both are drawn into threads, but Tenili belongs to Meskheti and has its own traditional handling and aging practice. This recipe makes no claim to either protected product.

Cook the dish

Ingredients

Ajarian Spinning Cheese: Fresh Braided Cheese Threads

Curds

3.8 Lcold whole cow's milk, pasteurized and not UHT
7.5 gcitric acid dissolved in 120 ml cool filtered water
2.5 mlliquid single-strength rennet diluted in 60 ml cool filtered water. Check the rennet label if its potency differs

Brine

2 Lcold filtered water
40 gfine salt

Method

Sanitize and measure. Wash, rinse and sanitize the pot, thermometer, knife, sieve, cloth, bowl, storage container and food-contact surfaces. Follow the sanitizer label. Keep milk refrigerated until use.
Set the curd. Dissolve the citric acid in 120 ml water and dilute the rennet separately in 60 ml water. Warm milk slowly to 16 °C. Stir in the acid solution, then heat gently to 32 °C. Remove from heat, stir in the diluted rennet for about 30 seconds, cover and leave for 5–10 minutes, until a clean cut forms.
Cut and warm. Cut the curd into 2 cm cubes. Return the pot to low heat and raise the curd and whey gradually to 41 °C over about 5 minutes, stirring gently so the curds separate without crumbling. Rest for 2 minutes.
Drain. Pour the curds into the sanitized cloth-lined sieve and drain for 5 minutes.
Heat and stretch. Transfer curd to a microwave-safe bowl. Heat in 30-second bursts, turning it between bursts, until the centre reaches 71 °C on a thermometer. Drain any released whey. With clean heat-safe gloves or utensils, fold and stretch the hot curd until glossy and elastic, then pull it into fine strands. If it cools and stops stretching, reheat in 15-second bursts and check the centre temperature again.
Braid and chill. Gather the strands into a loose braid while warm. Dissolve 40 g salt in 2 L water and chill the brine to 4 °C or colder. Cover the cheese with brine and refrigerate for 2 hours. Drain it in the refrigerator for 10 minutes before serving cool or chilled.

Practical guidance

Use only pasteurized, non-UHT milk; raw milk is not suitable for this home version, and UHT milk may fail to form a workable curd. Stretching does not replace pasteurization. Work carefully around hot curd, using heat-safe gloves or utensils. Because milk composition and acid response vary, this quick method may need a kitchen trial with the available milk.

Refrigerate the finished cheese promptly in a clean covered shallow container at or below 4 °C. Do not age it. Use within 3 days; discard it if it has been above 4 °C for more than 2 hours. Serve in short lengths so the delicate threads are easy to portion.

Nutrition per serving

Estimated nutrition per serving

Serving size: About 75 g fresh cheese
Calories: About 224 kcal
Carbohydrate: 2 g
Protein: 17 g
Fat: 17 g
Fibre: 0 g
Sodium: About 450 mg

Nutrition is provisional. It uses generic whole-milk mozzarella values as a proxy for the estimated cheese yield; variable salt absorbed from the brine makes sodium especially uncertain. It is not a laboratory analysis of Acharuli Chlechili.

Allergens and food safety

Contains milk. Sanitize all food-contact equipment and use pasteurized milk. Measure the curd's centre temperature with a thermometer; appearance alone is not a safety check. Keep brine and cheese at or below 4 °C, refrigerate promptly, do not age, and use within 3 days.

Serving cues

The warm curd pulls into smooth glossy strands before it is braided.
After chilling, the braid should be lightly elastic, fresh-smelling and easy to separate into threads.

About Ajarian Spinning Cheese (Acharuli Chlechili)

Ingredients

Curds

Brine

Method

Practical guidance

Estimated nutrition per serving

Allergens and food safety

Serving cues

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