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Cheese from Italy, Lombardia

Magro di latteriaLatteria

Evening milk is skimmed by letting the cream rise and mixed with whole morning milk, all raw, then set with calf rennet. The curd is broken to corn size, semi-cooked at 38–40 °C, pressed in hoops and brined. It ripens more than 30 days in humid cellars at 10–12 °C.

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedMade in valley dairies from October to May with no published batch size or doses. A wheel weighs 7–12 kg.
Raw cow milk from the evening milking, skimmed by letting the cream rise[onaf-sheet]
Whole raw cow milk from the morning milking[onaf-sheet]
Liquid calf rennet[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Salt, as brine[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]

Total time across the recorded steps: 30 days

Start
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What changes: Cream rises on the evening milk and is skimmed off before the morning milk goes in

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

The evening milk rests so its cream rises and is taken off; it is then mixed with the whole morning 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

Evening milk is skimmed by letting the cream rise and mixed with whole morning milk, all raw, then set with calf rennet. The curd is broken to corn size, semi-cooked at 38–40 °C, pressed in hoops and brined. It ripens more than 30 days in humid cellars at 10–12 °C. Made in 7 steps over 30 days. The longest step, ripen in the cellar, takes at least 30 days (Regione Lombardia) and runs at 10–12 °C (ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters)).

Key numbers
Main stepat least 30 daysReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Ripen in the cellar
Temperature10–12 °CReported[onaf-sheet]Ripen in the cellar

What makes this one different

A winter cheese of the valley dairies, made when the cows are down from the alpine pastures. It keeps the old habit of skimming the evening milk for butter, so the milk is only partly skimmed. The sheets describe the softer, milder 'grasso' version; the 'semigrasso' version, also called Magnoca, has a harder, darker paste and a stronger taste.

Rind
Clean, thin, smooth, straw-yellow turning light brown
Size
Cylinder 30–45 cm across and 8–10 cm high, 7–12 kg
Composition
Fat below 40% of dry matter, moisture 30% (ONAF)
Season
Made from October to May

Related ferments

Safety

Made from raw milk and ripened more than 30 days. ANSES advises pregnant women, people over 65, young children and people with weak immunity not to eat raw-milk cheese, except cooked pressed cheeses.

History and sources

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

The name recalls the valley dairies (latterie) that worked mostly in winter. When butter was a staple in the mountains, cheese was made by skimming the evening milk and adding the morning milk, and the habit has stayed. Little is made, so it is little known outside Sondrio.

Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
  1. [pat-sheet] Regione Lombardia, traditional product sheet 'Magro di latteria' (copy hosted by ONAF)gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters), technical sheet 'Magro di latteria'web
  3. [onaf] ONAF, cheese page 'Magro di latteria' (id 1017)web
  4. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov