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Cheese from Italy, Lombardia

Nostrano Valtrompia PDO

Raw milk mostly from Brown Swiss cows rests 10 to 48 hours so the cream rises, and the part-skimmed milk is set with calf rennet in a copper vat at 35–40 °C. Saffron goes in, the rice-size curd is cooked to 47–52 °C, moulded and salted for 5 to 20 days. The extra-hard wheel ripens at least 12 months, and from the third month its rind is scraped and rubbed with linseed oil.

Fully documentedCheese12 months – 13 monthsPDO (EU), Reg. (EU) No 629/2012, amended by Reg. (EU) 2021/2044Family: Cooked hard alpine cheese family (Comté, Gruyère and Emmentaler as templates)

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe specification fixes limits, not a recipe; the doses it gives are per 100 kg of milk (saffron) or a share of the vat (culture). Wheels weigh 8–18 kg.
Raw milk from at most four consecutive milkings, at least 90% from Brown Swiss (Bruna) cowsThe cows eat mostly grass or hay from the valley; maize silage is not allowed[nv-disciplinare]
Natural culture made by incubating milk, or the cooked whey from the end of cheesemakingUp to 2% of the milk in the vatFrom the dairy's own work of the previous three days at most[nv-disciplinare]
Calf or young-bovine rennet, at least 70% chymosin with a strength of at least 1:10,000[nv-disciplinare]
Saffron0.05–0.2 g per 100 kg of milk[nv-disciplinare]
Salt, dry or as brine[nv-disciplinare]
Linseed oil, for the rind during ripening[nv-disciplinare]
Starternatural milk or whey culture from the dairy's own recent work (optional, up to 2%)

Total time across the recorded steps: 12 months – 13 months

Start
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What changes: Cream rises on the resting raw milk and part of it is skimmed off

Step 1 of 6
Skim by natural creaming
Time
10 h – 2 days
Set
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Cream rises on its own and is taken off; milk from the last milking may be used whole.

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

Raw milk mostly from Brown Swiss cows rests 10 to 48 hours so the cream rises, and the part-skimmed milk is set with calf rennet in a copper vat at 35–40 °C. Saffron goes in, the rice-size curd is cooked to 47–52 °C, moulded and salted for 5 to 20 days. The extra-hard wheel ripens at least 12 months, and from the third month its rind is scraped and rubbed with linseed oil. Made in 6 steps over 12 months – 13 months. The longest step, ripen, scrape and oil, takes at least 12 months (Ministero delle politiche agricole 2021) and runs at 2–7 °C (ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters)).

Key numbers
Main stepat least 12 monthsSet[nv-disciplinare]Ripen, scrape and oil
Temperature2–7 °CReported[onaf-sheet]Ripen, scrape and oil

What makes this one different

A part-skimmed raw-milk grana-style cheese from small valley farms. Saffron goes into the vat and the rind is rubbed with linseed oil; the curd is cooked at 47–52 °C.

Milk
Raw milk from at least 90% Brown Swiss cows, part-skimmed by creaming for 10–48 hours
Saffron
0.05–0.2 g per 100 kg of milk
Ripening
At least 12 months after salting
Composition
Fat in dry matter 27.5–45.0%, moisture at most 36%
Size
Cylinder 30–45 cm across and 8–12 cm high, 8–18 kg

Related ferments

Safety

The milk stays raw. The cheese ripens at least 12 months, and the specification limits moisture to 36%.

History and sources

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

The ONAF sheet traces the cheese to the late 1400s and cites records from 1566 (A. Gallo) to 1933 of Brown cows, summer alpine grazing and cooked cheeses of up to 20 kg in the valley. The name comes from the dialect word nostrà, "made here".

Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
  1. [nv-disciplinare] Ministero delle politiche agricole, Disciplinare di produzione del formaggio "Nostrano Valtrompia" DOP, as amended by Reg. (EU) 2021/2044; Gazzetta Ufficiale della Repubblica Italiana n. 297, 15 December 2021 (copy hosted by ONAF)spec
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters), technical sheet 'Nostrano Valtrompia'web
  3. [bettera2020] Bettera L., Alinovi M., Mondinelli R., Mucchetti G. 2020, Ripening of Nostrano Valtrompia PDO Cheese in Different Storage Conditions, Foods 9(8):1101 (abstract)paper