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Fermented milk from Sardinia, Italy

Gioddugioddu

Sheep or goat milk is boiled, cooled and seeded with about 2 % of the previous day's gioddu, then held warm until it sets. A mixed culture of yoghurt bacteria and yeasts, with Lactobacillus kefiri in some batches, makes it firmer and more acidic than cow yoghurt.

Fully documentedFermented milk12 hPAT

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceProportions only. The regional sheet and the study both seed the milk with about 2 % of earlier gioddu; neither gives a batch size.
Sheep or goat milk, filteredSardinian sheep or goats on pasture[laore][onaf]
Gioddu from the previous batchAbout 2 % of the milkOr a culture of lactic bacteria taken from gioddu[laore][maoloni2020]
Starterbackslop (about 2 % of the previous day's gioddu)

Total time across the recorded steps: 12 h

Start
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What changes: Sheep milk is strained and boiled

Step 1 of 4
Boil the milk
Time
7 min
Reported
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
L. delbrueckii
Yeasts
S. thermophilus
Lactobacillus kefiri

Output: boiled milk.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
liquid
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

heat kills most raw-milk flora

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

Sheep or goat milk is boiled, cooled and seeded with about 2 % of the previous day's gioddu, then held warm until it sets. A mixed culture of yoghurt bacteria and yeasts, with Lactobacillus kefiri in some batches, makes it firmer and more acidic than cow yoghurt. Made in 4 steps over 12 h. The longest step, hold warm until it sets, takes 12 h (Maoloni A. et al. 2020) and runs at 30–40 °C (Maoloni A. et al. 2020). Lactobacillus delbrueckii and Streptococcus thermophilus do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step12 hReported[maoloni2020]Hold warm until it sets
Temperature30–40 °CReported[maoloni2020][laore]Hold warm until it sets
AciditypH 3.8–4.2Measured[maoloni2020]Hold warm until it sets

What makes this one different

Gioddu is Italy's only traditional fermented milk. Unlike plain yoghurt it carries yeasts, and in some batches Lactobacillus kefiri, so it can turn slightly fizzy, like kefir.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Local namesGioddu in Logudoro, miciuratu in Gallura, mezzoraddu around Sassari, latte ischidu in Baronia, junchetta around Nuoro.
  • Factory "gioddu"Goat yoghurt made with industrial cultures and sold under the name.

Safety

Made from boiled or pasteurised milk; the finished product is below pH 4.3 and kept cold.

History and sources

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

Listed among Italy's traditional agri-food products (PAT) for Sardinia (G.U. no. 168, 22 July 2015). Shepherds once heated the milk in a cork vessel by dropping in red-hot stones.

  1. [maoloni2020] Maoloni A. et al. 2020, Microbiological characterization of Gioddu, an Italian fermented milk, International Journal of Food Microbiology 323:108610 (accepted manuscript, University of Turin repository)paper
  2. [maoloni2020b] Maoloni A. et al. 2020, Bacterial and fungal communities of Gioddu as revealed by PCR-DGGE analysis, Indian Journal of Microbiology 60:119–123 (abstract)paper
  3. [laore] Laore Sardegna (regional agricultural agency), Gioddu, traditional product sheet (ONAF-hosted copy)gov
  4. [ortu2007] Ortu S. et al. 2007, Identification and functional characterization of Lactobacillus strains isolated from milk and Gioddu, International Dairy Journal 17:1312–1320 (abstract)paper
  5. [onaf] ONAF, Gioddu cheese sheet (local names, history)web