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Cheese from Italy, Campania

Pecorino di Carmasciano

Raw ewe milk from flocks grazing near the sulphur springs of the Valle d'Ansanto is warmed to 37–40 °C in a copper caccavo over a wood fire and set with home-made lamb or kid rennet. After about 30 minutes the curd is broken, kneaded by hand into wicker baskets, scalded in hot whey and rubbed with salt. After 10 days the rind is brushed with olive oil, white wine and vinegar, and the wheels ripen from 3–4 months up to 2 years.

Fully documentedCheese3.4 months – 2 yearsPAT (traditional agri-food product of Campania)Family: Hard pressed ewe cheese family (Manchego and Pecorino Romano as templates)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedNo fixed amounts are recorded. Wheels weigh 1.5–2 kg; output is very small.
Raw whole ewe milk from the evening and morning milkingsFrom Laticauda ewes and their crosses, and Bagnolese ewes[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Lamb or kid paste rennet made by hand, or liquid calf rennet[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Salt, rubbed on dry[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Olive oil, white wine and vinegar to brush the rind[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Chilli powder (optional, on wheels aged over 10–12 months)[onaf-sheet]
StarterThe raw ewe milk is set with home-made lamb or kid rennet. Ricciardi and colleagues (2014) call the microflora of samples taken during manufacture autochthonous.

Total time across the recorded steps: 3.4 months – 2 years

Start
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37–40 °C

What changes: Filtered raw ewe milk is warmed to 37–40 °C in a copper pot over a wood fire

Step 1 of 8
Warm the milk over a wood fire
Time
Not documented
Temperature
37–40 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactobacillus plantarum
L. casei
Lactic acid bacteria

Output: warm raw 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

Raw ewe milk from flocks grazing near the sulphur springs of the Valle d'Ansanto is warmed to 37–40 °C in a copper caccavo over a wood fire and set with home-made lamb or kid rennet. After about 30 minutes the curd is broken, kneaded by hand into wicker baskets, scalded in hot whey and rubbed with salt. After 10 days the rind is brushed with olive oil, white wine and vinegar, and the wheels ripen from 3–4 months up to 2 years. Made in 8 steps over 3.4 months – 2 years. The longest step, ripen, takes 3 months – 2 years (ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters)) and runs at 10–15 °C (ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters)). Lactobacillus plantarum group and L. casei group, the dominant lactic acid bacteria after simulated digestion of cheese samples taken during manufacture of this cheese does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step3 months – 2 yearsReported[onaf-sheet]Ripen
Temperature10–15 °CReported[onaf-sheet]Ripen

What makes this one different

The flocks graze around the Mefite, sulphur springs of the Valle d'Ansanto named by Virgil, which the regional sheet supposes mark the cheese. The wheels are scalded in hot whey and the rind is brushed with oil, white wine and vinegar.

Rind
Oily, basket-ridged, deep yellow to brown; sometimes dusted with chilli
Size
Cylinder 15–20 cm across and 10–12 cm high
Season
Made all year, mostly November to July

Related ferments

Variants

  • Semistagionato3–4 months
  • Stagionato6 months to 2 years; grated

Safety

Made from raw milk and ripened at least 3–4 months.

History and sources

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

Virgil names the Mefite, the sulphur vents of the Valle d'Ansanto, in the Aeneid. The cheese is made only on small family farms.

  1. [pat-sheet] Regione Campania, Assessorato Agricoltura, Prodotti tradizionali page 'Pecorino di Carmasciano' (updated 13 March 2015)gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters), technical sheet 'Pecorino di Carmasciano'web
  3. [onaf] ONAF, cheese page 'Pecorino di Carmasciano' (id 1186)web
  4. [ricciardi2014] Ricciardi A, Blaiotta G, Di Cerbo A, Succi M, Aponte M. 2014, Behaviour of lactic acid bacteria populations in Pecorino di Carmasciano cheese samples submitted to environmental conditions prevailing in the gastrointestinal tract, International Journal of Food Microbiology 2014:64-71, doi:10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2014.03.014 (abstract)paper