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Cheese from Italy, Puglia

Pecorino foggiano

Raw ewe milk from flocks on pasture is warmed to 37–43 °C in copper cauldrons and set with kid or lamb rennet. The curd is broken with a smooth wooden spoon-stick, the m'natur, pressed by hand into rush baskets and salted dry for 3–7 days. It ripens on wooden boards in cool, dim rooms for 2 months, or 6–8 months for the aged cheese, which is rubbed with olive oil and vinegar.

Fully documentedCheese2.1 months – 8.3 monthsPAT (traditional agri-food product of Puglia)Family: Hard pressed ewe cheese family (Manchego and Pecorino Romano as templates)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedNo fixed amounts are recorded. Wheels weigh 2–7 kg.
Raw whole ewe milk, worked straight after milking[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Kid or lamb rennet[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Coarse salt[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Olive oil and vinegar for the rind of the aged cheese[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Starternone added; the sheet says only the milk's own microflora is used

Total time across the recorded steps: 2.1 months – 8.3 months

Start
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37–43 °C

What changes: Filtered raw ewe milk is warmed to 37–43 °C in a copper cauldron

Step 1 of 6
Warm the milk in copper cauldrons
Time
Not documented
Temperature
37–43 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

The milk is filtered through tight cotton cloth or a fine sieve and worked straight after milking. 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 on pasture is warmed to 37–43 °C in copper cauldrons and set with kid or lamb rennet. The curd is broken with a smooth wooden spoon-stick, the m'natur, pressed by hand into rush baskets and salted dry for 3–7 days. It ripens on wooden boards in cool, dim rooms for 2 months, or 6–8 months for the aged cheese, which is rubbed with olive oil and vinegar. Made in 6 steps over 2.1 months – 8.3 months. The longest step, ripen in cool, dim rooms, takes 2–8 months (Regione Puglia) and runs at 13–15 °C (Regione Puglia).

Key numbers
Main step2–8 monthsReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Ripen in cool, dim rooms
Temperature13–15 °CReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Ripen in cool, dim rooms

What makes this one different

The pecorino of the Capitanata, still made with wooden hand tools such as the m'natur stick. It is salted dry for up to a week, and the aged wheels are rubbed with oil and vinegar.

Rind
Fairly hard and golden when fresh; thick, hard, wrinkled, dark yellow to brown when aged; basket-marked
Size
Cylinder 15–35 cm across and 6–12 cm high
Season
Made October to May, while the ewes are in milk

Related ferments

Variants

  • FrescoAbout 2 months; sweetish, fairly soft paste, golden rind
  • Stagionato6–8 months; sharp, hard, thick brown rind oiled with oil and vinegar

Safety

The regional sheet calls for clean milking and working the milk straight away. Milk with too high a bacterial count can be heated to near 72 °C, and the milk must come from disease-free flocks. The cheese ripens at least 2 months.

History and sources

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

ONAF's sheet ties the cheese to the Dogana delle pecore, an Aragonese body that ran from 1447 to 1806 in the Capitanata and managed the pastures and sheep tracks. In that system pecorino was often used as money and in barter. Shepherds sold it to merchants from Corato, called quaratini, who bought it fresh, aged it and sold it across the Kingdom of Naples. The cheese was later called Incanestrato Foggiano, which ONAF calls the forerunner of today's Canestrato Pugliese PDO.

Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
  1. [pat-sheet] Regione Puglia, Scheda identificativa per l'Elenco dei Prodotti Tradizionali, sheets A and B 'Pecorino foggiano' (no. 02)gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters), technical sheet 'Pecorino foggiano'web
  3. [onaf] ONAF, cheese page 'Pecorino foggiano' (id 890)web