Bryndza production in Zvolenská Slatina (source: Sme - Ján Krošlák)
A MEMORIAL tablet dedicated to Ján Vagač was unveiled on the facade of the town office in Stará Turá in western Slovakia, paying tribute to the 250th anniversary of the birth of its native son and the founder of large-scale production of bryndza – the fermented sheep’s cheese famous to Slovakia.
“The first industrial manufacturing facility for bryndza was founded by this butcher and merchant Ján Vagač (1795-1835) in Detva in central Slovakia where he discovered the secrets of bryndza and large-scale production. He managed the bryndza-making on a large scale while at the same time preserving its distinctive taste and maintaining strict hygienic standards,” Stará Turá’s spokesman Ján Mikuláš told the TASR newswire, adding that thanks to Vagač, bryndza found its way to Bratislava, Vienna and Budapest and is at the top of most people’s shopping lists.
Mikuláš said that five generations of the Vagač clan produced bryndza, wandering each spring from Stará Turá to Detva and other central Slovak towns for over 120 years, only to return each autumn to Stará Turá. The invaluable contribution made by Ján Vagač to the bryndza tradition was honoured by officials of both Stará Turá and Detva as well as by other guests at the unveiling of the memorial tablet.
