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Cheese from Italy, Abruzzo, all provinces

Caciofiore aquilanoCacio fiore aquilano

Caciofiore aquilano is a soft, creamy ewe's-milk cheese from Abruzzo, set with an infusion of wild thistle flowers instead of animal rennet and coloured with saffron. Raw sheep's milk is warmed to 36–37 °C, set in 30–40 minutes and the curd drains for two days in rush baskets. It is eaten fresh or after 30–40 days, when the thistle enzymes have made the paste creamy.

Fully documentedCheese32 days – 42 daysAbruzzo traditional food product (PAT)Family: Uncooked or semi-cooked pressed cheese family (tomme, Saint-Nectaire, Reblochon, Morbier, Raclette)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedNo fixed amounts. The regional sheet gives temperatures and times and indicative limits of 75% moisture and 36% fat in dry matter.
Raw whole sheep milk[pat-sheet]
Thistle-flower rennetAn infusion of the flowers of wild thistle, Carlina acaulis in the regional sheet[pat-sheet]
SaffronGives the paste its straw-yellow colour[pat-sheet]
Whey or milk starterOptional, to improve acidification with thermophilic lactic bacteria[pat-sheet]
SaltOptional dry salting[onaf-sheet]
Starteroptional whey or milk starter, giving a thermophilic lactic flora

Total time across the recorded steps: 32 days – 42 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
shapes, not to countLactobacillusLeuconostoc36–37 °C

What changes: Raw ewe's milk is warmed to 36–37 °C with saffron and, if used, a whey starter

Step 1 of 5
Warm the milk with saffron and starter
Time
Not documented
Temperature
36–37 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactobacillus
Leuconostoc

Whey or milk starter may be added to help acidification; the saffron goes in with the rennet.

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

Caciofiore aquilano is a soft, creamy ewe's-milk cheese from Abruzzo, set with an infusion of wild thistle flowers instead of animal rennet and coloured with saffron. Raw sheep's milk is warmed to 36–37 °C, set in 30–40 minutes and the curd drains for two days in rush baskets. It is eaten fresh or after 30–40 days, when the thistle enzymes have made the paste creamy. Made in 5 steps over 32 days – 42 days. The longest step, eat fresh or ripen briefly, takes 30–40 days (ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori F…). Lactobacillus and Leuconostoc, co-dominant in the end curd and cheese of Caciofiore della Sibilla, a related raw ewe's cheese of the Marche made with Carlina thistle rennet does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step30–40 daysReported[onaf-sheet]Eat fresh or ripen briefly
Temperature36–37 °CReported[pat-sheet]Warm the milk with saffron and starter

What makes this one different

Caciofiore is set with an infusion of wild thistle flowers rather than animal rennet, and coloured with saffron. The plant enzymes break down protein as it ripens, which makes the paste creamy.

Rind
None when young, later thin and clean; cream to straw-yellow, possible light white mould; basket and reed-mat marks
Size
0.5–1.0 kg; Ø 13–15 cm, height 7–8 cm
Composition
Indicative limits of 75% moisture and 36% fat in dry matter

Related ferments

Safety

Made from raw ewe's milk and eaten fresh or after a short ripening of 30–40 days. CDC advises pregnant women, adults over 65 and people with weak immunity to avoid cheese made from raw milk.

History and sources

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

The regional sheet says the cheese was anciently tied to the high pastures of the province of L'Aquila, where the wild thistle (Carlina acaulis) was gathered and dried to make the rennet infusion.

  1. [pat-sheet] Regione Abruzzo, Cacio fiore aquilano traditional product sheet (copy hosted by ONAF)gov
  2. [cardinali2017] Cardinali F., Osimani A., Taccari M. et al. 2017, Impact of thistle rennet from Carlina acanthifolia All. subsp. acanthifolia on bacterial diversity and dynamics of a specialty Italian raw ewes' milk cheese, International Journal of Food Microbiology 255, 7–16 (abstract)paper
  3. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Formaggi), Caciofiore aquilano cheese sheetweb
  4. [cdc-listeria] US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Preventing Listeria Infectiongov