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Cheese from Italy, Piemonte

MortrettMurtret

A cheese preparation made from finished cheese rather than milk. Aged local tome are trimmed and diced to 1–1.5 cm, mixed with about 30% ricotta from the toma whey and plenty of salt, chilli and sometimes pepper, then tied in cloth bags and pressed under stones for about 40 days. It then ripens from 60 days to 6 months or a year, forming a yellow-pink rind. A modern version uses ricotta or acid curd shaped into balls and smoked 10–15 days over a hearth.

Fully documentedCheese3.6 months – 14 monthsTraditional food product (PAT, Regione Piemonte, D.D. 24 July 2015 n. 460)Family: Uncooked or semi-cooked pressed cheese family (tomme, Saint-Nectaire, Reblochon, Morbier, Raclette)

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe PAT sheet gives the ricotta share only. Rounded forms weigh 0.25–0.5 kg, flattened forms up to 2 kg; the cloth bag is about 15 cm across and 15–20 cm high.
Aged local tome, rind removed (once unsellable or faulty ones)[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Ricotta made from the toma wheyabout 30% of the mix[pat-sheet]
Salt, in generous amounts[pat-sheet]
Finely pounded chilli and sometimes pepper; the paste is described as always holding chilli and cumin[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]

Total time across the recorded steps: 3.6 months – 14 months

Start
Drag the bar or press Play

What changes: Aged tome are trimmed and cut into small cubes

Step 1 of 5
Dice the tome
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

The rind is removed first.

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 cheese preparation made from finished cheese rather than milk. Aged local tome are trimmed and diced to 1–1.5 cm, mixed with about 30% ricotta from the toma whey and plenty of salt, chilli and sometimes pepper, then tied in cloth bags and pressed under stones for about 40 days. It then ripens from 60 days to 6 months or a year, forming a yellow-pink rind. A modern version uses ricotta or acid curd shaped into balls and smoked 10–15 days over a hearth. Made in 5 steps over 3.6 months – 14 months. The longest step, ripen, takes 2–12 months (Regione Piemonte 2015).

Key numbers
Main step2–12 monthsReported[pat-sheet]Ripen

What makes this one different

It is made from diced aged toma bound with ricotta and chilli, pressed for weeks in a cloth bag and then aged again. It began as a way to use unsellable cheese.

Rind
None when just made; more present and darker with age, yellow-pink; very dark when smoked
Size
Small rounded forms or flattened forms

Related ferments

Variants

  • Rounded0.25–0.5 kg
  • FlattenedUp to 2 kg
  • Smoked ricotta ballsCow ricotta or acid curd with chilli and salt, smoked 10–15 days

Safety

The PAT sheet warns against starting from cheeses that are too moist (higher water activity), asks for spices of known origin and strict insect control. A 2004 regional study of samples from some makers considered it at risk because it ripens wrapped in cloth, while rating its hygiene medium-high, better with pasteurised ingredients and long, smoke-assisted ageing.

History and sources

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

The ONAF sheet says its origins go back centuries and come from not wasting raw material that could not otherwise be kept or sold. It is now made on purpose, so its quality is better than before. Both sheets cite M. Parenti, Alla ricerca del formaggio perduto (1997).

Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
Temperature, salt and pH
The sources we found give no temperature, salt or pH figure for any of its steps.
  1. [pat-sheet] Regione Piemonte, D.D. 24 July 2015 n. 460, schede tecniche prodotti PAT 2015, Category I product 05 'Mortrett o Murtret' (copy hosted by ONAF)gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters), technical sheet 'Mortrett'web
  3. [onaf] ONAF, cheese page 'Mortrett' (id 763)web