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Cheese from Italy, Trentino-Alto Adige, Prov. Bolzano

Hochpustertaler (Formaggio Alta Pusteria)Alta Pusteria

Cow milk from Dobbiaco and Villabassa is soured with lactic cultures, with lysozyme from egg added, and set with powdered calf rennet. The rice-size curd is semi-cooked, pressed in hoops and brined. The wheels ripen 3 to 8 months on spruce boards.

DocumentedCheese3 months – 8 monthsTraditional food product (PAT, Autonomous Province of Bolzano)Family: Uncooked or semi-cooked pressed cheese family (tomme, Saint-Nectaire, Reblochon, Morbier, Raclette)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedNo batch size or doses are published. A wheel weighs about 12 kg.
Cow milk from South TyrolONAF lists raw whole milk; the dairy's product sheet lists pasteurised milk[onaf-sheet][dairy-sheet]
Lactic cultures[onaf-sheet][dairy-sheet]
Powdered calf rennet[onaf-sheet]
Salt (brine)[onaf-sheet][dairy-sheet]
Lysozyme from egg (preservative)[onaf-sheet][dairy-sheet]
Starterlactic cultures

Total time across the recorded steps: 3 months – 8 months

Start
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What changes: Lactic cultures and lysozyme go into the cow milk in the vat

Step 1 of 7
Prepare the milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Whole or part-skimmed milk is inoculated with lactic cultures; lysozyme from egg is added.

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

Cow milk from Dobbiaco and Villabassa is soured with lactic cultures, with lysozyme from egg added, and set with powdered calf rennet. The rice-size curd is semi-cooked, pressed in hoops and brined. The wheels ripen 3 to 8 months on spruce boards. Made in 7 steps over 3 months – 8 months. The longest step, ripen on spruce boards, takes 3–8 months (ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters)).

Key numbers
Main step3–8 monthsReported[onaf-sheet]Ripen on spruce boards
Temperature36–37 °CReported[onaf-sheet]Set the curd

What makes this one different

The full-fat cheese of the Dobbiaco dairy, semi-cooked and pressed, with a long ripening on spruce boards. It is used in Tyrolean canederli and cheese cakes.

Storage
The dairy's sheet says to keep it at +1 to +10 °C, best before at least 60 days from packaging
Salt
1.7 g salt per 100 g, in the dairy's product specification
Rind
Not edible, rough, white to dark straw or light brown with age
Size
About 38 cm across and 10 cm high, about 12 kg (the ONAF table gives 40 cm and 15 kg)
Fat
45% fat in dry matter

Related ferments

Safety

The lysozyme is made from egg, and the dairy's product sheet lists egg as an allergen. EFSA calls egg lysozyme a known allergen that residual amounts in cheese may trigger in susceptible people. One source lists raw whole milk and the dairy's sheet lists pasteurised milk. CDC advises pregnant women, newborns, people 65 or older and people with weak immunity to avoid any cheese made from unpasteurised milk.

History and sources

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

According to ONAF, the breeders around Dobbiaco formed one of the first dairy cooperatives in 1883. As milk supply grew they needed a cheese that could be ripened and carried out of the area, and the Hochpustertaler was named after the zone that supplies the milk.

  1. [onaf] ONAF, cheese page 'Hochpustertaler' (id 799)web
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters), technical sheet 'Hochpustertaler (Formaggio Alta Pusteria)'web
  3. [dairy-sheet] Sennerei Drei Zinnen / Latteria Tre Cime (Dobbiaco), product specification 'Hochpustertaler Alta Pusteria', version 01/21 (31 May 2021), copy hosted by ONAFspec
  4. [efsa-lysozyme] EFSA CEP Panel 2023, Safety evaluation of the food enzyme lysozyme from hens' eggs, EFSA Journal 21 (abstract)gov
  5. [cdc-listeria] CDC, Preventing Listeria Infection (web page, accessed 2026-10)gov