- Season
- Available all year; it is made and ripened continuously, so there is no season.
- Price
- Medium
- Nutrition per 100 g
- 353 kcal
- 21.4 g protein
- 28.7 g fat
- 2.3 g carbs
Blue Cheese
Dairy
Blue Cheese
Niva is the Czech semi-soft blue cheese: a cylinder of cow's milk cheese with green to blue-green veins of the noble mould Penicillium roqueforti, sold in every Czech supermarket, usually as 100 g foil-wrapped wedges. In everyday Czech, people often call any blue cheese "niva".
In practice
How to store
- On the counter
Keep it in the fridge. For serving, take it out about 30 minutes in advance so the flavour and creaminess come through. Do not leave it at room temperature for more than about two hours.
- In the fridge
Store at 4–8 °C in its foil, or wrap it in fresh foil or waxed paper and then put it in a closed box. This stops the strong smell from spreading to other foods. Use it by the date on the pack. After opening, eat it within about a week. Mould on the inside is wanted. Fuzzy white, grey or black mould on the surface, or a slimy surface, is not: throw the cheese away.
- In the freezer
You can freeze it for up to about 3 months, well wrapped. After thawing it is more crumbly, so use it only for cooking: sauces, dressings, spreads, bakes. Thaw it slowly in the fridge.
How to choose
Look at the label for the fat content, which is given as fat in dry matter (tuk v sušině). The classic cheese is around 50%. Reduced-fat versions (for example Jihočeská niva 45% or Fit at about 30%) taste sharper and crumble more. Premium versions at 60–70% are creamier and milder. The Jihočeská niva PGI name and logo show the South Bohemian product. The cut face should have even green or blue-green marbling and a cream to pale-yellow paste. Avoid pieces with a slimy surface, an ammonia smell or a pink cut face. A thin orange tinge on well-ripened cheese is natural. Crumbled niva in bags is fine for cooking. Wedges are better for a cheese board.
What to swap in
Best swap
Another firm, salty Penicillium roqueforti cow's-milk blue, such as Danish-style blue cheese (Danablu). It has a similar sharpness and crumbles in the same way.
In a pinch
Gorgonzola piccante for sharpness, or Gorgonzola dolce mixed with a little salty feta-style cheese. Use less, because softer blues spread more and taste different.
Preparation
Cut niva cold with a thin knife or a cheese wire, because it crumbles. To crumble it for salads or toppings, break it apart with a fork. For spreads (nivová pomazánka), mash it with soft butter, cream cheese or tvaroh. For sauces, add it in small pieces to warm cream or béchamel over low heat and stir until it melts. Strong boiling makes it go grainy and oily.
Don't toss it
Mash dry ends and crumbs into butter to make niva butter for steaks, potatoes or toast. You can also stir them into a cream sauce for pasta or gnocchi. The flavour is strong, so small amounts go far.
In the kitchen
Cooking
In Czech home cooking, niva is mostly used cold or melted. Niva spread (nivová pomazánka) is mashed with butter or tvaroh, sometimes with onion or egg, and spread on bread. Niva is also crumbled into salads and served with pears, walnuts or celery. Cooks melt it into cream sauces (nivová omáčka) for steaks, chicken, pasta or gnocchi. Restaurants serve fried breaded niva (smažená niva) as an alternative to fried cheese (smažený sýr). It is also baked on potatoes, toast or pizza, and the young, firmer cheese can be breaded. Very sharp, salty niva takes over a dish quickly, so add it gradually and season with salt only at the end.
Goes well with
- Butter
- Tvaroh
- Cream
- Pears
- Walnuts
- Honey
- Celery
- Potatoes
- Gnocchi
- Beef Steak
- Chicken
- Broccoli
- Rye Bread
- Sweet Wine
What it is
Niva is the Czech semi-soft blue cheese: a cylinder of cow's milk cheese with green to blue-green veins of the noble mould Penicillium roqueforti, sold in every Czech supermarket, usually as 100 g foil-wrapped wedges. In everyday Czech, people often call any blue cheese "niva". On the shelf, though, the name means this particular domestic cheese. Today it is made by Madeta (in Český Krumlov, sold as Jihočeská niva), by NIVA s.r.o. in Dolní Přím near Hradec Králové, and by Mlékárna Otinoves in Moravia. The paste is cream to pale yellow with green or blue-green marbling. The surface is light and shows the needle holes made during production. The texture is fine and crumbly. "Jihočeská niva" (South Bohemian Niva) and "Jihočeská Zlatá niva" are EU-registered Protected Geographical Indications.
How it tastes
The flavour is clearly salty and piquant, with the sharp, slightly peppery bite of blue mould and a milky, buttery background. Younger cheese is firmer, crumblier and milder. As it ripens it gets softer, creamier and much stronger. Higher-fat versions such as Niva Premium taste rounder and less sharp than the classic cheese. The reduced-fat versions are leaner and more pungent.
Common questions
Is niva the same as Roquefort?
Does "niva" mean any blue cheese?
Is the mould in niva safe to eat?
Can I eat niva during pregnancy?
What is nivová pomazánka?
How long does niva keep after opening?
Deep dive
4 min read
Varieties
Classic niva
– about 50% fat in dry matter, ripened for about five weeks; salty, piquant and crumbly. The everyday wedge in Czech shops.
Jihočeská niva (PGI)
– the South Bohemian cheese from Madeta in Český Krumlov, protected as an EU Protected Geographical Indication. Madeta makes several fat levels, including reduced-fat 45% and Fit at about 30%.
Premium and aged versions
– richer, creamier cheeses such as Madeta's Niva Premium (60–70% fat in dry matter, ripened longer) and longer-ripened lines. They are milder and smoother than the classic niva.
Jihočeská Zlatá niva (PGI)
– a second protected South Bohemian blue-cheese name.
Niva from other Czech dairies
– NIVA s.r.o. in Dolní Přím (made there since about 1948) and Mlékárna Otinoves in Moravia, which ripened its cheese for years in the Michálka cave in the Moravian Karst.
Relatives (different products)
– Roquefort (French, ewe's milk), Gorgonzola (Italian), Stilton (English) and Danablu (Danish) are other blue cheeses made with similar moulds. They are not niva, even though Czechs sometimes use the word for any of them.
History
Niva was first made in Czechoslovakia between the late 1940s and the early 1950s; Czech sources give dates from 1947 to 1951 for the first cheese at the dairy in Český Krumlov, South Bohemia. The dairy later became Jihočeské mlékárny and, from 2002, Madeta. Czech sources credit the technologist Andrej (Ondřej) Charitonov, a Russian Cossack who came to Czechoslovakia in 1921. He is said to have known French blue cheeses from his time in a prisoner camp on Corsica. The cheese was based on Roquefort, but because that name was protected, it needed its own name. Charitonov chose "niva", a Slavic word for a fertile meadow or floodplain, because the green veins reminded him of one. Other dairies also took up production, among them Dolní Přím, which dates its niva to 1948. The cheese was first ripened in cool rock cellars and caves and is now ripened in modern cellars. Jihočeská niva and Jihočeská Zlatá niva gained EU Protected Geographical Indication status in 2009.
Science
Niva is made from pasteurised cow's milk that is curdled with rennet and lactic cultures. Spores of Penicillium roqueforti are added to the milk. Madeta grows the mould on barley grain and then makes a suspension from it. The curd is put into round moulds, salted and soaked in brine. Each cheese is then pierced with needles, roughly 35 holes per side, so that air gets inside. The mould needs oxygen and grows along these channels, which creates the veins. The cheese ripens for about four to five weeks at around 8–10 °C and about 95% humidity. Unwanted surface mould is scraped off.
During ripening, the mould's enzymes break down fat and protein. The breakdown of fat releases free fatty acids and methyl ketones, which give the typical sharp "blue" aroma. The breakdown of protein makes the paste softer and creamier over time. Most of the lactose is fermented during ripening. The high salt content (about 3.5–5 g per 100 g) controls the mould growth and adds to both taste and keeping quality.
Sourcing and ethics
Niva is a domestic product made from Czech cow's milk. The Jihočeská niva PGI requires that production take place in the defined South Bohemian area, which links the name to its region. Producers range from Madeta, a large dairy cooperative group, to smaller dairies such as Dolní Přím and Otinoves. The cheese is usually made with animal rennet, so check the label if you need it to be vegetarian. Food safety: niva is made from pasteurised milk and is sold under EU dairy hygiene rules. Still, soft and semi-soft mould-ripened cheeses can carry Listeria. Pregnant women and people with weakened immunity are usually advised to avoid them unless the cheese is cooked until steaming hot. Niva contains milk.