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Cheese from Italy, Campania

Pecorino di Vitulano

Raw ewe milk is chilled to 4 °C at the farm and set the next morning at 33–35 °C with liquid calf rennet. The curd is broken to rice or maize size, rested under the whey, pressed by hand into baskets, then dipped in the hot whey left after ricotta, at 80–82 °C. The wheels drain stacked in pairs for 4–5 days, are rubbed with salt and ripen 1–6 months or more, oiled once or twice a week.

Fully documentedCheese38 days – 40 daysPAT (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. The yield is about 22–23% of the milk weight; wheels weigh 1–7 kg.
Raw whole ewe milk from two milkings, chilled at the farm[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Liquid calf rennet[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Medium-grain salt[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Extra-virgin olive oil for the rind[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]

Total time across the recorded steps: 38 days – 40 days

Start
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4 °C

What changes: Starting material: raw ewe milk from two milkings, chilled to 4 °C overnight

Step 1 of 8
Chill the milk overnight
Time
Not documented
Temperature
4 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Output: chilled 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 is chilled to 4 °C at the farm and set the next morning at 33–35 °C with liquid calf rennet. The curd is broken to rice or maize size, rested under the whey, pressed by hand into baskets, then dipped in the hot whey left after ricotta, at 80–82 °C. The wheels drain stacked in pairs for 4–5 days, are rubbed with salt and ripen 1–6 months or more, oiled once or twice a week. Made in 8 steps over 38 days – 40 days. The longest step, ripen and oil, takes at least 30 days (Regione Campania 2017).

Key numbers
Main stepat least 30 daysReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Ripen and oil
Temperature4 °CReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Chill the milk overnight

What makes this one different

The moulded wheels are dipped in the hot whey (80–82 °C) left after ricotta, then drain for days stacked in pairs that press each other. The milk is chilled overnight and set the next morning.

Rind
Glossy from olive oil, basket-marked, deep straw-yellow to brown
Size
Cylinder up to 30 cm across and 10–12 cm high
Yield
About 22–23%
Season
Made all year, mostly January to October

Related ferments

Variants

  • Primo saleSold after a few days
  • Semistagionato1–6 months or more

Safety

Made from raw milk chilled to 4 °C. The moulded wheels are dipped in whey at 80–82 °C for 30 minutes (small wheels) or until the whey cools (large wheels). They ripen at least a month, though some are sold after a few days as primo sale. CDC says eating products made from raw milk can expose people to germs. Its Listeria guidance tells pregnant women, newborns, adults 65 and over and people with weakened immune systems to avoid any cheese made from raw milk unless it is heated to 165 °F (74 °C) or until steaming hot.

History and sources

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

Local testimony gathered for the regional list confirms the cheese has been made for at least 25 years.

Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
  1. [pat-sheet] Regione Campania, Assessorato Agricoltura, Prodotti tradizionali page 'Pecorino di Vitulano' (updated August 2017)gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters), technical sheet 'Pecorino di Vitulano'web
  3. [onaf] ONAF, cheese page 'Pecorino di Vitulano' (id 1189)web
  4. [cdc-raw-milk] US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Raw Milk (31 January 2025)gov
  5. [cdc-listeria] US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Preventing Listeria Infectiongov