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Cheese from Greece, the Agrafa area of Karditsa prefecture

Graviera AgrafonΓραβιέρα Αγράφων

Ewe milk, with up to 30 % goat milk, is thermised or pasteurised, set at 34–36 °C, cut and cooked to 48–52 °C while stirring, then pressed in moulds and brined for two to four days. The wheels are dry-salted for three weeks and ripened for three months in cool and then warmer rooms, where propionic bacteria open scattered holes.

Fully documentedCheese54 days – 58 daysPDO (Greek decision 313045/1994; EU register PDO-GR-0449, Regulation (EC) 1107/96)Family: Cooked hard alpine cheese family (Comté, Gruyère and Emmentaler as templates)

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe decision sets limits, not a batch. Wheels weigh 2–3 kg or 8–10 kg.
Whole ewe milkFrom local breeds fed on the area's plants, milked at least 10 days after lambing[gr-agrafon]
Goat milkAt most 30 % by weight[gr-agrafon]
Traditional rennet or other enzymes that act the same way[gr-agrafon]
Lactic and propionic bacteria culturesAllowed[gr-agrafon]
Calcium chlorideUp to 20 g per 100 kg of milk[gr-agrafon]
SaltBrine at 19–20 °Bé, then dry salt on the surface[gr-agrafon]
Starterlactic and propionic bacteria cultures may be added

Total time across the recorded steps: 54 days – 58 days

Start
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What changes: The ewe milk is heat-treated before cheesemaking

Step 1 of 9
Heat-treat the milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Ewe milk, or ewe and goat milk with no more than 30 % goat. The milk is thermised or pasteurised. Concentrating it, or adding milk powder, milk proteins, caseinates, colours, preservatives or antibiotics, is forbidden. Output: thermised or pasteurised ewe 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

Ewe milk, with up to 30 % goat milk, is thermised or pasteurised, set at 34–36 °C, cut and cooked to 48–52 °C while stirring, then pressed in moulds and brined for two to four days. The wheels are dry-salted for three weeks and ripened for three months in cool and then warmer rooms, where propionic bacteria open scattered holes. Made in 9 steps over 54 days – 58 days. The longest step, warm room for the holes, takes 30 days (Ministry of Agriculture (Greece) 1994) and runs at 16–18 °C (Ministry of Agriculture (Greece) 1994). Propionic acid bacteria, whose fermentation makes the scattered holes does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step30 daysSet[gr-agrafon]Warm room for the holes
Temperature16–18 °CSet[gr-agrafon]Warm room for the holes

What makes this one different

Unlike the mostly cow-milk Graviera Naxou, it is a ewe-milk cheese, like Graviera Kritis, with up to 30 % goat milk. Its decision has the wheels spend a month at 16–18 °C and says the scattered holes come from propionic fermentation.

Milk
Ewe milk, or ewe milk with at most 30 % goat milk; thermised or pasteurised
Cooking
48–52 °C with constant stirring
Ripening
3 months in all; at least 3 months in the EU summary
Size
Cylinders of 2–3 kg or 8–10 kg
Composition
Moisture at most 38 %; fat at least 40 % of dry matter

Related ferments

Safety

The 1994 decision requires the milk to be thermised or pasteurised. The cheese is cooked to 48–52 °C, holds at most 38 % moisture and ripens three months.

History and sources

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

The PDO application says the cheese had been known for over a century. Greece recognised Graviera Agrafon as a protected designation of origin on 14 January 1994, at the request of the Karditsa milk sellers' and cheesemakers' association "Amaltheia". The Cheese Atlas says most of it is exported, to France, Switzerland and Germany.

  1. [gr-agrafon] Ministry of Agriculture (Greece), Ministerial Decision 313045, Recognition of the protected designation of origin (PDO) of the cheese Graviera Agrafon, Government Gazette B 16, 14 January 1994 (WIPO Lex GR054; text as adopted, later amendments not checked)spec
  2. [eu-agrafon] European Commission, eAmbrosia register, Graviera Agrafon PDO-GR-0449, application summary (Annex I, EEC no. VGR/0449/940121), registered by Regulation (EC) 1107/96, OJ L 148, 21.06.1996spec
  3. [cheeseatlas] The Cheese Atlas, Graviera Agrafon (cheese profile)web