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Cheese from Italy, Emilia-Romagna and Marche

Formaggio di Fossa di Sogliano PDOFormaggio di Fossa di Sogliano

Sheep, cow or mixed-milk cheeses are made and pre-ripened, then put into cloth sacks and sealed for 80 to 100 days in pits cut into sandstone. Each pit is first sanitised with burning straw, floored with untreated wood and lined with at least 10 cm of straw. Without air, the cheeses lose their rind, sweat fat and come out irregular, moist and smelling of undergrowth and truffle.

Fully documentedCheese4.9 months – 12 monthsPDO (EU), registered by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1183/2009 of 30 November 2009 (OJ L 317, 3.12.2009)Family: Formaggio di fossa (pit-ripened)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe specification governs the pit, not a cheese recipe. Finished cheeses weigh 500–1,900 g.
Whole sheep milk, whole cow milk, or a mix of at most 80% cow and at least 20% sheep milk, from two milkings a dayRaw milk is used, but pasteurised milk is allowed; additives are banned[fossa-scheda]
Lamb rennet paste (sheep cheese) or calf rennet (cow and mixed cheese)Indicative; each base cheese follows its own process[onaf-sheet]
Salt, dry or as brine[onaf-sheet]
Wheat straw, untreated wooden boards, cloth sacks, and gypsum or sandstone mortar for the pit[fossa-scheda]

Total time across the recorded steps: 4.9 months – 12 months

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
30–38 °C

What changes: Rennet sets the milk for a small sheep, cow or mixed cheese

Step 1 of 5
Make the base cheese
Time
7–20 min
Set
Temperature
30–38 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

The ONAF sheet stresses that these values are only indicative, because every base cheese has its own make; the curd is semi-cooked, moulded, pressed and salted.

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

Sheep, cow or mixed-milk cheeses are made and pre-ripened, then put into cloth sacks and sealed for 80 to 100 days in pits cut into sandstone. Each pit is first sanitised with burning straw, floored with untreated wood and lined with at least 10 cm of straw. Without air, the cheeses lose their rind, sweat fat and come out irregular, moist and smelling of undergrowth and truffle. Made in 5 steps over 4.9 months – 12 months. The longest step, pre-ripen, takes 2–7.9 months (Comitato produttori formaggio di fossa di Sog…) and runs at 6–14 °C (Comitato produttori formaggio di fossa di Sog…).

Key numbers
Main step2–7.9 monthsSet[bur-fossa][onaf-sheet]Pre-ripen
Temperature6–14 °CSet[bur-fossa]Pre-ripen

What makes this one different

The PDO form of pit cheese, tied to Sogliano al Rubicone and nearby Malatesta lands, with fixed pit seasons and a pit time of 80–100 days. It may be sheep, cow or mixed milk.

Milk types
Pecorino (sheep), Vaccino (cow) or Misto (at most 80% cow, at least 20% sheep)
Pit time
80–100 days
Composition
Fat in dry matter over 32%
Packing
Must be packed in the area, in the ripening sacks, vacuum packs, film trays or food paper

Related ferments

Safety

Raw milk is allowed. The pit is sanitised with fire and smoke before each use and stays sealed for the whole ripening.

History and sources

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

From the 14th century the Malatesta lords kept grain, food and cheese in pits dug in the sandstone to hide it from sieges, famine and raiders, and the practice continued in Sogliano and Talamello.

Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
  1. [bur-fossa] Comitato produttori formaggio di fossa di Sogliano 2024, Richiesta di modifica di disciplinare «Formaggio di Fossa di Sogliano», published in the Bollettino Ufficiale Regione Emilia-Romagna (current specification in the left column)gov
  2. [reg-1183-2009] European Commission 2009, Regulation (EC) No 1183/2009 of 30 November 2009 entering a name in the Register of protected designations of origin [Formaggio di Fossa di Sogliano (PDO)], OJ L 317, 3.12.2009, pp. 34–35 (Spanish edition)spec
  3. [fossa-scheda] European Commission 2009, single document "Formaggio di Fossa di Sogliano" PDO, OJ C 108, 12.5.2009 (copy hosted by ONAF)spec
  4. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters), technical sheet 'Formaggio di Fossa di Sogliano'web