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Cheese from Italy, Sardegna

Dolcesardo ArboreaDolcesardo

Sardinian cow milk is pasteurised, soured with a Streptococcus thermophilus culture and set with liquid calf rennet. The hazelnut-size curd goes into perforated moulds and is kept warm for a few hours so it sours and drains, then it is brined about 3.5 hours. The rindless white cheese ripens about 15 days in a cold room.

Fully documentedCheese15 daysTraditional food product (PAT, Sardegna, since DM 18 July 2000)Family: Uncooked or semi-cooked pressed cheese family (tomme, Saint-Nectaire, Reblochon, Morbier, Raclette)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedMade in a dairy with steel vats and plastic moulds; the sheets give no batch size or doses. A cheese weighs about 1.3 kg.
Whole cow milk from Sardinian farmsThe Laore sheet gives raw milk from Sardinian farms; ONAF says whole cow milk[laore-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Selected starter culture (Streptococcus thermophilus)[onaf-sheet]
Liquid calf rennet[onaf-sheet]
Salt (brine)[laore-sheet]
Natamycin (E235) and calcium sorbate (E203)Antifungal surface treatment; the surface is not edible[onaf-sheet]
Starterselected Streptococcus thermophilus culture

Total time across the recorded steps: 15 days

Start
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72 °C

What changes: The milk is heated to 72 °C for 20 seconds

Step 1 of 7
Pasteurise the milk
Time
0.4 min
Reported
Temperature
72 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
S. thermophilus
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

Sardinian cow milk is pasteurised, soured with a Streptococcus thermophilus culture and set with liquid calf rennet. The hazelnut-size curd goes into perforated moulds and is kept warm for a few hours so it sours and drains, then it is brined about 3.5 hours. The rindless white cheese ripens about 15 days in a cold room. Made in 7 steps over 15 days. The longest step, ripen cold, takes 15 days (Laore Sardegna (regional agricultural develop…) and runs at 4 °C (Laore Sardegna (regional agricultural develop…). Streptococcus thermophilus does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step15 daysReported[laore-sheet]Ripen cold
Temperature4 °CReported[laore-sheet]Ripen cold
AciditypH 5–5.2Reported[onaf-sheet]Sour in warm moulds (stufatura)

What makes this one different

An Italico-type soft cheese from the dairy of a 1930s land-reclamation company. It is soured with a Streptococcus thermophilus culture in warm moulds and ripens 15 days at 4 °C.

Rind
None; smooth white surface treated with natamycin and not edible
Size
Cylinder about 14 cm across and 7 cm high, about 1.3 kg
Composition
Fat 28% as sold, moisture 45–47%
Season
Made all year

Related ferments

Safety

The milk is pasteurised at 72 °C, and the cheese is ripened and kept at 4 °C or colder. The sheet records an HACCP plan with chemical and microbial checks on the finished cheese.

History and sources

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

Dolcesardo began at the end of the 1930s as one of the first products of the dairy founded in 1937 by Società Bonifiche Sarde, the land-reclamation company of Arborea; the farmers' cooperative took it over in 1956. A 1945 advert announced its return after the war.

  1. [laore-sheet] Laore Sardegna (regional agricultural development agency), Prodotto tradizionale della Sardegna, sheet 'Dolcesardo Arborea'gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters), technical sheet 'Dolcesardo Arborea'web
  3. [onaf] ONAF, cheese page 'Dolcesardo Arborea' (id 368)web