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Cheese from Italy, Sicilia

Piddiato

Raw milk of Valle del Belice sheep is set at about 36 °C with lamb rennet paste, broken to rice-size grains and left on wooden boards to sour overnight. The next day the curd is sliced and stretched by hand in hot whey in a wooden tub, then shaped into flat rounds. They are brined 12 hours per kg for eating fresh or 24 hours per kg for ageing, and ripen 20 days to 12 months.

Fully documentedCheese21 days – 12 monthsPAT (traditional food product, Sicilia; list of D.M. 16 February 2018)Family: Pasta filata (stretched-curd) cheese family

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceRennet dose per 100 litres of milk, as both sheets give it (80 g per 100 L). A cheese weighs 1–5 kg.
Raw whole milk of Valle del Belice sheep100 L[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Lamb rennet paste80 g[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Hot whey (scotta) from the ricotta, or boiling waterFor stretching the curd[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Saturated brine[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Starterthe curd acidifies naturally on wooden tables until the next day

Total time across the recorded steps: 21 days – 12 months

Start
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36 °C

What changes: Lamb rennet paste sets the raw ewe milk at about 36 °C

Step 1 of 7
Set with lamb rennet
Time
30–40 min
Reported
Temperature
36 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Output: curd.

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 milk of Valle del Belice sheep is set at about 36 °C with lamb rennet paste, broken to rice-size grains and left on wooden boards to sour overnight. The next day the curd is sliced and stretched by hand in hot whey in a wooden tub, then shaped into flat rounds. They are brined 12 hours per kg for eating fresh or 24 hours per kg for ageing, and ripen 20 days to 12 months. Made in 7 steps over 21 days – 12 months. The longest step, ripen, takes 20 days – 12 months (Regione Siciliana 2018).

Key numbers
Main step20 days – 12 monthsReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Ripen
Temperature36 °CReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Set with lamb rennet

What makes this one different

It is a stretched-curd cheese made from ewe milk and sour overnight curd. It began as a way to rework pecorinos that had gone wrong, and the name means "kneaded" for that double working.

Rind
None; smooth, soft white surface
Size
A very flat round, like a focaccia, 1–5 kg
Season
Made from February to October

Related ferments

Safety

The milk is raw and the sheets name no starter, though the curd is stretched in whey at 80–85 °C. 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 regional sheet says piddiato began as a way to save failed pecorinos by reworking and selling them. ONAF says it is now made with a technique like the old one but starting from milk.

  1. [pat-sheet] Regione Siciliana, Prodotti Agroalimentari Tradizionali (2018, D.M. 16 febbraio 2018), sheet 'Piddiato' (copy hosted by ONAF)gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Formaggi), technical sheet 'Piddiato', PAT Regione Siciliaweb
  3. [onaf] ONAF, scheda formaggio 'Piddiato' (id 1234)web
  4. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov