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Cheese from Greece, Crete

Pichtogalo ChanionΠηχτόγαλο Χανίων

Goat milk, sheep milk or a mix of the two is coagulated at 18–25 °C within two hours and the curd is left to sour for 24 hours. It is drained in cheesecloths and salted at 1 %, and is then ready to eat. The specification describes a soft table cheese with a creamy texture.

Fully documentedCheese26 hPDO (registered 12 June 1996)Family: Fresh lactic (acid-set) cheese family

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe PDO summary gives only the salt share. In a 1998 trial with pasteurised milk the authors added 4 % mesophilic starter culture and rennet.
Goat milk, sheep milk, or both[eu-summary]
Salt1 %, added after draining[eu-summary]

Total time across the recorded steps: 26 h

Start
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What changes: Starting material: goat or sheep milk, or both

Step 1 of 5
Collect the milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactobacilli
Lactic acid bacteria

Output: goat, sheep or mixed 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

Goat milk, sheep milk or a mix of the two is coagulated at 18–25 °C within two hours and the curd is left to sour for 24 hours. It is drained in cheesecloths and salted at 1 %, and is then ready to eat. The specification describes a soft table cheese with a creamy texture. Made in 5 steps over 26 h. The longest step, leave the curd to sour, takes 24 h (European Commission). Salt is 1 % (European Commission). Lactic streptococci and lactococci (about 7.9 log CFU/g) and lactobacilli (about 8.1 log CFU/g), mainly mesophilic does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step24 hSet[eu-summary]Leave the curd to sour
Temperature18–25 °CSet[eu-summary]Set the milk
Salt1 %Set[eu-summary]Salt and serve
AciditypH 4.4Measured[papageorgiou1998]Salt and serve

What makes this one different

It is a quick fresh cheese of soured goat or sheep milk. The curd sours for 24 hours, is drained in cheesecloths and is salted at 1 %.

Measured composition
Moisture 61.63 %, fat 54.03 % of dry matter, protein 14.23 %, salt 1.02 %, water activity 0.990 (means of 62 samples)

Related ferments

Safety

In 62 traditionally made samples, 3 to 6 days old, E. coli was found in 88.7 % and Listeria monocytogenes in 6.45 %. The same study showed good cheese can be made from pasteurised milk with a 4 % mesophilic starter.

Hazards the sources name: Escherichia coli (in 88.7 % of 62 traditional samples); Listeria monocytogenes and coagulase-positive staphylococci (each in 6.45 % of samples); Bacillus cereus (14.51 %) and sulfite-reducing clostridia (40.32 %).

History and sources

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

Greek Ministerial Decision 313062 of 17 January 1994 recognised the protected designation of origin of Pichtogalo Chanion cheese, and the application says the cheese has a history stretching back very many years. Commission Regulation (EC) No 1107/96 of 12 June 1996 registered the name as a PDO.

Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
  1. [eu-summary] European Commission, Summary sheet for registration of 'Pichtogalo Chanion' PDO (Ministerial Decision 313062/17.1.94), eAmbrosia registerspec
  2. [papageorgiou1998] Papageorgiou D.K., Abrahim A., Bori M., Doundounakis S. 1998, Chemical and bacteriological characteristics of Pichtogalo Chanion cheese and mesophilic starter cultures for its production, Journal of Food Protection 61(6):688–692 (abstract)paper
  3. [reg1107] Commission Regulation (EC) No 1107/96 of 12 June 1996 on the registration of geographical indications and designations of origin under the procedure laid down in Article 17 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92, Official Journal L 148, 21.6.1996, p. 1 (Annex, cheeses, Greece)spec