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Cheese from Italy, Veneto

Formaggio BuscheBusche

A white, semi-cooked cow-milk wheel from a Belluno dairy cooperative, first made in the 1970s as Mastella. The milk is warmed with a local milk starter of native strains and set with calf rennet at 36–37 °C; the curd is broken to corn size and cooked about 30 minutes at about 45 °C. The wheels are brined and ripened about a month.

Fully documentedCheese30 daysPAT (traditional agri-food product of Veneto)Family: Uncooked or semi-cooked pressed cheese family (tomme, Saint-Nectaire, Reblochon, Morbier, Raclette)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedNo amounts are recorded. Wheels weigh about 6 kg.
Whole cow milkAlmost all from Bruna and Bruno Alpina cows; raw according to the ONAF sheet[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Milk starter (latto-innesto)Made locally from raw milk carrying native lactic strains[pat-sheet]
Liquid calf rennet[onaf-sheet]
SaltAs a brine[pat-sheet]
Starterlocal natural milk starter made from raw milk with native strains

Total time across the recorded steps: 30 days

Start
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What changes: The local milk starter goes into the warmed cow milk

Step 1 of 7
Warm the milk and add the starter
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Output: whole cow milk with the local milk starter.

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 white, semi-cooked cow-milk wheel from a Belluno dairy cooperative, first made in the 1970s as Mastella. The milk is warmed with a local milk starter of native strains and set with calf rennet at 36–37 °C; the curd is broken to corn size and cooked about 30 minutes at about 45 °C. The wheels are brined and ripened about a month. Made in 7 steps over 30 days. The longest step, ripen, takes 30 days (Regione Veneto).

Key numbers
Main step30 daysReported[pat-sheet]Ripen
Temperature36–37 °CReported[onaf-sheet]Set with calf rennet

What makes this one different

It is seeded with a locally made starter from raw milk, stays white inside and out with no eyes or cracks, and ripens only about a month.

Size
About 6 kg; ø 32 cm, side 8 cm
Rind
Smooth, thin, soft, white

Related ferments

Safety

The ONAF sheet lists the milk as raw, and the cheese is ripened only about a month. 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

The cheese takes its name from Busche, home of one of the first dairy cooperatives in the Belluno province. It was first made in the 1970s as Mastella (the ONAF sheet gives the dialect name mastea, meaning the milk bucket) and renamed Busche in the early 1980s.

  1. [pat-sheet] Regione Veneto, Atlante dei prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali del Veneto, Formaggi, Formaggio Busche, p. 142gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF, Formaggio Busche, technical sheet (PAT Veneto)web
  3. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov