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Cheese from Italy, Lombardia

Casatta di Corteno Golgi

Raw Bruna Alpina cow milk from two or three milkings, half skimmed, is topped up with the last whole milking and set with calf rennet at 36 °C in about 25 minutes. The curd is broken to pea size, packed into hoops, dry-salted on each face and ripened for 2 to 5 months on wooden boards.

Fully documentedCheese2 months – 5.1 monthsPAT (traditional food product, Lombardia)Family: Uncooked or semi-cooked pressed cheese family (tomme, Saint-Nectaire, Reblochon, Morbier, Raclette)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe regional sheet lists only milk, rennet and salt and gives no amounts. A wheel weighs 3–4 kg, by how much milk there was.
Raw cow milk, half skimmedTwo or three milkings by season, skimmed to about 50 %, plus the last milking whole and just milked[pat-casatta][onaf-casatta]
Liquid calf rennet[onaf-casatta]
SaltDry salt on each face[pat-casatta]
Starternone listed; the raw milk's own bacteria

Total time across the recorded steps: 2 months – 5.1 months

Start
Drag the bar or press Play

What changes: Starting material: half-skimmed raw milk from 2–3 milkings plus the last one whole

Step 1 of 6
Pool the skimmed and whole milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

The earlier milkings are skimmed to about half their fat; the last milking goes in whole. Output: part-skimmed raw 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

Raw Bruna Alpina cow milk from two or three milkings, half skimmed, is topped up with the last whole milking and set with calf rennet at 36 °C in about 25 minutes. The curd is broken to pea size, packed into hoops, dry-salted on each face and ripened for 2 to 5 months on wooden boards. Made in 6 steps over 2 months – 5.1 months. The longest step, ripen on wooden boards, takes 2–5 months (Regione Lombardia 2008) and runs at 7–10 °C (ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori F…).

Key numbers
Main step2–5 monthsReported[pat-casatta][onaf-casatta]Ripen on wooden boards
Temperature7–10 °CReported[onaf-casatta]Ripen on wooden boards

What makes this one different

It is a formaggella made bigger and aged longer than the usual alpine ones, so it tastes firmer. It was made when there was too little milk for a large cheese, from milk skimmed to about half. Makers say the best wheels come from Valle Campovecchio.

Rind
Clean, slightly wrinkled, straw yellow, deeper with long ageing
Size
Ø 30 cm, h 8–10 cm; 3–4 kg; fire-branded CASATTA DI CORTENO GOLGI

Related ferments

Variants

  • Casatta nostranaWhole milk of one milking, set at 32 °C, coarse curd held 60 minutes in the vat, drained in cloths and ripened only 20–25 days in stone huts.

Safety

The milk is raw. ANSES advises pregnant women, people over 65, people with weak immunity and young children to avoid raw-milk cheeses.

Hazards the sources name: Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella and enterohaemorrhagic E. coli, the main hazards ANSES names for raw-milk cheeses.

History and sources

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

It was common until the 1950s. Records held by the mountain community show it has been made for more than 25 years. It is made from February to October, in summer on the alpine pastures.

  1. [pat-casatta] Regione Lombardia, Schede prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali, Allegato B to DDUO n. 3392 of 7 April 2008, 'Casatta di Corteno Golgi' (copy hosted by ONAF)gov
  2. [onaf-casatta] ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Formaggi), technical sheet 'Casatta di Corteno Golgi', PAT Regione Lombardia (citing ERSAF Lombardia)web
  3. [onaf] ONAF, scheda formaggio 'Casatta di Corteno Golgi' (id 980)web
  4. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov