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Cheese from Italy, Lombardia

Formaggella della Val SerianaFormaggella della Valle Seriana

A summer cheese of the Val Seriana pastures, made on the spot from raw cow milk. The evening milk is skimmed by letting the cream rise and mixed with whole morning milk, set with calf rennet at 35–38 °C, reheated to 40–42 °C and broken to walnut or hazelnut size. The cheeses are dry-salted for three days and ripen from 15–20 days up to 2–3 months.

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedNeither sheet gives amounts. One cheese is 16–20 cm across, 4.5–8 cm high and weighs about 1.5–2 kg.
Raw cow milk, evening milkingLeft to rest and skimmed by letting the cream rise[lom-seriana][onaf-seriana]
Raw cow milk, morning milkingWhole, often still warm from milking[lom-seriana][onaf-seriana]
Liquid calf rennet[lom-seriana]
SaltDry salt[lom-seriana]

Total time across the recorded steps: 18 days – 3.1 months

Start
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What changes: Cream rises on the rested evening milk and is skimmed off

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

The evening milk rests and its cream is skimmed off; the morning milk is added whole. 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

A summer cheese of the Val Seriana pastures, made on the spot from raw cow milk. The evening milk is skimmed by letting the cream rise and mixed with whole morning milk, set with calf rennet at 35–38 °C, reheated to 40–42 °C and broken to walnut or hazelnut size. The cheeses are dry-salted for three days and ripen from 15–20 days up to 2–3 months. Made in 6 steps over 18 days – 3.1 months. The longest step, ripen, takes 15 days – 3 months (Regione Lombardia).

Key numbers
Main step15 days – 3 monthsReported[lom-seriana]Ripen
Temperature35–38 °CReported[lom-seriana]Add rennet

What makes this one different

Made only in summer at the pastures, which are hard to reach, so the cheesemakers work the milk on the spot just after milking. The evening milk is skimmed by creaming, and ONAF calls it a semi-fat cheese, where it calls the Val di Scalve formaggella a whole-milk one.

Season
June to September, on the summer pastures (ONAF)
Rind
Smooth and thin, white-yellowish, thicker and firmer with age
Size
16–20 cm across, 4.5–8 cm high, 1.5–2.0 kg

Related ferments

Safety

Raw-milk cheese that may be eaten after only 15–20 days. ANSES advises pregnant women, people over 65, people with weak immunity and young children to avoid raw-milk cheeses.

Hazards the sources name: Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella and enterohaemorrhagic E. coli, the main hazards ANSES names for raw-milk cheeses.

History and sources

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

ONAF notes that cattle in the valley are recorded from the 16th century, and that the cheese became known for the waiver that lets it be made from raw milk.

Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
  1. [lom-seriana] Regione Lombardia, prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali, sheet 'Formaggella della Valle Seriana' (copy hosted by ONAF)gov
  2. [onaf-seriana] ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Formaggi), technical sheet 'Formaggella della Val Seriana' (PAT Lombardia)web
  3. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov