Skip to main content
Support

Browse by category

All categories
Home

Cheese from Italy, Sardegna

Bonassai

A soft, square ewe-milk cheese worked out in the 1960s at the Sardinian dairy research institute. Pasteurised milk is seeded with a milk starter made in the dairy, set with calf rennet at about 36 °C, and the hazelnut-sized curd is put into square moulds kept warm and humid to sour and drain. The blocks are brined about 1 hour per kg and ripen 20–30 days at about 8 °C.

Fully documentedCheese21 days – 31 daysPAT (traditional agri-food product of Sardegna; listed in the Sardinia section of the national list)Family: Uncooked or semi-cooked pressed cheese family (tomme, Saint-Nectaire, Reblochon, Morbier, Raclette)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedNo fixed amounts are recorded. Blocks weigh about 1.8–2.2 kg (18 × 18 × 6 cm) or about 1 kg (9 × 18 cm).
Whole ewe milkFiltered and pasteurised[pat-sheet]
Milk starter (lattoinnesto) made in the dairyPasteurised ewe milk cooled to about 45 °C, sometimes seeded with native thermophilic lactic strains, incubated at 40–42 °C for about 18–20 hours to about 45–50 °SH[pat-sheet]
Calf rennet[pat-sheet]
SaltAs a brine[pat-sheet]
Potato starchDusted on the surface before sale to dry the rind[pat-sheet]
Startermilk starter made in the dairy from pasteurised ewe milk, sometimes seeded with native thermophilic lactic bacteria

Total time across the recorded steps: 21 days – 31 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
40–42 °CMilk sugarLactic acid

What changes: A batch of ewe milk sours into the dairy's own starter

Step 1 of 8
Make the milk starter
Time
18–20 h
Reported
Temperature
40–42 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

A soft, square ewe-milk cheese worked out in the 1960s at the Sardinian dairy research institute. Pasteurised milk is seeded with a milk starter made in the dairy, set with calf rennet at about 36 °C, and the hazelnut-sized curd is put into square moulds kept warm and humid to sour and drain. The blocks are brined about 1 hour per kg and ripen 20–30 days at about 8 °C. Made in 8 steps over 21 days – 31 days. The longest step, ripen, takes 20–30 days (Laore Sardegna (Agenzia regionale per lo svil…) and runs at 8 °C (Laore Sardegna (Agenzia regionale per lo svil…).

Key numbers
Main step20–30 daysReported[pat-sheet]Ripen
Temperature8 °CReported[pat-sheet]Ripen

What makes this one different

It is a recipe worked out at a dairy research institute in the 1960s. It is made from pasteurised milk with the dairy's own starter, shaped square, and can be frozen for months.

Season
Made from December to July (ONAF sheet)
Size
Square block about 18 cm a side and 6 cm high, or 9 × 18 cm

Related ferments

Safety

Made from pasteurised milk and kept at 4–5 °C after ripening, or frozen for up to 6 months.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

The method was worked out in the 1960s at the Istituto Zootecnico e Caseario per la Sardegna. The sheet cites Murgia, Marcialis and Casu, Scienza e Tecnica Lattiero-Casearia, 1966. Several Sardinian dairies have made it since the 1970s.

Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
  1. [pat-sheet] Laore Sardegna (Agenzia regionale per lo sviluppo in agricoltura), Prodotto tradizionale della Sardegna, Formaggi, Bonassaigov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF, Bonassai, technical sheet (PAT Sardegna)web
  3. [pat-list] Ministero delle politiche agricole, Elenco nazionale dei prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali (art. 12, comma 1, L. 12 dicembre 2016 n. 238), Allegato I, section Regione Autonoma della Sardegna (copy hosted by InformaCibo)gov