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Cheese from Italy, Campania

Pecorino fresco e stagionatocasu ri pecura

Raw whole ewe milk from the evening and morning milkings is set with lamb or kid paste rennet at 37–38 °C and broken to corn-size grains. The curd is pressed by hand into baskets, dipped a few minutes in hot whey from the ricotta, then salted dry or in brine. It ripens 3–6 months or up to a year, and wheels for long ageing are rubbed with olive oil and vinegar.

Fully documentedCheese3 months – 12 monthsPAT (traditional food product, Campania)Family: Hard pressed ewe cheese family (Manchego and Pecorino Romano as templates)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe sheets give no amounts. A cheese weighs no more than 2 kg.
Raw whole ewe milkTwo milkings, kept at 4 °C on the farm and coagulated the next morning[onaf-sheet]
Lamb or kid rennet paste[onaf-sheet]
Medium-grain salt or brine[onaf-sheet]
Extra virgin olive oil and vinegarRubbed on wheels meant for long ageing[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]

Total time across the recorded steps: 3 months – 12 months

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
4 °C

What changes: Raw milk from two milkings is filtered into the cauldron

Step 1 of 7
Collect the milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
4 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

The evening and morning milk is filtered and poured into a steel or tinned copper cauldron.

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 whole ewe milk from the evening and morning milkings is set with lamb or kid paste rennet at 37–38 °C and broken to corn-size grains. The curd is pressed by hand into baskets, dipped a few minutes in hot whey from the ricotta, then salted dry or in brine. It ripens 3–6 months or up to a year, and wheels for long ageing are rubbed with olive oil and vinegar. Made in 7 steps over 3 months – 12 months. The longest step, ripen, takes 3–12 months (Regione Campania 2015).

Key numbers
Main step3–12 monthsReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Ripen
Temperature4 °CReported[onaf-sheet]Collect the milk

What makes this one different

A classic pecorino made across the inland and lowland transhumance areas of Campania, not in one named place. The curd is scalded in hot ricotta whey in its baskets, and long-aged wheels are rubbed with oil and vinegar.

Rind
Rough with basket marks, straw-yellow to light brown; oiled on long-aged wheels
Size
Cylinder with a convex side 8–10 cm high, up to 2 kg
Season
Made all year

Related ferments

Safety

The milk is raw. ANSES advises pregnant women, people over 65, people with weak immunity and young children to avoid raw-milk cheeses.

Hazards the sources name: Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella and enterohaemorrhagic E. coli, the main hazards ANSES names for raw-milk cheeses.

History and sources

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

The ONAF sheet places the cheese in the transhumance areas of Campania. It says Alfonso I of Aragon, king of Naples, organised sheep transhumance on the model of the Spanish Mesta and, at Lucera in 1447, set up the Regia dogana della mena delle pecore. It adds that local witnesses confirm the same method for at least 25 years.

Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
  1. [pat-sheet] Regione Campania, Assessorato Agricoltura, Prodotti tradizionali, 'Pecorino fresco e stagionato' (page last updated 13 March 2015; copy hosted by ONAF)gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Formaggi), technical sheet 'Pecorino fresco e stagionato', PAT Regione Campaniaweb
  3. [onaf] ONAF, scheda formaggio 'Pecorino fresco e stagionato' (id 1190)web
  4. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov