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Cheese from Spain, Asturias

Queso de Peñamelleraquesu de Peñamellera

A small artisan cheese of Asturias, mostly from cow milk, sometimes with goat or sheep milk. The milk is warmed to about 30 °C and set with rennet; the curd is drained, moulded and salted, and the cheeses dry on hazel rods that print a grid on the rind. A study of three artisan batches followed them through 30 days of ripening and found lactococci dominant.

Fully documentedCheese10 days – 30 daysnone named in the sources (traditional cheese)Family: Uncooked or semi-cooked pressed cheese family (tomme, Saint-Nectaire, Reblochon, Morbier, Raclette)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedTraditional cheese with no fixed recipe; each cheese is about 10 cm across and 4 cm high.
Cow milk, sometimes with goat or sheep milkA 2007 book describes one maker's cheese as made from pasteurised cow milk[wp-es][valle2007]
Rennet[wp-es]
Salt[wp-es]
Starternative lactic bacteria in the artisan cheeses studied

Total time across the recorded steps: 10 days – 30 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
shapes, not to countLactococcus lactisLactobacilliLeuconostoc30 °C

What changes: Rennet goes into milk warmed to about 30 °C and sets it

Step 1 of 4
Warm the milk and add rennet
Time
Not documented
Temperature
30 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactococcus lactis
Lactobacilli
Leuconostoc
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

A small artisan cheese of Asturias, mostly from cow milk, sometimes with goat or sheep milk. The milk is warmed to about 30 °C and set with rennet; the curd is drained, moulded and salted, and the cheeses dry on hazel rods that print a grid on the rind. A study of three artisan batches followed them through 30 days of ripening and found lactococci dominant. Made in 4 steps over 10 days – 30 days. The longest step, dry on hazel rods and ripen, takes 10–30 days (Wikipedia (es)). Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis and Lactobacilli, many of them heterofermentative do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step10–30 daysReported[wp-es][valle2007][estepar1999]Dry on hazel rods and ripen
Temperature30 °CReported[wp-es]Warm the milk and add rennet

What makes this one different

Queso de Peñamellera is a small cow cheese whose rind carries the checked print of the hazel rods it dries on. In the artisan cheeses studied, native lactic bacteria led by lactococci did the souring.

Size
About 10 cm across and 4 cm high
Rind
Yellowish, with the checked print of the hazel drying rods

Related ferments

Safety

A 1999 study of three artisan batches found their biochemical parameters varied widely because of unpredictable changes in temperature and humidity during making. One maker described in a 2007 book uses pasteurised cow milk; the abstract of the study does not say whether its milk was raw.

History and sources

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

The cheese is made mainly in Peñamellera Alta, with some in Peñamellera Baja. A 1999 study of three artisan batches characterised its native lactic bacteria as a first step toward choosing starter strains.

  1. [valle2007] Valle Poo F. 2007, Quesos artesanos de la comarca Oriente de Asturias (Monografías del Oriente de Asturias 1), Consorcio del Oriente de Asturias, pp. 46–47, chapter on Peñamellerabook
  2. [estepar1999] Estepar J., Sánchez M.M., Alonso L., Mayo B. 1999, Biochemical and microbiological characterization of artisanal 'Peñamellera' cheese - analysis of its indigenous lactic acid bacteria, International Dairy Journal 9:737–746 (abstract)paper
  3. [wp-es] Wikipedia (es), «Queso de Peñamellera» (outline only)wiki