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Cheese from Italy, Lombardia

Nostrano semigrassoNostrano Val Sabbia

Nostrano semigrasso is a part-skimmed, semi-cooked cow cheese made only on Lombard alpine pastures in summer. Milk is warmed to 37–38 °C with lactic cultures and powdered calf rennet, the curd is broken to rice-grain size while it is heated to 46 °C, and the wheels are pressed and brined. The sheets give 10–16 months of ripening.

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe regional sheet gives the method but no amounts. A ripe wheel weighs 6–7 kg.
Cow milk, part-skimmed, raw or pasteurisedThe evening milking is skimmed by letting the cream rise and mixed with the whole morning milking[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Lactic starter cultures[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Powdered calf rennet[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Salt (brine)[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Starterlactic cultures

Total time across the recorded steps: 10 months – 16 months

Start
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What changes: Cream rises off the evening milk, which is then mixed with whole morning milk

Step 1 of 6
Skim the evening milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

The evening milk is skimmed by creaming and 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

Nostrano semigrasso is a part-skimmed, semi-cooked cow cheese made only on Lombard alpine pastures in summer. Milk is warmed to 37–38 °C with lactic cultures and powdered calf rennet, the curd is broken to rice-grain size while it is heated to 46 °C, and the wheels are pressed and brined. The sheets give 10–16 months of ripening. Made in 6 steps over 10 months – 16 months. The longest step, ripen, takes 10–16 months (Regione Lombardia).

Key numbers
Main step10–16 monthsReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Ripen
Temperature37–38 °CReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Warm the milk, add starter and rennet

What makes this one different

The part-skimmed counterpart of Nostrano grasso. It is made only on summer pastures, with rice-size curd semi-cooked hotter, at 46 °C, and a much longer ripening, 10–16 months.

Size
Ø 32–33 cm, height 7 cm, 6–7 kg when ripe
Season
June to September, on alpine pastures only

Related ferments

Safety

The milk may be raw or pasteurised; the regional sheet recommends 10–16 months of ripening for the safety of the cheese.

History and sources

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

The regional sheet says the name was made up by the dairy to tell it apart from the other nostrani on the market; it is also known as Nostrano Val Sabbia.

Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
  1. [pat-sheet] Regione Lombardia, traditional agri-food product (PAT) sheet 'Nostrano semigrasso' (copy hosted by ONAF)gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Formaggi), technical sheet 'Nostrano semigrasso'web
  3. [onaf] ONAF, cheese page 'Nostrano semigrasso' (id 1024)web