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Cheese from Italy, Campania

Caso Vallicelli

Raw whole ewe and goat milk, the evening milk once kept cool in a cave, is set at 36–38 °C with calf or kid rennet paste or an artichoke coagulant. The curd is broken to rice size, semi-cooked to 40–42 °C, pressed into baskets and kept warm at 38–40 °C until it reaches pH 5.2. After salting it ripens on boards in the caves of Monte Cervati, where grey moulds cover the rind.

Fully documentedCheese3 months – 8 monthsPAT (traditional food product, Campania)Family: Hard pressed ewe cheese family (Manchego and Pecorino Romano as templates)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe sheets give no amounts. A cheese weighs more than 1 kg.
Raw whole ewe and goat milkEvening milk plus the next morning's milk[pat-vallicelli][onaf-vallicelli]
Milk or whey starter (lattoinnesto or sieroinnesto)Allowed if made on the farm itself[pat-vallicelli][onaf-vallicelli]
Calf or kid rennet paste, or artichoke coagulantPaste made by the shepherds from the stomachs of slaughtered animals[pat-vallicelli][onaf-vallicelli]
SaltRubbed on dry, or saturated brine[pat-vallicelli]
Starteron-farm milk or whey starter allowed

Total time across the recorded steps: 3 months – 8 months

Start
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up to 10 °C

What changes: Starting material: evening milk kept cool in a cave, then the morning milk

Step 1 of 7
Keep the evening milk cool
Time
Not documented
Temperature
up to 10 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Moulds

Output: evening milk joined by the morning 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 whole ewe and goat milk, the evening milk once kept cool in a cave, is set at 36–38 °C with calf or kid rennet paste or an artichoke coagulant. The curd is broken to rice size, semi-cooked to 40–42 °C, pressed into baskets and kept warm at 38–40 °C until it reaches pH 5.2. After salting it ripens on boards in the caves of Monte Cervati, where grey moulds cover the rind. Made in 7 steps over 3 months – 8 months. The longest step, ripen in the Cervati caves, takes 3–8 months (ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori F…) and runs at 8–10 °C (ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori F…).

Key numbers
Main step3–8 monthsReported[onaf-vallicelli]Ripen in the Cervati caves
Temperature8–10 °CReported[onaf-vallicelli]Ripen in the Cervati caves
AciditypH 5.2Reported[pat-vallicelli][onaf-vallicelli]Fill baskets and stew warm

What makes this one different

It is a semi-cooked canestrato that is kept warm until pH 5.2, then ripened in the caves of Monte Cervati, which give it a grey mould rind. Makers may set it with an artichoke coagulant instead of animal rennet.

Rind
Firm, grey with cave moulds
Size
More than 1 kg; cylinder, basket-marked

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.

History and sources

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

The regional sheet says all the shepherds of the Cervati area used this method from time out of mind. Modern dairies keep the same steps with new tools and rooms.

Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
  1. [pat-vallicelli] Regione Campania, Assessorato Agricoltura, Prodotti tradizionali, 'Caso Vallicelli' (page last updated 24 June 2016; copy hosted by ONAF)gov
  2. [onaf-vallicelli] ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Formaggi), technical sheet 'Caso Vallicelli', PAT Regione Campaniaweb
  3. [onaf] ONAF, scheda formaggio 'Caso Vallicelli' (id 1157)web
  4. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov