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Cheese from Italy, Umbria

Pecorino UmbroCacio

Ewe milk is pasteurised at 72 °C and set at 36–38 °C with thermophilic starter and lamb or kid rennet, and the curd is broken after about 10 minutes. The moulded cheeses sit in brine for 12–48 hours by weight and ripen in ventilated cold rooms at 4–5 °C for at least 60 days. Wheels kept 7–8 months, at about 7–8 °C, become a grating cheese.

Fully documentedCheese2 months – 8.1 monthsPAT (traditional food product, Umbria)Family: Hard pressed ewe cheese family (Manchego and Pecorino Romano as templates)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe sheets give no amounts. A cheese weighs 1.7–6 kg.
Whole ewe milk, pasteurised[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Thermophilic lactic starter[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Lamb or kid rennet[onaf-sheet]
Salt (brine)[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Starterthermophilic lactic starter

Total time across the recorded steps: 2 months – 8.1 months

Start
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72 °C

What changes: The ewe milk is heated to 72 °C

Step 1 of 6
Pasteurise the milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
72 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria
S. thermophilus
L. delbrueckii
Lactococcus lactis
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

Ewe milk is pasteurised at 72 °C and set at 36–38 °C with thermophilic starter and lamb or kid rennet, and the curd is broken after about 10 minutes. The moulded cheeses sit in brine for 12–48 hours by weight and ripen in ventilated cold rooms at 4–5 °C for at least 60 days. Wheels kept 7–8 months, at about 7–8 °C, become a grating cheese. Made in 6 steps over 2 months – 8.1 months. The longest step, ripen cold, takes 2–8 months (Regione dell'Umbria) and runs at 4–8 °C (Regione dell'Umbria). Thermophilic lactic acid bacteria and Lyophilised mixed starter of Streptococcus thermophilus, Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus and Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis and/or cremoris, used in a raw-milk Pecorino Umbro made for a 2015 challenge test do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step2–8 monthsReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Ripen cold
Temperature4–8 °CReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Ripen cold

What makes this one different

The region-wide Umbrian pecorino, made from pasteurised milk with a starter and salted in brine, not dry-salted like the Norcia cheeses. It is sold fresh (under 3 months), semi-aged (3–6 months) or aged (over 6 months).

Rind
Clean, smooth, straw-yellow, thicker and darker with age
Size
Cylinder, 1.7–6 kg
Season
Made from February to November

Related ferments

Variants

  • FrescoUnder 3 months; softer and milder.
  • Semistagionato3–6 months.
  • StagionatoOver 6 months; firm and sharp, for grating.

Safety

The milk is pasteurised at 72 °C, a starter is used and the cheese ripens in cold rooms at 4–8 °C.

Hazards the sources name: Listeria monocytogenes, inoculated at about 10^2 CFU/mL into the milk of an artisanal raw-milk Pecorino Umbro in a challenge test; it fell below the quantification limit after 30 days of ripening, though enrichment still found it at under 1 log CFU/g in storage. None was found in the control cheeses.

History and sources

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

Both sheets cite Castor Durante, a doctor from Gualdo Tadino, whose 1586 'Il Tesoro della Sanità' praised pecorino. ONAF links the saying about cheese and pears to him.

  1. [pat-sheet] Regione dell'Umbria, Giunta Regionale, Scheda identificativa dei prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali dell'Umbria, 'Pecorino Umbro' (in the Umbria pecorino sheets file hosted by ONAF)gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Formaggi), technical sheet 'Pecorino umbro', PAT Umbriaweb
  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