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Cheese from Italy, Campania

Primosale stagionato di Cuffiano

Raw milk of Bruna or Pezzata Rossa cows is set with calf rennet at 37–38 °C for 30 minutes and broken to hazelnut size. The soft, unpressed curd is shaped in paired rectangular baskets, covered 45 minutes so its microflora gets going, cooled 8–10 hours and brined 6–7 hours in 20% brine. It ripens 7 days at 4–8 °C, then 20–25 days at 12–15 °C, where white-green moulds grow and are washed off before sale.

Fully documentedCheese28 days – 33 daysPAT (traditional food product, Campania)Family: Uncooked or semi-cooked pressed cheese family (tomme, Saint-Nectaire, Reblochon, Morbier, Raclette)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe sheets give no milk volume; each pair of baskets takes about 2.3–2.5 kg of curd, which drains to about 1.5 kg a cheese.
Raw whole cow milkEvening milk kept at 4 °C, mixed with the morning milk[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Bovine rennet, strength 1:18[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Brine at 20%[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]

Total time across the recorded steps: 28 days – 33 days

Start
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37–39 °C

What changes: Calf rennet goes into the warm raw milk, which sets in 30 minutes

Step 1 of 7
Warm and set the milk
Time
30 min
Reported
Temperature
37–39 °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 Bruna or Pezzata Rossa cows is set with calf rennet at 37–38 °C for 30 minutes and broken to hazelnut size. The soft, unpressed curd is shaped in paired rectangular baskets, covered 45 minutes so its microflora gets going, cooled 8–10 hours and brined 6–7 hours in 20% brine. It ripens 7 days at 4–8 °C, then 20–25 days at 12–15 °C, where white-green moulds grow and are washed off before sale. Made in 7 steps over 28 days – 33 days. The longest step, ripen with moulds, takes 20–25 days (Regione Campania 2016) and runs at 12–15 °C (Regione Campania 2016). Salt is 20 % (Regione Campania 2016).

Key numbers
Main step20–25 daysReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Ripen with moulds
Temperature12–15 °CReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Ripen with moulds
Salt20 %Reported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Brine

What makes this one different

It is a fresh primosale that is aged about a month instead of sold at once, a habit that began as a way to use up unsold fresh cheese. The curd is never pressed, so the paste stays soft and the holes are oval.

Rind
Thin, soft, deep straw, with basket marks
Size
Block 12 x 25 cm, 8 cm high, 1.2–1.5 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.

History and sources

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

The regional sheet says the method, at first used now and then for unsold primosale, has been fixed for at least 30 years, and that making it for sale began only a few years before the sheet.

Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
  1. [pat-sheet] Regione Campania, Assessorato Agricoltura, Prodotti tradizionali, 'Primosale stagionato di Cuffiano' (page last updated 24 June 2016; copy hosted by ONAF)gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Formaggi), technical sheet 'Primosale stagionato di Cuffiano', PAT Regione Campaniaweb
  3. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov