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Cheese from Italy, Sicilia

Provola dei Monti SicaniCaciotta

Raw cow milk is set in a vat at 34–37 °C with lamb or kid rennet paste, and the curd is broken to corn size while hot water at about 80 °C is added. It drains and sours on wooden boards for about 24 hours, then is stretched in hot water or whey and shaped by hand into pears with a small head. After 4–6 hours in saturated brine the pears are tied in pairs and hung for less than a month.

Fully documentedCheese32 daysPAT (traditional food product, Sicilia; list of D.M. 16 February 2018)Family: Pasta filata (stretched-curd) cheese family

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe sheets give no amounts. A cheese weighs about 900–1000 g.
Raw whole cow milkFrom Bruna or Frisona cows; the Modicana breed, once used, is now nearly gone[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Lamb or kid rennet paste[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Hot water or whey (scotta) from the ricottaFor cooking and stretching the curd[onaf-sheet]
Saturated brine[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Starterthe curd acidifies naturally on wooden tables for up to 24 hours

Total time across the recorded steps: 32 days

Start
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34–37 °C

What changes: Lamb or kid rennet paste sets the raw milk at 34–37 °C

Step 1 of 6
Set with lamb or kid rennet
Time
1 h
Reported
Temperature
34–37 °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 cow milk is set in a vat at 34–37 °C with lamb or kid rennet paste, and the curd is broken to corn size while hot water at about 80 °C is added. It drains and sours on wooden boards for about 24 hours, then is stretched in hot water or whey and shaped by hand into pears with a small head. After 4–6 hours in saturated brine the pears are tied in pairs and hung for less than a month. Made in 6 steps over 32 days. The longest step, hang to mature, takes up to 30 days (ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori F…).

Key numbers
Main stepup to 30 daysReported[onaf-sheet]Hang to mature
Temperature34–37 °CReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Set with lamb or kid rennet

What makes this one different

It is the young, pear-shaped provola of the Sicani mountains, made from raw cow milk with lamb or kid rennet paste. The curd sours for about a day before it is stretched, and the cheese is hung for less than a month.

Rind
A very thin, smooth skin or clean rind, white to straw-yellow
Size
Pear shape with a small head, about 900–1000 g
Season
Made all year

Related ferments

Safety

The milk is raw and the sheets name no starter, though the curd is cooked and stretched with water or whey at about 80 °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 the provola has always been made in the Sicani mountains, once with wooden tools such as the rotula and tina and now in dairies with stainless steel equipment.

  1. [pat-sheet] Regione Siciliana, Prodotti Agroalimentari Tradizionali (2018, D.M. 16 febbraio 2018), sheet 'Provola dei Monti Sicani o Caciotta' (copy hosted by ONAF)gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Formaggi), technical sheet 'Provola dei monti Sicani', PAT Regione Siciliaweb
  3. [onaf] ONAF, scheda formaggio 'Provola dei monti Sicani' (id 1220)web
  4. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov