Holy Protection Monastery Cheese Dairy, Rakoshyno

Rakoshyno is a large village a few kilometres from Mukachevo, crossed by the busy Kyiv–Chop highway. Here, on the grounds of the Holy Protection (Sviato-Pokrovskyi) Monastery, there is a cheese dairy that has been talked about in Transcarpathia for over a decade. A roadside sign points to "Italian cheeses", and the small shop next to the dairy has become a regular stop for people driving to Mukachevo or the border who want to take home something genuinely local.

How the monastery dairy began

The idea came from the abbot, Archimandrite Mytrofan. The monastery runs its own farm in the neighbouring village of Ruske, with Carpathian brown cows, sheep and goats. When the herd produced more milk than the brethren needed, they started turning it into cheese. They did it properly: experienced cheesemakers from Italy spent a month training the monks and novices, and an Italian restaurateur who had settled in Uzhhorod helped buy modern equipment. The first batches appeared around 2012–2013, and the range has grown ever since.

What to taste and buy

According to local press and the regional "Cheese Route of Transcarpathia", the dairy makes about fourteen kinds of cheese, which fall into two families:

• Italian cow's-milk cheeses — mozzarella, scamorza, mucchina and ricotta. The ricotta with walnuts, soft and faintly sweet, is especially praised.
• Transcarpathian sheep cheeses — budz, brynza and vurda made the traditional mountain-pasture way, plus a Greek-style cheese similar to feta.
• Goat "Monastyrskyi" — a seasonal cheese made only in autumn.
• "Shymon" — a hard, slightly sweet cheese and the pride of the dairy, named after the abbot.

No chemical preservatives are used; herbs such as hyssop provide the aroma. Besides cheese, the shop has also offered honey, wine and sausages made by the monastery. The range depends on the season and the milk yield, so not everything you see in photos will always be on the shelf.

An Italian school on Carpathian milk

Transcarpathia has an old cheese tradition: budz and brynza have been made on the high pastures for centuries, soft young cheeses in the valleys. What makes the Rakoshyno dairy interesting is the blend of that heritage with Italian technique — mozzarella stretched from local cows' milk sits next to thoroughly Carpathian sheep cheeses, perfect for a two-worlds cheese board at home.

Practical information

• Where: Rakoshyno, Mukachevo district, on the grounds of the Holy Protection Monastery by the Kyiv–Chop highway; the shop is next to the main church.
• What you can do: buy cheese at the dairy's own shop, which is in the same building as the cheese room. Visitors are not allowed into the production area, and there are no tours or tastings.
• Prices: in 2018 cheeses cost from UAH 120/kg (ricotta) to UAH 350/kg (Shymon); expect higher prices today and check on site.
• Hours: no official opening hours are published, so come during the day and be prepared that some varieties may be sold out.
• Monastery phone: +38 050 162 49 91 — call to check whether the shop is open and which cheeses are in stock.
• Etiquette: this is a working monastery — dress modestly, keep quiet on the grounds and do not photograph people or services without permission.

Getting there

Rakoshyno lies north-west of Mukachevo, about 8–10 km from the city centre along the M06 towards Uzhhorod and Chop. By car it takes 10–15 minutes; the monastery stands right by the road. Suburban buses and minibuses from Mukachevo towards Uzhhorod pass through the village — ask the driver to stop at the monastery.

Photos: mukachevo.net; prozahid.com; dovkola.media; zaktour.gov.ua.