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Cheese from Italy, Lombardia

Casoretta

Raw cow milk, the evening milking skimmed for butter and the morning milking whole, is set with calf rennet at 38 °C for about 45 minutes. The curd is broken to rice size while being warmed to 42 °C, pressed in plastic moulds under a weight, dry-salted for a week and ripened at least a month in cool cellars.

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedPart-skimmed and whole milk in equal parts (50:50). The sheet gives no batch size; a wheel weighs about 6 kg.
Raw cow milk, half skimmed and half wholeThe regional sheet gives part-skimmed and whole milk at 50:50; the evening milking is skimmed by creaming[pat-casoretta][onaf-casoretta]
Goat milkOptional, at most 10 %[onaf-casoretta]
Liquid calf rennet[onaf-casoretta]
SaltDry salt, over a week[pat-casoretta]

Total time across the recorded steps: 37 days

Start
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What changes: Starting material: milk skimmed for butter, mixed with whole morning milk

Step 1 of 7
Pool the skimmed and whole milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

The evening milk stands so the cream rises for butter; what is left is mixed with the whole morning milk. 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 cow milk, the evening milking skimmed for butter and the morning milking whole, is set with calf rennet at 38 °C for about 45 minutes. The curd is broken to rice size while being warmed to 42 °C, pressed in plastic moulds under a weight, dry-salted for a week and ripened at least a month in cool cellars. Made in 7 steps over 37 days. The longest step, ripen in the cellar, takes at least 30 days (Regione Lombardia 2008).

Key numbers
Main stepat least 30 daysReported[pat-casoretta][onaf-casoretta]Ripen in the cellar
Temperature38 °CReported[pat-casoretta][onaf-casoretta]Set with calf rennet

What makes this one different

It is made from the milk left after skimming for butter, so it is half-fat. It is semi-cooked to 42 °C, dry-salted for a whole week and eaten young, from one month.

Rind
Wrinkled, fairly elastic, ivory to straw
Size
Ø about 30 cm (20–50 cm), h 5–8 cm; about 6 kg

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

In the Val d'Intelvi milk was skimmed to make butter, and the skimmed milk went into this cheese. ONAF notes that wooden, copper and cloth tools may be used, and that these and raw milk are essential to its character.

Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
  1. [pat-casoretta] Regione Lombardia, Schede prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali, Allegato B to DDUO n. 3392 of 7 April 2008, 'Casoretta' (copy hosted by ONAF)gov
  2. [onaf-casoretta] ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Formaggi), technical sheet 'Casoretta', PAT Regione Lombardia (citing ERSAF Lombardia)web
  3. [onaf] ONAF, scheda formaggio 'Casoretta' (id 982)web
  4. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov