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Cheese from Italy, Lazio

Caciottina di bufala di Amaseno (semplice o aromatizzata)Caciottina massaggiata di Amaseno

Raw buffalo milk is set with calf rennet at 36 °C, broken to small-hazelnut size (nocciolina) and put into baskets without pressing. The small cheeses are dry-salted and then soaked for 10 hours in the still-warm vat with the leftovers of mozzarella making. They ripen about 60 days in glass demijohns, brushed with salt water and rubbed with oil and vinegar; some are finished in wine and grape pomace, oil lees or ash.

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe sheet gives temperatures and times but no batch size. Each cheese weighs 100–300 g on the ONAF sheet.
Raw buffalo milkWorked within 2 hours of milking[arsial-amaseno]
Calf liquid rennet[arsial-amaseno]
SaltRubbed on dry, then salt water for brushing[arsial-amaseno]
Olive oil and vinegarRubbed on every 10 days during ripening[arsial-amaseno]
Wine and grape pomace, oil lees (morchia) or ashoptionalFlavoured type only, a week before sale[arsial-amaseno]
Starternone added (the ONAF sheet lists no addition of ferments)

Total time across the recorded steps: 2.2 months

Start
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36 °C

What changes: Raw buffalo milk is warmed slowly to 36 °C

Step 1 of 8
Warm the raw milk
Time
20–25 min
Reported
Temperature
36 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Output: raw buffalo milk, used within 2 hours of milking.

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

Raw buffalo milk is set with calf rennet at 36 °C, broken to small-hazelnut size (nocciolina) and put into baskets without pressing. The small cheeses are dry-salted and then soaked for 10 hours in the still-warm vat with the leftovers of mozzarella making. They ripen about 60 days in glass demijohns, brushed with salt water and rubbed with oil and vinegar; some are finished in wine and grape pomace, oil lees or ash. Made in 8 steps over 2.2 months. The longest step, ripen in glass demijohns, takes 2 months (ARSIAL (Lazio regional agency for agricultura…) and runs at 4–10 °C (ARSIAL (Lazio regional agency for agricultura…).

Key numbers
Main step2 monthsReported[arsial-amaseno]Ripen in glass demijohns
Temperature4–10 °CReported[arsial-amaseno]Ripen in glass demijohns
AciditypH 5.1–5.2Measured[papetti2013]Ripen in glass demijohns

What makes this one different

A small raw buffalo cheese that soaks for 10 hours in the warm vat left from mozzarella making, then ripens in glass demijohns and is rubbed with oil every 10 days.

Rind
Thin, smooth, white to straw; coloured by the flavouring (ONAF)
Size
Small cylinder, 100–300 g (ONAF)
Moisture
53–59 % at the start of storage, about 38–39 % after 3 months (one study)

Related ferments

Variants

  • SemplicePlain.
  • AromatizzataFinished for a week in wine and grape pomace, oil lees or ash.

Safety

Made from raw buffalo milk, worked within 2 hours of milking and ripened about 60 days. In a study of Gouda and Cheddar, raw milk was deliberately contaminated with a low level of E. coli O157:H7. Counts fell during ageing, but it was still detectable by enrichment past 270 days, so 60 days of ageing alone did not eliminate it. ANSES, the French food safety agency, 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. The Lazio list marks it as allowed to use derogations from the standard hygiene rules for its traditional methods.

History and sources

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

The ARSIAL sheet draws its history from the oral accounts of local dairymen, who have made use of buffalo milk for a long time. ONAF adds that the small cheese was also called the shepherd's ration, as it was part of the midday meal on the pastures, with a herring and a piece of bread.

Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
  1. [arsial-amaseno] ARSIAL (Lazio regional agency for agricultural development), Lazio patrimonio agroalimentare, tra biodiversità e tradizione, PAT sheet 'Caciottina di bufala di Amaseno (semplice e aromatizzata)', p. 160gov
  2. [papetti2013] Papetti P., Carelli A. 2013, Composition and sensory analysis for quality evaluation of a typical Italian cheese, influence of ripening period, Czech Journal of Food Sciences 31(5), pp. 438–444paper
  3. [pat-lazio] Regione Lazio and ARSIAL, PAT Lazio 2026, Lazio section of the national list of traditional agri-food products (law 238/2016, art. 12), no. 101 'Caciottina di bufala di Amaseno (semplice e aromatizzata)*' (* = hygiene derogation)gov
  4. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters), technical sheet 'Caciottina di bufala di Amaseno (semplice e aromatizzata)'web
  5. [damico2010] D'Amico D.J., Druart M.J., Donnelly C.W. 2010, Behavior of Escherichia coli O157:H7 during the manufacture and aging of Gouda and stirred-curd Cheddar cheeses manufactured from raw milk, Journal of Food Protection 73(12):2217–2224 (abstract)paper
  6. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov