Legend of Giant Džiugas and its cheese

Legend

The origin of the name of Džiugas cheese. A Samogitian legend says that Džiugas was a giant and a strong warrior, who lived in Samogitia in the old days and protected it against invaders. This could have been the end of the story, but once, he met Austelė – a farmer’s beautiful daughter – fell in love with her and married her. According to Samogitian traditions, after the wedding night the newly-weds must show the guests the cheese that they’ve made. The giant Džiugas and his wife Austelė showed their guests a strong, large and delicious cheese – all guests loved it and thus much more of this cheese was made. Yet no one lives forever and, one day, Austelė, the wife of the Samogitian hero, died. In grief, Džiugas buried his wife pouring out a great hill with his own hands, which, named after the giant, remains a highlight of Telšiai landscape to this day. While the recipe of the cheese was passed down for generations until it ended up in the hands of Žemaitijos Pienas dairy experts.

This is the true story of DŽIUGAS® name and thus the cheese is also often referred to as legendary.

Let’s begin the journey of DŽIUGAS® flavour. It’s time to taste, time to appreciate. This credo means that you cannot really appreciate DŽIUGAS® cheese without having to taste it first, because no cheese presentation is possible without a tasting.