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Cheese from Italy, Piemonte

Civrin della Val ChiusellaCivrin

Raw whole cow milk from the Val Chiusella is set with calf rennet at 35–37 °C, and the curd is broken to the size of a maize kernel and left to settle. The curd is put into small moulds, drained for 12–24 hours and dry-salted for 1–4 days. The soft cylinders ripen at least 10 days in cold rooms or rock cellars.

Fully documentedCheese12 days – 15 daysTraditional food product (PAT, Piemonte)Family: Uncooked or semi-cooked pressed cheese family (tomme, Saint-Nectaire, Reblochon, Morbier, Raclette)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe sheet gives temperatures and times but no batch size or salt amount. Each cheese weighs 0.8–1.1 kg.
Raw whole cow milkFrom one or two milkings; cows of local hardy breeds on pasture from April to November[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Calf rennet[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
SaltRubbed on dry, the day after making[pat-sheet]

Total time across the recorded steps: 12 days – 15 days

Start
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What changes: Starting material: raw whole cow milk from one or two milkings

Step 1 of 6
Collect the milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Output: raw whole cow milk from one or two milkings.

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 cow milk from the Val Chiusella is set with calf rennet at 35–37 °C, and the curd is broken to the size of a maize kernel and left to settle. The curd is put into small moulds, drained for 12–24 hours and dry-salted for 1–4 days. The soft cylinders ripen at least 10 days in cold rooms or rock cellars. Made in 6 steps over 12 days – 15 days. The longest step, ripen, takes at least 10 days (Regione Piemonte 2015).

Key numbers
Main stepat least 10 daysReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Ripen
Temperature35–37 °CReported[pat-sheet]Set with calf rennet

What makes this one different

A short-ripened raw-milk cow cheese with an uncooked curd, dry-salted, not brined. Its name points to goat milk; the sources say it was probably first made from goat milk and the same method was later used for cow milk.

Rind
Thin, smooth, whitish-straw with light white mould
Size
Cylinder about 15 cm across with a 4–5 cm side, 0.8–1.1 kg
Season
Made all year

Related ferments

Safety

Made from raw milk and ripened at least 10 days. Piemonte's sheet allows ripening in cellars and caves with natural rock walls, provided production hygiene is kept. CDC advises people who are pregnant, 65 or older or have a weakened immune system to avoid any cheese made with unpasteurised milk.

History and sources

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

The name is known from the oral tradition of Val Chiusella farm families. Documents from the late 1800s and Canavese writers of the early 1900s record civrin sold at the Ivrea market. About ten farms formed a producers' association after it was listed.

Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
  1. [pat-sheet] Regione Piemonte, D.D. 24 July 2015 no. 460, technical sheets of the PAT products of Piemonte, category D no. 11 'Civrin della Val Chiusella' (BU38S1, 24/09/2015)gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters), technical sheet 'Civrin della Val Chiusella'web
  3. [onaf] ONAF, cheese page 'Civrin della Val Chiusella' (id 454)web
  4. [cdc-listeria] US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Preventing Listeria Infectiongov