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Cheese from Italy, Lombardia

Formaggio d'Alpe grasso

A large full-fat cheese made at the Lombard summer pastures from raw whole milk of cows that eat only pasture. The milk is set with rennet at 37–38 °C in about 40 minutes, the curd is broken to rice-grain size while it is cooked to 48–49 °C, lifted out in cloths and moulded. The wheels are dry-salted and ripened for at least six months.

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe sheets give no amounts. A wheel weighs 8–10 kg, sometimes up to 18 kg; ONAF gives 30–50 cm across and 10–12 cm high.
Raw whole cow milkFrom cows fed only on pasture[lom-grasso][onaf-grasso]
Liquid calf rennet[lom-grasso][onaf-grasso]
Coarse saltDry salt[onaf-grasso]
Linseed oil (optional)Rubbed on the rind[lom-grasso][onaf-grasso]

Total time across the recorded steps: 6 months

Start
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37–38 °C

What changes: Rennet goes into the raw milk at 37–38 °C and it sets in about 40 minutes

Step 1 of 6
Warm the milk and add rennet
Time
40 min
Set
Temperature
37–38 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
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 large full-fat cheese made at the Lombard summer pastures from raw whole milk of cows that eat only pasture. The milk is set with rennet at 37–38 °C in about 40 minutes, the curd is broken to rice-grain size while it is cooked to 48–49 °C, lifted out in cloths and moulded. The wheels are dry-salted and ripened for at least six months. Made in 6 steps over 6 months. The longest step, ripen, takes at least 6 months (ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori F…).

Key numbers
Main stepat least 6 monthsReported[onaf-grasso]Ripen
Temperature37–38 °CSet[lom-grasso]Warm the milk and add rennet

What makes this one different

The full-fat summer cheese of the Lombard pastures, cooked hotter (48–49 °C) and kept longer than the part-skimmed Formaggio d'Alpe semigrasso. A regional waiver lets it be made from raw milk with wooden, copper and cloth tools.

Season
June to September, at the summer pastures (ONAF)
Rind
Hard, straw yellow, darker straw if treated with linseed oil
Size
30–50 cm across, 10–12 cm high; 8–10 kg, up to 18 kg

Related ferments

Safety

Raw-milk cheese ripened at least six months. The regional sheet credits the ripening for its safety, but ANSES says a residual risk remains in raw-milk cheeses. 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 to avoid raw-milk cheeses, except pressed cooked cheeses such as gruyère or comté. This is a cooked-curd hard cheese, but the sources list no pressing step, so this page does not claim that the exception covers it.

History and sources

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

The ONAF sheet says malga cheeses were first made directly on the pasture, and that today some are carried down to valley rooms to ripen about 20 days after milking while others are made in valley dairies. It says rennet used to be prepared at home from the dried, pounded abomasum of a calf or kid with a little vinegar and crushed peach stones, and that a meadow flower, Galium verum (caglio zolfino), once served as a plant alternative. The cheese joined the list of traditional Lombard agri-food products (PAT) at the 7th revision, by ministerial decree of 19 June 2007.

Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
  1. [lom-grasso] Regione Lombardia, prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali, sheet 'Formaggio d'Alpe Grasso' (copy hosted by ONAF)gov
  2. [onaf-grasso] ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Formaggi), technical sheet 'Formaggio d'Alpe grasso' (PAT Lombardia)web
  3. [montel2014] Montel M.C. et al. 2014, Traditional cheeses - rich and diverse microbiota with associated benefits, International Journal of Food Microbiology 177:136-154 (abstract)paper
  4. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov