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Cheese from Italy, Liguria

Formaggetta delle Valli del Levante ligureFormaggetta della Val Graveglia

A family of farm cheeses from the eastern Ligurian valleys, made from whatever milk the farm has, mostly raw cow milk, sometimes mixed with ewe milk. The milk is warmed to 32–35 °C and set with rennet paste, the curd is broken to rice-grain size and pressed in wooden hoops under a slate or marble weight for about a day. The cheeses are dry-salted for two days and ripen briefly, rubbed with olive oil.

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe regional sheet says 10 litres of milk give 1 kg of cheese. A Val Graveglia cheese is about 15 cm across and 8–10 cm high; ONAF gives weights of 0.150–2.000 kg across the family.
Cow milk, or cow and ewe milkRaw in the regional sheet; ONAF says raw or pasteurised, whole or part-skimmed[lig-levante][onaf-levante]
Rennet pasteMade from the stomach of a calf or a lamb[lig-levante]
Coarse saltDry salt; the Bonassola cheese is rarely salted[lig-levante]
Olive oilRubbed on the rind during ripening[lig-levante]

Total time across the recorded steps: 33 days

Start
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32–35 °C

What changes: Starting material: the farm's raw cow or mixed milk, warmed to 32–35 °C

Step 1 of 6
Warm the milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
32–35 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Output: warm 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 family of farm cheeses from the eastern Ligurian valleys, made from whatever milk the farm has, mostly raw cow milk, sometimes mixed with ewe milk. The milk is warmed to 32–35 °C and set with rennet paste, the curd is broken to rice-grain size and pressed in wooden hoops under a slate or marble weight for about a day. The cheeses are dry-salted for two days and ripen briefly, rubbed with olive oil. Made in 6 steps over 33 days. The longest step, ripen, rubbed with oil, takes 30 days (ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori F…).

Key numbers
Main step30 daysReported[onaf-levante]Ripen, rubbed with oil
Temperature32–35 °CReported[lig-levante]Warm the milk

What makes this one different

Each farm makes it from the milk of its own few animals, so the cow and ewe share changes with the season. Its curd is broken and pressed under a stone slab, and its rind is rubbed with olive oil; the western Ligurian formaggette are instead set whole in cuppe and never broken.

Rind
None when fresh; thin and straw-coloured after short ripening; brown and fairly hard when aged
Size
About 15 cm across, 8–10 cm high (Val Graveglia); 0.150–2.000 kg across the family (ONAF)
Yield
10 litres of milk give 1 kg of cheese

Related ferments

Variants

  • Val GravegliaCow or mixed milk, made in season; about 15 cm across and 8–10 cm high. Used to fill testaieu, flatbreads baked in clay testi.
  • Alta Valle SturaThe curd is broken after about 24 hours; about 0.4 kg and 15 cm across; eaten within about 30 days (ONAF).
  • BonassolaRaw whole cow milk, rarely salted, reddish rind, ripened about 2 months (ONAF).
  • Formaggetta de VàiseMade by the Varese Ligure cooperative from pasteurised milk of cows fed organic forage, with lactic cultures, cooked to 45 °C and aged 5–10 months on wooden boards (ONAF).

Safety

Raw-milk cheese, usually eaten fresh or after about a month. 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

According to the ONAF sheet, each farm family kept a small stable of four or five animals, which gave just enough milk for the household. The animals calved in winter, and the cheese was made by hand in small amounts from the day's milk. Rennet came from liquid bovine rennet or from the stomach of lambs (the quagettu), and a lamb was sold only once the buyer promised to give back the rennet from its stomach.

Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
  1. [lig-levante] Regione Liguria (agriligurianet), prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali, sheet 'Formaggetta' (Val Graveglia, Bonassola, alta Valle Scrivia, alta Valle Stura, Val di Vara) (copy hosted by ONAF)gov
  2. [onaf-levante] ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Formaggi), technical sheet 'Formaggetta delle Valli del Levante ligure' (PAT Liguria)web
  3. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov