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Cheese from Italy, Campania, province of Salerno, the Tanagro valley, Monte Cervati and the Alburni mountains

Caciocavallo di grotta del Cervati e delle Gole di Pertosa

This caciocavallo from Monte Cervati and the Alburni mountains is made from raw milk of Brown or Podolica cows and aged in limestone caves, where grey mould covers the rind. The curd is half-cooked at 45–47 °C, left on wooden boards overnight to sour, then stretched in boiling water. The cheeses weigh at least 2.5 kg and ripen hung in pairs for four months to two years.

Fully documentedCheese4 months – 2 yearsCampania traditional food product (PAT)Family: Pasta filata (stretched-curd) cheese family

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedTraditional method with no fixed amounts; the regional sheet fixes the temperatures and the order of the steps.
Raw whole cow milk, evening and morning milkingsFrom small and medium herds, mostly Brown or Podolica cows[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Kid rennet pasteOnce made by the herders from the stomachs of slaughtered kids[pat-sheet]
Whey or hot water, for the half-cook[pat-sheet]
Saturated brine[pat-sheet]

Total time across the recorded steps: 4 months – 2 years

Start
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36–38 °C

What changes: Kid rennet paste goes into the mixed milkings, warmed over the fire

Step 1 of 7
Warm the mixed milkings and add rennet
Time
25–30 min
Reported
Temperature
36–38 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

The evening milk was once carried straight into the cave, where it stayed cool, and joined with the morning 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

This caciocavallo from Monte Cervati and the Alburni mountains is made from raw milk of Brown or Podolica cows and aged in limestone caves, where grey mould covers the rind. The curd is half-cooked at 45–47 °C, left on wooden boards overnight to sour, then stretched in boiling water. The cheeses weigh at least 2.5 kg and ripen hung in pairs for four months to two years. Made in 7 steps over 4 months – 2 years. The longest step, hang in pairs in the cave, takes 4 months – 2 years (ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori F…).

Key numbers
Main step4 months – 2 yearsReported[onaf-sheet]Hang in pairs in the cave
Temperature36–38 °CReported[pat-sheet]Warm the mixed milkings and add rennet

What makes this one different

The whole make once took place in caves while the herds grazed the summer pastures of Monte Cervati. Today the deep karst caves are used for ageing, and their moulds turn the rind grey.

Rind
Mouldy; pale straw to grey depending on surface mould
Size
2.5 kg or more; spheroid or oval, optional head
Season
Made all year; spring and early-summer milk from cows at pasture is prized

Related ferments

Safety

The regional notes name raw milk, tinned vats and wooden tools as the risks, with Staphylococcus aureus, high bacterial counts and somatic cells as the problems of raw milk. They are handled by testing the milk, good hygiene and discarding faulty cheeses. ANSES advises pregnant women, young children, people over 65 and people with weak immunity not to eat raw-milk cheeses other than pressed cooked cheeses such as Gruyère or Comté, because of Listeria, Salmonella and enterohaemorrhagic E. coli.

Hazards the sources name: Staphylococcus aureus, named with high total counts and somatic cells as the risk of using raw milk.

History and sources

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

The regional sheet says archaeological finds of dairy tools in the Pertosa caves show dairy activity there since the Bronze Age, and that the method was used by all the massari of the Cervati area. Some modern dairies still age the whole make in limestone caves.

Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
  1. [pat-sheet] Regione Campania, Prodotti tradizionali, Caciocavallo di grotta del Cervati e delle gole di Pertosa (updated 13 March 2015; copy hosted by ONAF)gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Formaggi), Caciocavallo di grotta del Cervati e delle gole di Pertosa cheese sheet, with the Regione Campania notesweb
  3. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov