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Cheese from Greece, Cyclades, the island of Naxos

Graviera Naxou PDOΓραβιέρα Νάξου

A hard cooked cheese from Naxos, made mostly from cow milk with up to a fifth sheep or goat milk. The curd is cooked at 50 °C for an hour, pressed in cloth-lined moulds, brined for two to five days and ripened at 15 °C for 70–80 days.

Fully documentedCheese2.4 months – 2.8 monthsPDO (EU, registered 1996; PDO-GR-0434)Family: Cooked hard alpine cheese family (Comté, Gruyère and Emmentaler as templates)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe specification sets temperatures and times but no amounts. A 2024 study describes the cheese as made at the facilities of the Union of Agricultural Cooperatives of Naxos from milk of farms on the island.
Cow milk, or cow milk mixed with sheep or goat milkSheep or goat milk may not exceed 20 % of the milk net weight[naxou-sum][nikezic2024]
Rennet[nikezic2024]
Salt, as brine; sea salt in the study dairy[naxou-sum][nikezic2024]

Total time across the recorded steps: 2.4 months – 2.8 months

Start
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36–37 °C

What changes: Rennet sets the cow milk at 36–37 °C in 30–40 minutes

Step 1 of 5
Set the milk
Time
30–40 min
Set
Temperature
36–37 °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 hard cooked cheese from Naxos, made mostly from cow milk with up to a fifth sheep or goat milk. The curd is cooked at 50 °C for an hour, pressed in cloth-lined moulds, brined for two to five days and ripened at 15 °C for 70–80 days. Made in 5 steps over 2.4 months – 2.8 months. The longest step, dry and ripen, takes 2.3–2.6 months (Application for registration) and runs at 15 °C (Application for registration).

Key numbers
Main step2.3–2.6 monthsSet[naxou-sum]Dry and ripen
Temperature15 °CSet[naxou-sum]Dry and ripen

What makes this one different

The graviera made mainly from cow milk; Graviera Kritis and Graviera Agrafon are sheep-milk cheeses. It is cooked a full hour at 50 °C and ripens a shorter 70–80 days.

Strontium
In a 2024 study a mixing model put the sea salt's average share of the cheese's strontium at 73.1 %
Milk
Cow milk, with sheep or goat milk not over 20 % of the milk weight
Ripening
70–80 days at 15 °C

Related ferments

Safety

The specification fixes a cook of 60 minutes at 50 °C and 70–80 days of ripening.

History and sources

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

The 1994 specification says the cheese had been made on Naxos "since the last century at least". Ministerial Decision 313071 of 18 January 1994 recognised the protected designation of origin, and the name was registered at European level by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1107/96 of 12 June 1996.

Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
  1. [naxou-sum] Application for registration, PDO 'Graviera Naxou', summary of Ministerial Decision 313071/18.1.94, summary sheet GR/0434 (Regulation (EC) No 1107/96), eAmbrosia registerspec
  2. [nikezic2024] Nikezić M, Chantzi P, Irrgeher J, Zuliani T 2024, Evaluating Source Complexity in Blended Milk Cheese, Integrated Strontium Isotope and Multi-Elemental Approach to PDO Graviera Naxos, Foods 13(16):2540paper
  3. [bozoudi2016] Bozoudi D, Pavlidou S, Kotzamanidis C, Georgakopoulos P, Torriani S, Kondyli E, Claps S, Belibasaki S, Litopoulou-Tzanetaki E 2016, Graviera Naxou and Graviera Kritis Greek PDO cheeses, discrimination based on microbiological and physicochemical criteria and volatile organic compounds profile, Small Ruminant Research 136:161-172 (abstract, University of Verona repository)paper
  4. [reg1107-96] European Commission, Commission Regulation (EC) No 1107/96 of 12 June 1996 on the registration of geographical indications and designations of origin under the procedure laid down in Article 17 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92, OJ L 148, 21.6.1996, p. 1 (Publications Office copy)spec