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Cheese from Italy, Piemonte

Robiola d'Alba

Whole cow milk, raw or pasteurised, must have started to sour before rennet goes in, and is set at about 30–37 °C for about an hour. The hazelnut-size curd goes straight into moulds and stays at room temperature until its acidity falls below pH 4.8. It is dry-salted the next day and ripens only 3–4 days at 5–8 °C.

Fully documentedCheese4 days – 5.1 daysPAT (traditional agri-food product, Piemonte; D.D. 460/2015, product D 25)Family: Uncooked or semi-cooked pressed cheese family (tomme, Saint-Nectaire, Reblochon, Morbier, Raclette)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe regional sheet gives the method, not a batch size or doses. A cheese weighs 300–400 g.
Whole cow milk, raw or pasteurised[pat-sheet]
Calf rennet[onaf]
Salt, applied dry[pat-sheet]
Starterthe milk must have started to acidify before the rennet goes in

Total time across the recorded steps: 4 days – 5.1 days

Start
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Milk proteinGel (curd)

What changes: Whole cow milk is left to start souring before rennet goes in

Step 1 of 6
Let the milk start to sour
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

The sheet requires that acidification is under way before the rennet goes in.

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

Whole cow milk, raw or pasteurised, must have started to sour before rennet goes in, and is set at about 30–37 °C for about an hour. The hazelnut-size curd goes straight into moulds and stays at room temperature until its acidity falls below pH 4.8. It is dry-salted the next day and ripens only 3–4 days at 5–8 °C. Made in 6 steps over 4 days – 5.1 days. The longest step, ripen briefly, takes 3–4 days (Regione Piemonte 2015) and runs at 5–8 °C (Regione Piemonte 2015).

Key numbers
Main step3–4 daysReported[pat-sheet]Ripen briefly
Temperature5–8 °CReported[pat-sheet]Ripen briefly
AciditypH up to 4.8Reported[pat-sheet]Mould and rest at room temperature (stufatura)

What makes this one different

A soft cow robiola whose milk must start souring before the rennet, and whose curd rests at room temperature in the mould until it is below pH 4.8, then ripens only 3–4 days. Older ones were once kept in oil.

Size
Cylinder 9–12 cm across, 2.5–3.0 cm high, 300–400 g
Rind
None; light straw in older traditional cheeses

Related ferments

Variants

  • Flavoured with chilli, truffle, chives or rocket (a recent habit)
  • Older robiole cut in cubes and kept under oil in jars, sometimes with a bay leaf or chilli

Safety

The curd is soured below pH 4.8 and the cheese ripens at 5–8 °C. These are the regional sheet's making steps, not safety limits. It can be made from raw or pasteurised milk, and it ripens only 3–4 days. The CDC says raw-milk products can expose people to germs such as Listeria, E. coli, Brucella and Salmonella, and advises choosing pasteurised milk and dairy products. ANSES advises pregnant women, young children, people over 65 and people with weak immunity to avoid raw-milk cheeses other than cooked pressed ones such as Gruyère or Comté, which covers the raw-milk version of this cheese.

Hazards the sources name: Bacillus cereus (in a study of fresh and short-ripened pasteurised-milk cheeses sold in Italy, found in 2 of 8 robiola cheeses, all positives from cow milk, at 1.00–2.26 log CFU/g; those robiola were not stated to be Robiola d'Alba).

History and sources

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

The regional sheet records that older, longer-ripened robiole were traditionally cut into cubes and kept under oil in jars, sometimes with a bay leaf or chilli, and that flavoured versions are a recent habit.

  1. [pat-sheet] Regione Piemonte, D.D. 24 July 2015 n. 460 (BU38S1, 24 September 2015), Schede tecniche prodotti PAT, category D product 25 'Robiola d'Alba' (copy hosted by ONAF)gov
  2. [onaf] ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Formaggi), cheese page 'Robiola d'Alba' (id 468)web
  3. [tirloni2023] Tirloni E. et al., 2023, Prevalence, Virulence Potential, and Growth in Cheese of Bacillus cereus Strains Isolated from Fresh and Short-Ripened Cheeses Sold on the Italian Market, Microorganisms 11(2):521paper
  4. [cdc-raw-milk] US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Raw Milk (food safety page)gov
  5. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov