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Cheese from Italy, Piemonte

MurianengoMoncenisio

Murianengo, or Moncenisio, is a 'double-curd' blue cow cheese from the Valle Susa. The curd of one day is kept in a cloth overnight and mixed half and half with the next day's curd in the mould. After dry salting, the wheels are pierced at 20–30 days so the blue Penicillium moulds can grow, and they ripen about 3 to 5 months.

Fully documentedCheese3 months – 5.1 monthsPAT (Regione Piemonte, 2015 technical sheets, category D no. 20)Family: Blue-veined cheese family (Roquefort as template)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe regional sheet gives the method but no amounts. A wheel weighs 5–12 kg.
Whole cow milkIn the past small amounts of goat and sheep milk were probably added[pat-sheet]
Liquid calf rennet[onaf-sheet]
Salt, for dry salting[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]

Total time across the recorded steps: 3 months – 5.1 months

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
shapes, not to countMoulds30–35 °C

What changes: Liquid calf rennet sets the whole milk at 30–35 °C in 30–60 minutes

Step 1 of 7
Set the milk with calf rennet
Time
30 min – 1 h
Reported
Temperature
30–35 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Moulds
Penicillium

Output: set 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

Murianengo, or Moncenisio, is a 'double-curd' blue cow cheese from the Valle Susa. The curd of one day is kept in a cloth overnight and mixed half and half with the next day's curd in the mould. After dry salting, the wheels are pierced at 20–30 days so the blue Penicillium moulds can grow, and they ripen about 3 to 5 months. Made in 7 steps over 3 months – 5.1 months. The longest step, ripen in a cool, damp room, takes 3–5 months (Regione Piemonte 2015). Blue-green moulds of the genus Penicillium, which vein the paste does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step3–5 monthsReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Ripen in a cool, damp room
Temperature30–35 °CReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Set the milk with calf rennet

What makes this one different

Murianengo is a two-day 'double-curd' blue. Half the curd is a day old and soured in a cloth, and the wheels must be pierced or the veins barely form. ONAF likens its taste to something between natural Gorgonzola and Castelmagno.

Rind
Natural, compact, rustic
Size
Cylinder Ø 25–35 cm, height 12–18 cm, 5–12 kg
Season
June to September (ONAF)

Related ferments

Variants

  • Ground-curd MurianengoBy oral accounts, the curd is kept two or more days, ground by hand, salted in the paste, pressed and ripened into a crumbly cheese that turns blue naturally.

Safety

The milk is raw (ONAF sheet). The regional sheet sees no hazards beyond normal cheesemaking apart from checking how the milk is creamed, and the wheels ripen for months. The US FDA says ageing raw-milk cheese for 60 days may not eliminate or adequately reduce E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella, and that Listeria may grow in some cheeses during ageing.

History and sources

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

The cheese is said to come from the Val Moriana (Maurienne) in Savoy, across the Moncenisio pass. A ducal tax letter printed in Turin in 1627, kept in the State Archive of Turin, lists fresh and 'first-time' Murianenghi among the cheeses sold at the Turin market.

Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
  1. [pat-sheet] Regione Piemonte, D.D. 24 July 2015 no. 460, Schede tecniche prodotti PAT 2015, category D product no. 20 'Murianengo o Moncenisio', BU38S1 24/09/2015 (copy hosted by ONAF)gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Formaggi), technical sheet 'Murianengo'web
  3. [onaf] ONAF, cheese page 'Murianengo' (id 463)web
  4. [fda-rawcheese2016] US Food and Drug Administration 2016, FY 2014–2016 Microbiological Sampling Assignment Summary Report, Raw Milk Cheese Aged 60 Daysgov