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Cheese from Italy, Lombardia

Caprino a coagulazione presamicaCaciotta di capra

Whole goat milk, raw or pasteurised, gets lactic cultures and calf rennet and sets in about 30 minutes at 35 °C. The curd is cut in a cross, then broken to walnut size, drained in moulds and dry-salted by hand. It is sold fresh after about 3 days or ripened at least a week, when a thin white mould skin forms.

Fully documentedCheese3 days – 7 daysTraditional food product (PAT, Lombardia)Family: Uncooked or semi-cooked pressed cheese family (tomme, Saint-Nectaire, Reblochon, Morbier, Raclette)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe sheets give temperatures and times but no batch size or doses. Each cheese weighs 200–250 g.
Whole goat milk, raw or pasteurisedTraditionally raw and freshly milked; or kept at 4 °C for at most 24 hours[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Lactic cultures[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Calf liquid rennet[onaf-sheet]
Salt, for dry-salting[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Herbs and spices on the surface (optional)[onaf-sheet]
Starterlactic cultures

Total time across the recorded steps: 3 days – 7 days

Start
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What changes: The goat milk warms and lactic cultures go in

Step 1 of 6
Warm the milk and add cultures
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Heated over a wood, gas or steam fire; lactic cultures go in while it warms.

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

Whole goat milk, raw or pasteurised, gets lactic cultures and calf rennet and sets in about 30 minutes at 35 °C. The curd is cut in a cross, then broken to walnut size, drained in moulds and dry-salted by hand. It is sold fresh after about 3 days or ripened at least a week, when a thin white mould skin forms. Made in 6 steps over 3 days – 7 days. The longest step, ripen fresh or aged, takes 3–7 days (Regione Lombardia) and runs at 4–12 °C (ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters)).

Key numbers
Main step3–7 daysReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Ripen fresh or aged
Temperature4–12 °CReported[onaf-sheet]Ripen fresh or aged

What makes this one different

The rennet-set counterpart of Lombardy's lactic caprino. Rennet sets it in about 30 minutes instead of 12–36 hours, and the firmer curd is cut before moulding.

Size
Cylinder or block, 200–250 g
Energy
200–230 kcal per 100 g, because of its high water content

Related ferments

Variants

  • FrescoAbout 3 days at 4 °C; no rind, creamy, sour.
  • StagionatoAt least 1 week at 8–12 °C; thin white mould skin, slightly piquant.

Safety

It may be made from raw milk and is eaten after only 3–7 days, so a raw-milk batch is a fresh raw-milk cheese. The US FDA links raw milk and raw milk products to illness from Listeria, Campylobacter, Salmonella and E. coli, including miscarriages, kidney failure and deaths. The elderly, people with weak immune systems, children and pregnant women are especially vulnerable, and the FDA supports pasteurisation to protect against it.

Hazards the sources name: Bacillus cereus (a very low 1.00 log CFU/g in one positive goat-milk caprino sample, in a survey of pasteurised-milk fresh cheeses sold in Italy; a related cheese, not this one).

History and sources

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

The regional sheet says it is one of the best-known cheeses made from whole goat milk and is made in every Lombard province. The ONAF sheet, citing ERSAF Lombardia, says goats were always kept by Lombard families for their own food, mostly in the mountains, and that it is made most often around Lake Como (the Lariana area). It adds that the Region holds documents proving production for more than 25 years, that the milk was traditionally used raw and freshly drawn, and that it may now be pasteurised.

  1. [pat-sheet] Regione Lombardia, traditional product sheet 'Caprino a coagulazione presamica' (copy hosted by ONAF)gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters), technical sheet 'Caprino a coagulazione presamica', citing ERSAF Lombardiaweb
  3. [tirloni2023] Tirloni E. et al., 2023, Prevalence, Virulence Potential, and Growth in Cheese of Bacillus cereus Strains Isolated from Fresh and Short-Ripened Cheeses Sold on the Italian Market, Microorganisms 11(2):521paper
  4. [fda-raw-milk] US Food and Drug Administration, Food safety and raw milkgov