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Cheese from Italy, Lombardia

Formaggella della Val di ScalveFormagella della Val di Scalve

Raw whole cow milk from one milking is set at once with liquid calf rennet at 30–32 °C. The curd is broken gently, heated to 40–42 °C and broken to rice size, then packed into small moulds. It is dry-salted three or four times or brined 8–12 hours, and ripens 20–30 days, up to 60 for a firmer cheese.

Fully documentedCheese20 days – 2 monthsTraditional food product (PAT, Lombardia)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 doses. A cheese weighs 1.5–2 kg.
Raw whole cow milk from one milkingMade straight after milking, without cooling[lombardia-pat]
Liquid calf rennet[lombardia-pat]
SaltRubbed on dry, or as brine[lombardia-pat]
Starternatural milk-starter, the milk of the day before left to ferment overnight (Formaggioni 2020)

Total time across the recorded steps: 20 days – 2 months

Start
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30–32 °C

What changes: Liquid calf rennet sets the fresh milk at 30–32 °C in about 20 minutes

Step 1 of 6
Set the fresh milk
Time
20 min
Reported
Temperature
30–32 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Output: curd.

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 one milking is set at once with liquid calf rennet at 30–32 °C. The curd is broken gently, heated to 40–42 °C and broken to rice size, then packed into small moulds. It is dry-salted three or four times or brined 8–12 hours, and ripens 20–30 days, up to 60 for a firmer cheese. Made in 6 steps over 20 days – 2 months. The longest step, ripen, takes 20 days – 2 months (Regione Lombardia 2008). Salt is 1.5–1.6 % (Formaggioni P. et al 2020).

Key numbers
Main step20 days – 2 monthsReported[lombardia-pat]Ripen
Temperature30–32 °CReported[lombardia-pat]Set the fresh milk
Salt1.5–1.6 %Measured[formaggioni2020]Ripen

What makes this one different

Made from milk worked straight after milking, at a lower setting temperature (30–32 °C) than the Val Brembana formaggella, with a finer rice-size curd and the choice of dry salt or brine.

Rind
Thin, rough, yellowish and crumbly when young; smoother, thicker and darker with age
Size
Cylinder 17–22 cm across with a 4–8 cm side; 1.5–2 kg
Season
Made all year

Related ferments

Safety

Made from raw milk and ripened only 20–60 days. The sheet notes that a sour taste can come from making faults. ANSES names Listeria, Salmonella and enterohaemorrhagic E. coli as the main raw-milk cheese hazards. It advises pregnant women, people over 65, people with weak immunity and young children not to eat raw-milk cheeses, except cooked pressed ones such as Comté.

Hazards the sources name: Staphylococcus aureus and its enterotoxins, not measured in this cheese. In a survey of 123 raw or thermised milk Alpine cheeses, including Formagella and cheeses from Bergamo, S. aureus was not detected in 52 % of samples taken before ripening, and two semi-hard cheeses with a top heat of 37–43.6 °C held enterotoxin.

History and sources

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

ONAF says it was said in the past to be much prized for its "therapeutic" qualities. A Ministry of Agriculture research project on new dairy methods studied it, with results published in Italia agricola in December 1975.

  1. [lombardia-pat] Regione Lombardia, Schede prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali, Annex B to DDUO no. 3392 of 7/4/2008, 'Formagella della Val di Scalve'gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters), technical sheet 'Formaggella della Val di Scalve'web
  3. [onaf] ONAF, cheese page 'Formaggella della Val di Scalve' (id 992)web
  4. [formaggioni2020] Formaggioni P. et al., 2020, Characterisation of Formaggella della Valle di Scalve Cheese Produced From Cows Reared in Valley Floor Stall or in Mountain Pasture, Foods 9(4):383paper
  5. [berger2025] Berger T.F.H. et al., 2025, Critical Factors Affecting the Prevalence of Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcal Enterotoxins in Raw Milk Cheese in the Alpine Region of Austria, Italy, and Switzerland, Foods 14(13):2176paper
  6. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov