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Cheese from Italy, Toscana

Pecorino delle cantine di RoccalbegnaPecorino di cantina

Pasteurised whole ewe milk from Maremma flocks is set at about 37 °C with liquid calf rennet, broken with a spino, pressed by hand into wooden moulds and salted dry. After about a month in a temperature-controlled room the wheels go to the village cellars, almost always dug into rock, for at least 3 more months, where they grow white and grey moulds. At about 60 days the rind may be treated with olive oil dregs, ash, tomato paste, leaves, hay or grape pomace.

Fully documentedCheese4 monthsPAT (traditional agri-food product of Toscana)Family: Hard pressed ewe cheese family (Manchego and Pecorino Romano as templates)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedNo fixed amounts are recorded. About 2,000 wheels are made a year, mostly 1–2 kg.
Whole ewe milk from Maremma flocks, pasteurised[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Liquid calf rennet[onaf-sheet]
Salt, rubbed on dry by hand[pat-sheet]
Optional rind treatmentOlive oil dregs (morchia), ash or tomato paste; or refining with walnut or chestnut leaves, hay or grape pomace[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]

Total time across the recorded steps: 4 months

Start
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What changes: Whole Maremma ewe milk is pasteurised in the vat

Step 1 of 8
Pasteurise the milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

In the past the milk was warmed in a cauldron hung over the hearth and the temperature was judged with a finger. Output: pasteurised whole ewe 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

Pasteurised whole ewe milk from Maremma flocks is set at about 37 °C with liquid calf rennet, broken with a spino, pressed by hand into wooden moulds and salted dry. After about a month in a temperature-controlled room the wheels go to the village cellars, almost always dug into rock, for at least 3 more months, where they grow white and grey moulds. At about 60 days the rind may be treated with olive oil dregs, ash, tomato paste, leaves, hay or grape pomace. Made in 8 steps over 4 months. The longest step, ripen in the rock-cut cellars, takes at least 3 months (Regione Toscana).

Key numbers
Main stepat least 3 monthsReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Ripen in the rock-cut cellars
Temperature37 °CReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Set with calf rennet

What makes this one different

Its last 3 months or more are spent in the cellars of Roccalbegna, almost always dug into the rock, whose cool, damp air grows moulds on the rind. An optional coat of olive oil dregs, ash, tomato paste, leaves, hay or pomace gives several versions of one cheese.

Rind
Hard, amber and greasy, with many white and grey cellar moulds, or coloured by the treatment
Size
Cylinder of varying size
Output
About 2,000 wheels a year, with room for up to 5,000

Related ferments

Variants

  • PlainRind left with its cellar moulds.
  • Treated (conciato)Rind coated at about 60 days with olive oil dregs, ash or tomato paste.
  • Refined (affinato)Finished with walnut or chestnut leaves, hay or grape pomace.

Safety

Made from pasteurised milk and ripened at least 4 months.

History and sources

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

Roccalbegna was built up under Siena from the late 1200s. Each village house had a store room for the harvest, set slightly below street level and without windows. The people of Roccalbegna made pecorino and ripened it in cellars with a particular climate. Transhumant shepherds moving between the Casentino and the Maremma stopped in the village.

Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
  1. [pat-sheet] Regione Toscana, PAT sheet 'Pecorino delle cantine di Roccalbegna'gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters), technical sheet 'Pecorino delle cantine di Roccalbegna'web
  3. [onaf] ONAF, cheese page 'Pecorino delle cantine di Roccalbegna' (id 932)web