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Cheese from Greece, island of Lesvos

Ladotyri Mytilinis PDOΛαδοτύρι Μυτιλήνης

Ewe milk, with up to 30 % goat milk, is set at 32–34 °C with rennet, cut, reheated to 45 °C and moulded into cylinders. The cheeses are dry-salted on the surface and ripened at least three months at 12–16 °C and about 85 % humidity. The name means "oil cheese"; traditionally the wheels are kept under olive oil, which the 1994 rules do not mention.

Fully documentedCheese3 monthsPDO (recognised in Greece in 1994)Family: Hard pressed ewe cheese family (Manchego and Pecorino Romano as templates)

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe rules give one amount, calcium chloride up to 20 g per 100 kg of milk when the milk is pasteurised. A cheese is a cylinder of about 1.5 kg.
Ewe milk, or ewe and goat milk mixedGoat milk no more than 30 %; from Lesvos only; set within 48 hours of milking; raw or pasteurised[lado-ya-1994]
Traditional rennet or similar enzymes[lado-ya-1994]
Harmless lactic culturesAllowed only when the milk is pasteurised[lado-ya-1994]
Calcium chlorideUp to 20 g per 100 kg of milkAllowed only when the milk is pasteurised[lado-ya-1994]
Dry saltOn the surface[lado-ya-1994]
Olive oilTraditional storage layer; not in the 1994 rules[papagianni2023]
StarterHarmless lactic cultures are allowed when the milk is pasteurised (Ministerial Decision 313058).

Total time across the recorded steps: 3 months

Start
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32–34 °C

What changes: Rennet goes into ewe milk at 32–34 °C and it sets to a curd

Step 1 of 5
Set the milk with rennet
Time
Not documented
Temperature
32–34 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Output: curd.

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 set at 32–34 °C with rennet, cut, reheated to 45 °C and moulded into cylinders. The cheeses are dry-salted on the surface and ripened at least three months at 12–16 °C and about 85 % humidity. The name means "oil cheese"; traditionally the wheels are kept under olive oil, which the 1994 rules do not mention. Made in 5 steps over 3 months. The longest step, dry-salt and ripen, takes at least 3 months (Ministry of Agriculture (Greece) 1994) and runs at 12–16 °C (Ministry of Agriculture (Greece) 1994).

Key numbers
Main stepat least 3 monthsSet[lado-ya-1994]Dry-salt and ripen
Temperature12–16 °CSet[lado-ya-1994]Dry-salt and ripen

What makes this one different

Ladotyri is a hard ewe-milk cheese made in cylinders of about 1.5 kg and, by tradition, kept under olive oil, which gives it its name ("oil cheese").

Milk
Ewe milk, or ewe with up to 30 % goat milk, from Lesvos; raw or pasteurised
Ripening
At least three months at 12–16 °C
Composition
Moisture at most 38 %; fat at least 40 % of dry matter
Size
Cylinder about 10 cm across, about 1.5 kg

Related ferments

Safety

Raw or pasteurised milk is allowed; milk must be set within 48 hours of milking and the cheese ripened at least three months. Colourings, preservatives and antibiotics are banned. For a cheese made with raw milk, the CDC says people at higher risk, including pregnant women, people 65 or older and people with weak immunity, should avoid raw-milk cheese unless it is heated to 165 °F (74 °C) or until steaming hot.

History and sources

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

Greece recognised the name in Ministerial Decision 313058 of January 1994, after an application by the Union of Agricultural Cooperatives of Lesvos.

  1. [lado-ya-1994] Ministry of Agriculture (Greece) 1994, Ministerial Decision No. 313058, Recognition of the PDO for the cheese «Λαδοτύρι Μυτιλήνης» (Ladotyri Mytilinis), Government Gazette B 25, 18 January 1994 (Greek text on WIPO Lex)spec
  2. [papagianni2023] Papagianni O. et al. 2023, Postprandial inflammatory and metabolic responses induced by Authentic Mytilinis cheese, Life 13(4):923paper
  3. [kamilari2022] Kamilari E., Tsaltas D., Stanton C., Ross R.P. 2022, Metataxonomic mapping of the microbial diversity of Irish and Eastern Mediterranean cheeses, Foods 11(16):2483paper
  4. [cdc-listeria] US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Preventing Listeria Infectiongov