Skip to main content
Support

Browse by category

All categories
Home

Cheese from Italy, Lombardia

Nostrano grassoNostrano conca

Nostrano grasso is a full-fat, semi-cooked cow cheese of the Lombard mountains, also made on alpine pastures. Whole raw or pasteurised milk is set with powdered calf rennet at 37–38 °C, the curd is broken to hazelnut size while it is heated to 44 °C, and the wheels are pressed with weights and salted. They ripen at least 6 months.

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe regional sheet gives the method but no amounts. A ripe wheel weighs 7–8 kg.
Whole cow milk, raw or pasteurised[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Lactic starter cultures (with pasteurised milk)[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Powdered calf rennet[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Salt, dry or as brine[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Starterlactic cultures (with pasteurised milk)

Total time across the recorded steps: 6 months

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
37–38 °C

What changes: Lactic cultures and powdered calf rennet go into the milk at 37–38 °C

Step 1 of 6
Warm the milk, add starter and rennet
Time
Not documented
Temperature
37–38 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

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

Nostrano grasso is a full-fat, semi-cooked cow cheese of the Lombard mountains, also made on alpine pastures. Whole raw or pasteurised milk is set with powdered calf rennet at 37–38 °C, the curd is broken to hazelnut size while it is heated to 44 °C, and the wheels are pressed with weights and salted. They ripen at least 6 months. Made in 6 steps over 6 months. The longest step, ripen, takes at least 6 months (ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori F…).

Key numbers
Main stepat least 6 monthsReported[onaf-sheet]Ripen
Temperature37–38 °CReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Warm the milk, add starter and rennet

What makes this one different

The full-fat member of the Lombard 'nostrano' cheeses, made from whole milk and semi-cooked at 44 °C. The regional sheet says the name was coined by a dairy to set it apart from other nostrani.

Rind
Darkens as the cheese ages
Size
Ø 32–33 cm, height 8 cm, 7–8 kg when ripe
Season
Made all year

Related ferments

Safety

The milk may be raw or pasteurised; the regional sheet notes that ripening helps make the cheese safe, and ONAF gives at least 6 months.

History and sources

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

The regional sheet says the name 'Nostrano grasso' was made up by the dairy to tell it apart from the other nostrani on the market. It is also called 'Nostrano conca'.

Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
  1. [pat-sheet] Regione Lombardia, traditional agri-food product (PAT) sheet 'Nostrano grasso' (copy hosted by ONAF)gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Formaggi), technical sheet 'Nostrano grasso'web
  3. [onaf] ONAF, cheese page 'Nostrano grasso' (id 1023)web