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Cheese from Italy, Veneto

Formaggio RenàzRenàz

A hard, semi-cooked Ladin cheese of raw cow milk, made only from October to April. Milk that is three-fifths whole and two-fifths skimmed by natural creaming is soured with the dairy's own whey starter and set with calf rennet at 36 °C. The fine curd is cooked to 46–47 °C, pressed, brined for two days and ripened three months, and up to a year.

Fully documentedCheese3.1 months – 12 monthsPAT (traditional agri-food product, Regione Veneto)Family: Uncooked or semi-cooked pressed cheese family (tomme, Saint-Nectaire, Reblochon, Morbier, Raclette)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedDairy cheese; the sheets give no batch size or doses. Each cheese weighs about 5 kg.
Raw cow milk from two milkingsThree-fifths whole; two-fifths, the evening milk, skimmed by letting the cream rise[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Whey starter (sieroinnesto) from the dairy[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Calf rennet powder[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Salt (brine)[pat-sheet]
Linseed oilRubbed on the rind during ripening[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Starterthe dairy's own whey starter (sieroinnesto)

Total time across the recorded steps: 3.1 months – 12 months

Start
Drag the bar or press Play

What changes: Cream rises on the evening milk and is skimmed before it joins the whole milk

Step 1 of 7
Part-skim the milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

The evening milk rests until the cream rises and is skimmed off; it is mixed with whole milk, two parts skimmed to three parts whole.

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 hard, semi-cooked Ladin cheese of raw cow milk, made only from October to April. Milk that is three-fifths whole and two-fifths skimmed by natural creaming is soured with the dairy's own whey starter and set with calf rennet at 36 °C. The fine curd is cooked to 46–47 °C, pressed, brined for two days and ripened three months, and up to a year. Made in 7 steps over 3.1 months – 12 months. The longest step, ripen and oil the rind, takes 3–12 months (Regione Veneto) and runs at 13 °C (Regione Veneto).

Key numbers
Main step3–12 monthsReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Ripen and oil the rind
Temperature13 °CReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Ripen and oil the rind

What makes this one different

Renàz is a semi-cooked hard cheese from part-skimmed raw milk, made only in winter by one Ladin cooperative. Its rind is rubbed with linseed oil, and the ONAF sheet credits its deep straw colour to beta-carotene released by the many flowers of the pastures.

Size
Cylinder 30 cm across, 7–8 cm high, about 5 kg; "RENAZ" printed on the side
Rind
Smooth, fairly thin to slightly thick, hard and oily; deep straw to light brown
Season
Made October to April; sold all year at the dairy

Related ferments

Safety

Made from raw milk. The curd is heated to 46–47 °C and the cheese ripens for about three months, but the sheets give no heat treatment for the milk itself. ANSES advises pregnant women, young children, people over 65 and people with weak immunity not to eat raw-milk cheeses other than cooked pressed ones such as Gruyère or Comté, because of Listeria, Salmonella and Shiga-toxin E. coli. The sheets call Renàz semi-cooked, so do not assume it counts as one of those.

History and sources

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

The Veneto atlas says the cheese has been made in Livinallongo since the 1970s and is named after the hamlet where the dairy stands. The cooperative was founded in 1983, and the name has appeared on its sales papers since then. ONAF says the cheese has been in production only since 1983. ONAF puts output at no more than 300 quintals a year.

Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
  1. [pat-sheet] Regione Veneto, Atlante dei prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali del Veneto, «Formaggio Renàz», p. 163 (copy hosted by ONAF)gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Formaggi), technical sheet «Formaggio Renàz»web
  3. [onaf] ONAF, cheese page «Formaggio Renàz» (id 1083)web
  4. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov