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Cheese from Italy, Sardegna

Casizolu di pecoraPrittas

Raw Sarda ewe milk is warmed to 34–35 °C in a copper pot over the fire and set with calf rennet. The drained curd sours for 18–24 hours, then is cut, worked by hand in water at 80–90 °C into a pear with a knob, brined and hung in pairs. It can be eaten after a week.

Fully documentedCheese8 days – 8.2 daysPAT (traditional food product, Sardegna)Family: Pasta filata (stretched-curd) cheese family

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe sheets give no amounts. A cheese weighs 0.5–3 kg.
Raw whole ewe milkSarda breed, taken to the dairy room straight after milking[pat-casizolu-pecora][onaf-casizolu-pecora]
Liquid calf rennet[pat-casizolu-pecora][onaf-casizolu-pecora]
Sea saltFor the brine[pat-casizolu-pecora]

Total time across the recorded steps: 8 days – 8.2 days

Start
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What changes: Starting material: fresh raw ewe milk, warmed in a copper pot

Step 1 of 7
Warm the milk over the fire
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Output: warm raw ewe 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 Sarda ewe milk is warmed to 34–35 °C in a copper pot over the fire and set with calf rennet. The drained curd sours for 18–24 hours, then is cut, worked by hand in water at 80–90 °C into a pear with a knob, brined and hung in pairs. It can be eaten after a week. Made in 7 steps over 8 days – 8.2 days. The longest step, hang in pairs to ripen, takes at least 7 days (Laore Sardegna (regional agricultural develop…) and runs at up to 25 °C (Laore Sardegna (regional agricultural develop…).

Key numbers
Main stepat least 7 daysReported[pat-casizolu-pecora][onaf-casizolu-pecora]Hang in pairs to ripen
Temperatureup to 25 °CReported[pat-casizolu-pecora][onaf-casizolu-pecora]Hang in pairs to ripen

What makes this one different

It is the ewe-milk form of the Sardinian pear-shaped casizolu, which is usually cow milk. ONAF's Casizolu sheet says small amounts are also made with mixed cow and ewe milk or ewe milk alone, though the work is harder. It is made from January to October and is often eaten young, from one week.

Rind
Thin, smooth, yellow
Size
0.5–3.0 kg; pear shape with a knob for tying

Related ferments

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

The regional sheet says the method has been stable for more than 25 years. The changes are gas burners in place of the wood fire, and bought rennet in place of rennet made on the farm.

Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
  1. [pat-casizolu-pecora] Laore Sardegna (regional agricultural development agency), Prodotto tradizionale della Sardegna, sheet 'Casizolu di pecora' (copy hosted by ONAF)gov
  2. [onaf-casizolu-pecora] ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Formaggi), technical sheet 'Casizolu di pecora', PAT Regione Sardegnaweb
  3. [onaf-casizolu] ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Formaggi), technical sheet 'Casizolu', PAT Regione Sardegnaweb
  4. [onaf] ONAF, scheda formaggio 'Casizolu di pecora' (id 362)web
  5. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov