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Milbenkäse ("mite cheese"), called Mellnkase in the local dialect and often known (erroneously) as Spinnenkäse ("spider cheese"), is a German speciality cheese. It is made by flavouring balls of quark (a type of soft cheese) with caraway and salt, allowing them to dry, and then leaving them in a wooden box containing rye flour and cheese mites for about three months. An enzyme in the digestive juices excreted by the mites causes the cheese to ripen.[1]
Cheese mites (for instance Tyrophagus casei or other species) are mites that are used to produce such cheeses as Milbenkäse, Cantal and Mimolette. The action of the living mites on the surface of these cheeses contributes to the flavor and gives them a distinctive appearance.[1] A 2010 scanning electron microscope study found that Milbenkäse cheese was produced using Tyrophagus casei mites, while Mimolette cheese used Acarus siro mites (also known as flour mites).[2] Mimolette cheese, in particular, has live cheese mites in its rind which is thought to contribute to the cheese's distinct rind texture.[3]
