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Cheese from Italy, Lombardia

Motelì

Motelì is a fresh goat cheese from the Val Camonica, made from whole milk of the Bionda dell'Adamello goat. The milk is first heated to about 93 °C so its whey proteins stay in the curd, as in a cacioricotta, then cooled and set with calf rennet. The cheeses are dry-salted in their moulds and ripen 3–15 days at 15–18 °C.

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe regional sheet gives the method but no amounts. A cheese weighs 400–500 g.
Whole goat milk of the Bionda dell'Adamello breed, used just after milking[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Calf rennet, liquid or powder[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Fine salt[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Herbs or spices (optional)Applied to the surface for the flavoured version[onaf-sheet]

Total time across the recorded steps: 3 days – 15 days

Start
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93 °C

What changes: The fresh goat milk is heated to about 93 °C and its whey proteins clump

Step 1 of 6
Heat the fresh milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
93 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Output: hot milk with its whey proteins precipitated.

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

Motelì is a fresh goat cheese from the Val Camonica, made from whole milk of the Bionda dell'Adamello goat. The milk is first heated to about 93 °C so its whey proteins stay in the curd, as in a cacioricotta, then cooled and set with calf rennet. The cheeses are dry-salted in their moulds and ripen 3–15 days at 15–18 °C. Made in 6 steps over 3 days – 15 days. The longest step, ripen briefly, takes 3–15 days (Regione Lombardia) and runs at 15–18 °C (Regione Lombardia).

Key numbers
Main step3–15 daysReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Ripen briefly
Temperature15–18 °CReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Ripen briefly

What makes this one different

Like a cacioricotta, the milk is heated to about 93 °C before the rennet goes in, so the whey proteins stay in the curd. It is made only from the milk of the local Bionda dell'Adamello goat.

Rind
None; snow white, yellowing slightly with time or smoke
Size
Truncated cone or cylinder, height 9 cm, 400–500 g

Related ferments

Variants

  • Plain
  • Flavoured with herbs or spices on the surface
  • Lightly smoked

Safety

The milk is heated to about 93 °C before the curd is made; the cheese is eaten fresh after 3–15 days.

Hazards the sources name: Escherichia coli O157:H7, which survived manufacture and 90 days of ripening when goat milk was deliberately contaminated for a cacioricotta goat cheese (a related goat cheese; a laboratory challenge test, not found in Motelì).

History and sources

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

The Bionda dell'Adamello goat, the source of the milk, is a local breed of the Val Camonica now listed as at risk of extinction. The sheet says the valley's rock carvings of the farm life of the ancient Camunians suggest that the cheesemaking techniques, if not born there, were refined among these mountains.

Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
  1. [pat-sheet] Regione Lombardia, traditional agri-food product (PAT) sheet 'Motelì' (copy hosted by ONAF)gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Formaggi), technical sheet 'Motelì'web
  3. [onaf] ONAF, cheese page 'Motelì' (id 1021)web
  4. [ioanna2018] Ioanna F., Quaglia N.C., Storelli M.M. et al. 2018, Survival of Escherichia coli O157:H7 during the manufacture and ripening of Cacioricotta goat cheese, Food Microbiology 70, 200–205 (abstract)paper