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Cheese from Italy, Tuscany, province of Massa-Carrara, the Lunigiana

Caciotta della LunigianaFormaggio bovino della Lunigiana

Caciotta della Lunigiana is a soft cheese of raw cow's milk from the Lunigiana, at the north-west tip of Tuscany. The milk is set at 30–35 °C in a copper pot, and after cutting the curd is warmed again to 30–35 °C before it goes into wooden moulds. It is dry-salted, turned on wooden boards and mostly eaten within days; a small share ripens for a month.

Fully documentedCheese4 days – 30 daysTuscany 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 are given. The regional sheet records about 180 quintals made in a year by two dairies.
Raw whole cow milkFreshly milked, from local farms[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Liquid calf rennet[onaf-sheet]
SaltDry-salted[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]

Total time across the recorded steps: 4 days – 30 days

Start
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30–35 °C

What changes: Calf rennet sets fresh raw milk, warmed to 30–35 °C in a copper pot

Step 1 of 6
Warm the milk and set it
Time
Not documented
Temperature
30–35 °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

Caciotta della Lunigiana is a soft cheese of raw cow's milk from the Lunigiana, at the north-west tip of Tuscany. The milk is set at 30–35 °C in a copper pot, and after cutting the curd is warmed again to 30–35 °C before it goes into wooden moulds. It is dry-salted, turned on wooden boards and mostly eaten within days; a small share ripens for a month. Made in 6 steps over 4 days – 30 days. The longest step, eat fresh or ripen, takes 4–30 days (ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori F…).

Key numbers
Main step4–30 daysReported[onaf-sheet]Eat fresh or ripen
Temperature30–35 °CReported[pat-sheet]Warm the milk and set it

What makes this one different

The curd is warmed again to the setting temperature after cutting, then moulded in wood and dry-salted. It is a fresh cow's-milk caciotta; the same valley also makes Pecorino della Lunigiana from ewe's milk.

Rind
Thin, soft, white to pale straw
Size
Medium-small cylinder, irregular round shape; size and weight vary
Production
Two dairies; about 180 quintals in the year recorded by the regional sheet

Related ferments

Safety

Made from raw milk and mostly eaten within days, so it gets little ripening. ONAF says it must be kept in a cold room. CDC advises pregnant women, adults over 65 and people with weak immunity to avoid cheese made from raw milk.

Hazards the sources name: Enterococci, some isolates carrying virulence genes, in raw-milk Caciotta, Caciocavallo and Scamorza from two Italian dairies made with natural cultures.

History and sources

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

The regional sheet records the decline of local dairy farms, from 80 cattle farms in 1992 to 18 in 2000, which limits how much can be made. About half the cheese goes to wholesalers in other regions.

Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
  1. [pat-sheet] Regione Toscana (ARSIA), Prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali, Caciotta della Lunigiana (copy hosted by ONAF)gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Formaggi), Caciotta della Lunigiana cheese sheetweb
  3. [delmatto2021] Del Matto I, Rossi F, Iannitto G, Petrone D, Mastrodomenico MT, Alessiani A, Sacchini L, Amadoro C, Tucci P, Marino L. 2021, Variability of the microbiota in traditional Caciocavallo, Scamorza and Caciotta cheeses manufactured with raw milk and natural cultures, International Journal of Dairy Technology, pp. 564-574 (abstract; related Italian raw-milk cheeses, not this cheese)paper
  4. [pat-list-tosc] Ministero delle politiche agricole, Elenco nazionale dei prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali (art. 12, comma 1, L. 12 dicembre 2016 n. 238), Allegato I, section Regione Toscana (copy hosted by InformaCibo)gov
  5. [cdc-listeria] US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Preventing Listeria Infectiongov