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Cheese from Italy, Piemonte

Boves

A small farm cheese from Boves near Cuneo, made from raw whole cow milk, with up to half goat or ewe milk in summer. The milk sets in about 90 minutes at about 30 °C, and the rice-sized curd is warmed by whey that is drawn off, heated to about 40 °C and poured back. The curd is pressed by hand into hoops, salted dry and eaten after a day, or ripened about 30 days in a cellar.

Fully documentedCheese38 h – 31 daysPAT (traditional agri-food product of Piemonte)Family: Uncooked or semi-cooked pressed cheese family (tomme, Saint-Nectaire, Reblochon, Morbier, Raclette)

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceNo fixed amounts are recorded beyond the summer milk mix. Wheels weigh 0.7–1.2 kg.
Raw whole cow milk[pat-sheet]
Goat or ewe milkUp to 50 % in summer (optional)[onaf-sheet]
Liquid calf rennet[pat-sheet]
SaltRubbed on dry[pat-sheet]

Total time across the recorded steps: 38 h – 31 days

Start
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What changes: Starting material: raw cow milk, with some goat or ewe milk in summer

Step 1 of 7
Gather the milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Copper kettles, natural cloths and wooden boards and moulds are allowed under the PAT hygiene exemption. Output: raw whole cow milk, in summer mixed with goat or ewe milk.

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 small farm cheese from Boves near Cuneo, made from raw whole cow milk, with up to half goat or ewe milk in summer. The milk sets in about 90 minutes at about 30 °C, and the rice-sized curd is warmed by whey that is drawn off, heated to about 40 °C and poured back. The curd is pressed by hand into hoops, salted dry and eaten after a day, or ripened about 30 days in a cellar. Made in 7 steps over 38 h – 31 days. The longest step, eat fresh or ripen in a cellar, takes 24 h – 30 days (Regione Piemonte 2015).

Key numbers
Main step24 h – 30 daysReported[pat-sheet]Eat fresh or ripen in a cellar
Temperature30 °CReported[pat-sheet]Set with calf rennet

What makes this one different

It is warmed not by heating the kettle but by its own whey, drawn off, heated to about 40 °C and poured back over the curd and then over the hooped cheese.

Size
0.7–1.2 kg; cylinder ø 13–15 cm, side 4–5 cm
Season
Made all year; best in spring and summer, when the animals eat fresh forage (ONAF sheet)

Related ferments

Variants

  • FrescoReady after 24 hours; soft, sweet and elastic.
  • StagionatoAt least 30 days; harder, with a stronger aroma.

Safety

Made from raw milk and often eaten after one day. The 2015 regional sheet says no safety study has been made because it is made only for home use. ANSES advises pregnant women, people over 65, young children and people with weak immunity not to eat raw-milk cheese.

Hazards the sources name: Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella and enterohaemorrhagic E. coli, the main hazards ANSES names for raw-milk cheeses.

History and sources

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

Local stories say Queen Joan of Anjou taught the women of Boves to make butter and cheese. By 2015 the cheese was made only for home use by a few small farms.

Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
  1. [pat-sheet] Regione Piemonte 2015, D.D. 24 luglio 2015 n. 460, Schede tecniche prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali, Categoria D n. 04 Boves (BU 38S1, 24/09/2015)gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF, Boves, technical sheet (PAT Piemonte)web
  3. [montel2014] Montel M.C. et al. 2014, Traditional cheeses - rich and diverse microbiota with associated benefits, International Journal of Food Microbiology 177:136-154 (abstract)paper
  4. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov