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Cheese from Italy, Marche

Pecorino in botte

A Marche pecorino of raw ewe milk, already ripened for 40–60 days, is wrapped in walnut or chestnut leaves, or layered with herbs or grape pomace, and shut in oak casks, barrels or vats for 20–90 days to ferment again. After the cask is opened the cheeses air on wooden boards for at least 10 days.

Fully documentedCheese2.4 months – 6.3 monthsPAT (traditional food product, Marche)Family: Hard pressed ewe cheese family (Manchego and Pecorino Romano as templates)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe decree gives times but no amounts. Base wheels weigh 1–2.5 kg; medium and small wheels are preferred for the cask.
Marche pecorino, medium to small wheelsRaw local ewe milk, local natural rennet, dry-salted; ripened 40–60 days before the cask[marche-botte][marche-pecorino]
Walnut or chestnut leavesTo wrap the cheeses[marche-botte][onaf-botte]
Herbs (savory, nepitella, bay, thyme) or grape pomaceoptionalLayered with the cheeses instead of, or with, leaves[marche-botte][onaf-botte]
Verdicchio or local red wineoptionalThe cheeses are sometimes submerged in it[marche-botte][onaf-botte]
StarterThe base-pecorino sheet allows added lactic cultures if they do not change the typical character of the cheese.

Total time across the recorded steps: 2.4 months – 6.3 months

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
45–48 °C

What changes: Raw ewe milk is set with local rennet and the curd is pressed into hoops by hand

Step 1 of 6
Make the base pecorino
Time
20–30 min
Reported
Temperature
45–48 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Output: young pecorino.

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

A Marche pecorino of raw ewe milk, already ripened for 40–60 days, is wrapped in walnut or chestnut leaves, or layered with herbs or grape pomace, and shut in oak casks, barrels or vats for 20–90 days to ferment again. After the cask is opened the cheeses air on wooden boards for at least 10 days. Made in 6 steps over 2.4 months – 6.3 months. The longest step, ripen before the cask, takes 40 days – 3 months (Regione Marche 2014).

Key numbers
Main step40 days – 3 monthsReported[marche-botte][onaf-botte]Ripen before the cask
Temperature45–48 °CReported[marche-pecorino]Make the base pecorino

What makes this one different

The cheese is not made differently; it is finished. A two-month pecorino is shut in oak casks with walnut or chestnut leaves, herbs, pomace or wine for 20–90 days so it ferments again, then aired on boards.

Milk
Raw local ewe milk (the base Marche pecorino)
Ripening
40–60 days (90 if wine is used), then 20–90 days in the cask and at least 10 days of airing
Rind
Dark, thin, printed with leaves, with moulds; reddish with red pomace
Size
Medium and small wheels preferred; the base pecorino is 1–2.5 kg, ø 14–20 cm, 6–10 cm high

Related ferments

Variants

  • In foglieWrapped in walnut or chestnut leaves.
  • Alle erbeLayered with savory, nepitella, bay and thyme.
  • In vinacciaLayered with grape pomace; reddish rind with red grapes.
  • Nel vinoSubmerged in Verdicchio or local red wine after 90 days of ripening.

Safety

The base pecorino is made from raw milk. In a challenge study, E. coli O157 added to raw ewe milk was still detectable in pecorino after 90 days of ripening, so clean milk matters. ANSES, the French food safety agency, says Listeria and enterohaemorrhagic E. coli in raw-milk cheeses can kill, and advises pregnant women, people with weak immunity, people over 65 and young children to avoid raw-milk cheeses other than cooked pressed ones such as Gruyère or Comté.

Hazards the sources name: Escherichia coli O157 in raw ewe milk; in a challenge study it was still detectable in pecorino after 90 days of ripening.

History and sources

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

Castore Durante's Herbario nuovo (1585) already mentions leaves in contact with cheese.

  1. [marche-botte] Regione Marche, decree of the dirigente P.F. Competitività e sviluppo dell'impresa agricola no. 73/CSI of 11 March 2014, annex B, PAT sheet 'Pecorino in botte'gov
  2. [marche-pecorino] Regione Marche, decree no. 73/CSI of 11 March 2014, annex B, PAT sheet 'Pecorino' (the base cheese)gov
  3. [onaf-botte] ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Formaggi), product page 'Pecorino in botte', PAT Marche (id 422)web
  4. [centorotola2021] Centorotola G., Sperandii A.F., Tucci P. et al. 2021, Survival rate of Escherichia coli O157 in artificially contaminated raw and thermized ewe milk in different Pecorino cheese production processes, International Journal of Food Microbiology 347:109175, doi:10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2021.109175 (abstract)paper
  5. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov