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Cheese from Italy, Lombardia

Formaggio Val Seriana

Raw cow milk of two milkings, the evening one skimmed (often by hand), is set with calf rennet at about 37–39 °C for some 35 minutes. The curd is broken to rice-grain size while it is heated to 42–44 °C, rests 10 minutes under the whey and is hooped and dry-salted with coarse salt. It ripens 4–6 months, up to a year, in cellars or caves.

Fully documentedCheese4 months – 12 monthsTraditional food product (PAT, Regione Lombardia)Family: Uncooked or semi-cooked pressed cheese family (tomme, Saint-Nectaire, Reblochon, Morbier, Raclette)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedMade on summer alpine pastures; the sheets give no batch size or doses. A wheel weighs 8–10 kg.
Raw cow milk of two milkingsThe evening milk is skimmed, often still by hand, and mixed with the morning milk[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Liquid calf rennet[onaf-sheet]
Coarse salt[pat-sheet]

Total time across the recorded steps: 4 months – 12 months

Start
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What changes: Cream is skimmed from the evening milk, which is mixed with the morning milk

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

The evening milk is left to cream and part of the fat is taken off, then it is mixed with the morning 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

Raw cow milk of two milkings, the evening one skimmed (often by hand), is set with calf rennet at about 37–39 °C for some 35 minutes. The curd is broken to rice-grain size while it is heated to 42–44 °C, rests 10 minutes under the whey and is hooped and dry-salted with coarse salt. It ripens 4–6 months, up to a year, in cellars or caves. Made in 6 steps over 4 months – 12 months. The longest step, ripen in a cellar or cave, takes 4–12 months (Regione Lombardia).

Key numbers
Main step4–12 monthsReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Ripen in a cellar or cave
Temperature37–39 °CReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Set with calf rennet

What makes this one different

A summer cheese of the Val Seriana pastures made from raw, part-skimmed milk, semi-cooked only to 42–44 °C and dry-salted, then ripened for months in cellars or caves.

Rind
Thin and straw when medium-aged; thick, hard and dark straw-brown when long-aged
Size
Cylinder about 30 cm across, side about 10 cm, 8–10 kg
Season
Made June to September on alpine pastures

Related ferments

Safety

Made from raw milk under a hygiene derogation for alpine dairies. ONAF says ripening guarantees its safety, but it cites regulations and no test of this cheese, and ANSES says a residual risk remains in raw-milk cheeses. ANSES names Listeria, Salmonella and enterohaemorrhagic E. coli as the main 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.

History and sources

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

The regional sheet says alpine pasture cheeses were first made at the pasture itself; today some are carried down to the valley to ripen about 20 days after milking. Pasture makers once prepared rennet at home from the dried, ground stomach of a calf or kid, or used the flower Gallium verum as a plant rennet. Lombardy listed the cheese among its traditional food products in 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. [pat-sheet] Regione Lombardia, Prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali, scheda 'Formaggio Val Seriana' (copy hosted by ONAF)gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Formaggi), technical sheet 'Formaggio Val Seriana'web
  3. [onaf] ONAF, cheese page 'Formaggio Val Seriana' (id 1002)web
  4. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov