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Cheese from Italy, Veneto

Casatella Trevigiana PDOCasatella Trevigiana

A soft, rindless fresh cheese of whole cow milk from Treviso province. The milk is soured with a local milk starter, set with bovine rennet at 34–40 °C, cut twice and drained in warm rooms, then salted. The cheeses mature only 4–8 days in a cold room, which gives a sweet, milky taste with a slight sour edge.

Fully documentedCheese4.2 days – 8.3 daysPDO (registered in the Official Journal L 143, 3.6.2008)Family: Fresh lactic (acid-set) cheese family

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe specification sets the starter as 1–5 % of the milk but gives no batch size. A large cheese weighs 1.8–2.2 kg and a small one 0.2–0.7 kg.
Whole cow milkFriesian, Italian Red Pied, Italian Brown and Burlina cows; fat above 3.2 %; processed within 48 hours of milking[casatella-sd2020]
Milk starter (lattoinnesto) from the production area1–5 % of the milkMilk heated to 65–68 °C, cooled and left to sour; strains of Streptococcus thermophilus and some thermophilic lactobacilli[casatella-disc]
Bovine rennet, liquid or powderStrength 1:10,000 to 1:20,000[casatella-disc]
Sea saltBrine of 16–20 °Baumé, dry salt, or 0.8–1.2 % of the mass added in the vat[casatella-disc]
Starterlocal milk starter (lattoinnesto) of Streptococcus thermophilus and thermophilic lactobacilli

Total time across the recorded steps: 4.2 days – 8.3 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
70–75 °C

What changes: Whole cow milk from Treviso farms, used raw or briefly pasteurised

Step 1 of 9
Collect and, if chosen, pasteurise the milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
70–75 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
S. thermophilus
Lactobacilli
L. delbrueckii

Milk is chilled on the farm, and cheesemaking must start within 48 hours of milking. Output: whole cow 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

A soft, rindless fresh cheese of whole cow milk from Treviso province. The milk is soured with a local milk starter, set with bovine rennet at 34–40 °C, cut twice and drained in warm rooms, then salted. The cheeses mature only 4–8 days in a cold room, which gives a sweet, milky taste with a slight sour edge. Made in 9 steps over 4.2 days – 8.3 days. The longest step, mature in a cold room, takes 4–8 days (MIPAAF 2019) and runs at 2–8 °C (MIPAAF 2019). Salt is 0.8–1.2 % (MIPAAF 2019). Streptococcus thermophilus and Thermophilic lactobacilli, mainly Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. lactis do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step4–8 daysSet[casatella-disc]Mature in a cold room
Temperature2–8 °CSet[casatella-disc]Mature in a cold room
Salt0.8–1.2 %Set[casatella-disc]Salt in brine or in the vat

What makes this one different

Firmer than most fresh cheeses and never spreadable. A long rest after the first cut, a finer second cut and a longer salting push out more whey, and it matures longer and warmer (4–8 days at 2–8 °C) than other fresh cheeses.

Milk
Whole cow milk from Treviso province, raw or pasteurised
Ripening
4–8 days at 2–8 °C
Composition
Moisture 53–60 %; fat 18–27 % of the whole cheese (the 2019 national text prints 18–28 %); protein over 12 %
Size
Large round 1.8–2.2 kg, 18–22 cm across; small round 0.20–0.70 kg, 5–12 cm across

Related ferments

Variants

  • Large round1.8–2.2 kg, 18–22 cm across, 5–8 cm high.
  • Small round0.2–0.7 kg, 5–12 cm across, 4–6 cm high.

Safety

Highly perishable and sold only packed. The milk may be raw or pasteurised at 70–75 °C, so keep it cold and eat it fresh. Where the milk is raw, ANSES, the French food safety agency, names Listeria, Salmonella and enterohaemorrhagic E. coli as the main hazards of raw-milk cheeses. It advises pregnant women, people over 65, people with weak immunity and young children not to eat raw-milk cheeses, except cooked pressed ones such as Comté.

History and sources

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

Casatella began as a home cheese on small Treviso farms. Milk, often skimmed first to make butter, was curdled in a copper pot over the hearth. The name is said to come from 'casa' (house), for this home cheesemaking. The name was registered as a PDO in the Official Journal L 143 of 3 June 2008 and its specification was amended in 2020 (Official Journal C 171, 19.5.2020).

  1. [casatella-sd2020] European Commission 2020, Casatella Trevigiana PDO, amendment application and single document (PDO-IT-0348-AM02), Official Journal of the EU C 171, 19.5.2020, p. 29spec
  2. [casatella-disc] MIPAAF 2019, Disciplinare di produzione 'Casatella Trevigiana' DOP, amended text of 22.11.2019 (copy held by ONAF)spec
  3. [eambrosia] European Commission, eAmbrosia register entry "Casatella Trevigiana" (PDO-IT-0348), legal instrument Official Journal L 143, 03.06.2008gov
  4. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov