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Cheese from Greece

Kasseri PDOΚασέρι

Sheep milk, or sheep milk mixed with goat milk, is set and the curd is broken, cooked to 38–40 °C and left to drain and sour until the pH falls to about 5.2. Slabs of the sour curd are dipped in water at 70–80 °C and kneaded until smooth, then moulded, salted on the surface 12–14 times and ripened at least three months.

Fully documentedCheese3.1 monthsPDO (EU, registered by Commission Regulation 1107/96 of 12 June 1996)Family: Pasta filata (stretched-curd) cheese family

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe PDO summary fixes the steps, not the amounts.
Sheep milk, or sheep and goat milkFrom local breeds fed on the flora of the area[kasseri-pdo]
CoagulantThe PDO summary says only that the milk is coagulated[kasseri-pdo]
StarterThe cheese the 1998 study sampled was naturally fermented; the 2007 trial used a commercial starter in its control cheese[tsakalidou1998][anastasiou2007]
Hot water70–80 °C, for scalding and kneading the curd[kasseri-pdo]
SaltApplied to the surface 12–14 times[kasseri-pdo]
Starternaturally fermented in the Kasseri the 1998 study sampled; a commercial starter, or S. macedonicus as sole starter or adjunct, was used in the 2007 trial cheeses

Total time across the recorded steps: 3.1 months

Start
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What changes: The sheep milk sets and the curd is broken up

Step 1 of 6
Set the milk and break the curd
Time
5–10 min
Set
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
S. macedonicus

Output: curd in whey.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
broken curd
Colour
white

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

Sheep milk, or sheep milk mixed with goat milk, is set and the curd is broken, cooked to 38–40 °C and left to drain and sour until the pH falls to about 5.2. Slabs of the sour curd are dipped in water at 70–80 °C and kneaded until smooth, then moulded, salted on the surface 12–14 times and ripened at least three months. Made in 6 steps over 3.1 months. The longest step, ripen, takes at least 3 months (Greece) and runs at 18 °C (Greece). Streptococcus macedonicus, first described from naturally fermented Kasseri does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 3 monthsSet[kasseri-pdo]Ripen
Temperature18 °CSet[kasseri-pdo]Ripen
AciditypH 5.2Set[kasseri-pdo]Drain and let the curd sour

What makes this one different

Kasseri is a pasta filata cheese made from sheep milk, not cow milk. The curd is soured to about pH 5.2, scalded and kneaded in water at 70–80 °C, then salted on the surface 12–14 times and ripened for at least three months, so it is a ripened semi-hard cheese rather than a fresh one like mozzarella.

Milk
Sheep milk, or sheep milk mixed with goat milk
Ripening
At least 3 months
Scalding
Soured curd slabs kneaded in water at 70–80 °C

Related ferments

Safety

The PDO summary has the curd cut into slabs and dipped in water at 70–80 °C, and the cheese ripened at 18 °C for not less than 3 months. In a trial with S. macedonicus as starter or adjunct, the numbers of all microbial groups counted fell after the baski scalding and stayed practically stable up to day 90.

History and sources

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

The Greek PDO application (Ministerial Decision of 11 January 1994) says Kasseri has been produced in Greece since at least the last century. Commission Regulation (EC) No 1107/96 of 12 June 1996 registered the name as a PDO. Streptococcus macedonicus was described as a new species in 1998 from streptococci isolated from naturally fermented Greek Kasseri.

  1. [kasseri-pdo] Greece, Ministry of Agriculture, Application for registration of KASSERI CHEESE PDO (summary of Ministerial Decision 313027/11.1.94), EEC No G/GR/0440/940121, eAmbrosia attachment 72473spec
  2. [tsakalidou1998] Tsakalidou E., Zoidou E., Pot B., Wassill L., Ludwig W., Devriese L.A., Kalantzopoulos G., Schleifer K.H., Kersters K. 1998, Identification of streptococci from Greek Kasseri cheese and description of Streptococcus macedonicus sp. nov., International Journal of Systematic Bacteriology 48:519–527, doi:10.1099/00207713-48-2-519paper
  3. [anastasiou2007] Anastasiou R., Georgalaki M., Manolopoulou E., Kandarakis I., De Vuyst L., Tsakalidou E. 2007, The performance of Streptococcus macedonicus ACA-DC 198 as starter culture in Kasseri cheese production, International Dairy Journal 17:208–217, doi:10.1016/j.idairyj.2006.02.011paper
  4. [reg1107] 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, pp. 1-10 (Annex lists Kasseri)spec