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Cheese from Italy, Umbria

Pecorino di Norcia (del caseificio)Cacio

The dairy version of the Norcia shepherd's cheese. Ewe milk is pasteurised, or heated over a direct fire to about 90 °C and left to cool, then set with lamb rennet and thermophilic ferments. The curd is broken to wheat-grain size, shaped by hand in wooden hoops and salted dry. It is eaten fresh at about 60 days or grated after 8–12 months.

Fully documentedCheese2 months – 12 monthsPAT (traditional agri-food product of Umbria)Family: Hard pressed ewe cheese family (Manchego and Pecorino Romano as templates)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedNo fixed amounts are recorded. Wheels weigh about 3 kg, less as they age.
Whole ewe milk, pasteurised or heated to about 90 °C[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Thermophilic lactic ferments[onaf-sheet]
Natural lamb rennet from the farm's own lambs (ONAF also allows kid)[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Salt, rubbed on dry[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
StarterThermophilic lactic ferments are added to the cooled milk (ONAF sheet).

Total time across the recorded steps: 2 months – 12 months

Start
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90 °C

What changes: Ewe milk is heated to about 90 °C over the fire, then left to cool

Step 1 of 6
Heat-treat the milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
90 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

The milk is left to cool until it feels right to the hand. Output: heat-treated 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

The dairy version of the Norcia shepherd's cheese. Ewe milk is pasteurised, or heated over a direct fire to about 90 °C and left to cool, then set with lamb rennet and thermophilic ferments. The curd is broken to wheat-grain size, shaped by hand in wooden hoops and salted dry. It is eaten fresh at about 60 days or grated after 8–12 months. Made in 6 steps over 2 months – 12 months. The longest step, ripen in cold rooms, takes 2–12 months (Regione dell'Umbria) and runs at 6 °C (ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters)).

Key numbers
Main step2–12 monthsReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Ripen in cold rooms
Temperature6 °CReported[onaf-sheet]Ripen in cold rooms

What makes this one different

The dairy version of the shepherd's Norcia pecorino. The milk is pasteurised or heated to about 90 °C and set with added thermophilic ferments and lamb or kid rennet, where the description of the raw-milk shepherd's version mentions no added ferments.

Rind
Clean, smooth, straw-yellow
Size
Cylinder 15–24 cm across and 8–14 cm high
Composition
Fat in dry matter 45%
Season
ONAF's overview of the dairy version says made January to December; its table says February to November

Related ferments

Variants

  • FrescoAbout 60 days; table cheese
  • Da grattugia8–12 months; grating cheese

Safety

The milk is pasteurised or heated to about 90 °C, and the cheese ripens at least 60 days.

Hazards the sources name: Listeria monocytogenes. In a related Umbrian ewe cheese, raw-milk Pecorino Umbro made with an added starter, inoculated L. monocytogenes fell below the quantification limit after 30 days of ripening but could still be detected during storage.

History and sources

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

The regional sheet records that on Saint Anthony's day the moulds were marked with crosses made of twigs, so each wheel carried a cross in honour of the patron saint of animals.

  1. [pat-sheet] Regione dell'Umbria, Scheda identificativa dei prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali dell'Umbria, 'Pecorino di Norcia' (in a combined file of Umbrian pecorino sheets)gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters), technical sheet 'Pecorino di Norcia - Pecorino di Norcia del pastore'web
  3. [ortenzi2015] Ortenzi R., Branciari R., Primavilla S., Ranucci D., Valiani A. 2015, Behaviour of Listeria monocytogenes in artisanal raw milk Pecorino Umbro cheese, a microbiological challenge test, Italian Journal of Food Safety 4(3):5370paper