Skip to main content
Support

Browse by category

All categories
Home

Cheese from Italy, Liguria

Formaggetta (delle Valli Arroscia e Argentina)Formaggetta del ponente

A small shepherd's cheese of the Maritime Alps valleys. Part-skimmed raw cow milk and whole raw ewe milk from one day are mixed, renneted and poured into small containers, one per cheese, where they set slowly at room temperature over 8–24 hours. The unbroken curd drains in perforated cuppe, is salted and is eaten fresh or ripened, some for months to be grated.

Fully documentedCheese31 days – 32 daysPAT (Liguria, sheet 'Formaggetta del ponente')Family: Uncooked or semi-cooked pressed cheese family (tomme, Saint-Nectaire, Reblochon, Morbier, Raclette)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe sheets give no amounts. Each container holds the milk for one cheese of 0.150–0.300 kg, about 12 cm across and 2–4 cm high.
Raw cow milkPart-skimmed[lig-ponente][onaf-arroscia]
Raw ewe milkWhole[lig-ponente][onaf-arroscia]
Liquid calf rennet[lig-ponente][onaf-arroscia]
SaltDry salt, by hand[lig-ponente]

Total time across the recorded steps: 31 days – 32 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play

What changes: Starting material: one day's raw cow and ewe milk, mixed

Step 1 of 5
Mix the day's milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

ONAF says one shepherd's milk of the day is used, cow and ewe milk together. Output: raw mixed 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 small shepherd's cheese of the Maritime Alps valleys. Part-skimmed raw cow milk and whole raw ewe milk from one day are mixed, renneted and poured into small containers, one per cheese, where they set slowly at room temperature over 8–24 hours. The unbroken curd drains in perforated cuppe, is salted and is eaten fresh or ripened, some for months to be grated. Made in 5 steps over 31 days – 32 days. The longest step, eat fresh or ripen, takes at least 30 days (Regione Liguria).

Key numbers
Main stepat least 30 daysReported[lig-ponente][onaf-arroscia]Eat fresh or ripen
Temperature16–24 °CReported[lig-ponente]Rennet and set in small containers

What makes this one different

The milk sets so slowly, at room temperature in one pot per cheese, that the curd is never cut. ONAF describes it as cow milk with ewe milk, where the Savona formaggetta under the same sheet is made from goat and cow milk in variable shares, and a few cheeses are kept for months for grating.

Rind
None and white when fresh; thin, slightly wrinkled, ivory to pale straw when aged
Size
About 12 cm across, 2–4 cm high, 0.150–0.300 kg

Related ferments

Variants

  • FrescoEaten after a few days.
  • StagionatoAbout 30 days in the regional sheet; at least 3 months for grating cheese in ONAF.
  • Sott'olioKept under oil.

Safety

Raw-milk cheese, usually eaten fresh. 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

The regional sheet says ewe milk was once preferred, each farm kept four or five animals, and the curd was set with a piece of lamb stomach (quagettu); a lamb was sold only if the buyer promised to return the rennet.

Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
  1. [lig-ponente] Regione Liguria, prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali, sheet 'Formaggetta del ponente' (Valli Arroscia e Argentina, Savona e Stella) (copy hosted by ONAF)gov
  2. [onaf-arroscia] ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Formaggi), technical sheet 'Formaggetta (delle Valli Arroscia e Argentina)' (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