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Cheese from Portugal, Beira Baixa

Queijo Amarelo da Beira BaixaQueijo da Beira Baixa, tipo Amarelo

Raw ewe milk, with up to half raw goat milk, is set with animal rennet at 27–36 °C in 30–60 minutes. The curd is cut with a cheese harp (lira), spread into open hoops and pressed until it holds together, then salted on the surface, in the curd or in brine. It cures at least 40 days, or 90 days for Velho, in a natural room or at 8–14 °C, and the rind turns yellow.

Fully documentedCheese40 daysPDO (DOP, one of the three types of Queijo da Beira Baixa); registered 1996 by Reg. (EC) No 1107/96 as Queijos da Beira Baixa, amended and renamed by Reg. (EU) 2021/245Family: Hard pressed ewe cheese family (Manchego and Pecorino Romano as templates)

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe specification sets only the milk shares. A cheese weighs 0.6–1 kg, or 0.2–0.5 kg in the small size.
Raw ewe milk50–100 % of the milkMerino or other sheep breeds adapted to the region[oj-2020]
Raw goat milk0–50 % of the milkCharnequeira or other goat breeds adapted to the region[oj-2020]
Animal rennet[oj-2020]
SaltAmount judged by the maker[oj-2020]

Total time across the recorded steps: 40 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
up to 6 °C

What changes: Starting material: raw ewe milk with up to half goat milk

Step 1 of 6
Work the milk straight after milking
Time
Not documented
Temperature
up to 6 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Output: raw ewe milk, or ewe and goat 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

Raw ewe milk, with up to half raw goat milk, is set with animal rennet at 27–36 °C in 30–60 minutes. The curd is cut with a cheese harp (lira), spread into open hoops and pressed until it holds together, then salted on the surface, in the curd or in brine. It cures at least 40 days, or 90 days for Velho, in a natural room or at 8–14 °C, and the rind turns yellow. Made in 6 steps over 40 days. The longest step, cure, takes at least 40 days (European Commission 2020) and runs at 8–14 °C (European Commission 2020).

Key numbers
Main stepat least 40 daysSet[oj-2020]Cure
Temperature8–14 °CSet[oj-2020]Cure

What makes this one different

The Amarelo type of Queijo da Beira Baixa uses animal rennet rather than the cardoon of the Castelo Branco type, and may contain up to half goat milk. It is salted less heavily than the Picante type, cures for 40 days rather than 120, and has a yellow rind.

Milk
Raw ewe milk 50–100 %, raw goat milk 0–50 %
Composition
Moisture 54–69 % of the fat-free cheese (Velho 49–56 %); fat 45–60 % of dry matter
Size
0.6–1 kg, 12–16 cm across, 3–5 cm high; small size 0.2–0.5 kg, 7–10 cm; Velho 0.4–0.9 kg

Related ferments

Variants

  • AmareloCured at least 40 days.
  • Amarelo VelhoCured at least 90 days; may be sold under olive oil or coated with paprika paste and olive oil.

Safety

Made from raw milk and cured at least 40 days. A survey of 98 raw-milk cheeses from Beira Baixa makers, bought in shops near Lisbon, found Listeria monocytogenes in 4.1 % of them and Salmonella in one, and said the contamination was potentially related to lapses in hygiene at the makers. ANSES advises pregnant women, young children, people over 65 and people with weak immunity not to eat raw-milk cheeses other than pressed cooked ones such as Gruyère, because of Listeria, Salmonella and Shiga-toxin E. coli.

Hazards the sources name: Listeria monocytogenes (4.1 % of 98 retail raw-milk cheeses from Beira Baixa, PDO and non-PDO); Coagulase-positive staphylococci above 10^4 cfu/g (6.1 % of the same samples).

History and sources

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

The specification ties the Beira Baixa cheeses to the transhumance of dairy herds, which per O. Ribeiro (1941) began in November toward Campinas da Idanha, Campo Albicastrense and Cova da Beira. A 1906 author already praised the mixed goat and sheep cheeses of Fundão and Penamacor. The three types were registered together as a PDO in 1996 by Regulation (EC) No 1107/96. The national application (files 6/93 and 6C/93) already described the Amarelo type as a ripe cheese of raw ewe milk, pure or mixed with goat milk, set with rennet; it lists Portuguese Order No. 73/90 of 1 February as the national requirement. An amendment applied for in 2020 added the Velho type and its olive-oil and paprika forms, set the milk shares and the coagulation ranges, and added Mação to the area; Regulation (EU) 2021/245 of 11 February 2021 approved it and shortened the name to Queijo da Beira Baixa.

Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
  1. [oj-2020] European Commission 2020, Publication of an application for approval of an amendment, 'Queijo da Beira Baixa' (PDO-PT-0214-AM02), single document, Official Journal of the EU C 315, 23 September 2020, p. 3spec
  2. [mendonca2024] Mendonça R., Furtado R., Coelho A., Correia C.B., Suyarko E., Borges V., Gomes J.P., Pista A., Batista R. 2024, Raw milk cheeses from Beira Baixa, Portugal - a contributive study for the microbiological hygiene and safety assessment, Brazilian Journal of Microbiology 55(2):1759–1772paper
  3. [reg-2021] European Commission 2021, Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/245 approving non-minor amendments to the specification for 'Queijos da Beira Baixa' (PDO), Official Journal of the EU L 57, 18 February 2021, pp. 80–81spec
  4. [bb-1994] Portuguese application for registration of 'Queijos da Beira Baixa' (national files 6/93 and 6C/93, Queijo Amarelo da Beira Baixa), summary sheets VI/9243/92, European Commission register file (eAmbrosia summary sheet PT_0017_0214_SUM_EN)spec
  5. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov