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Cheese from Italy, Piemonte

Robiola di Cocconato

Whole cow milk from two or more milkings, kept at 4 °C, is pasteurised, soured with lactic cultures and set with liquid calf rennet at 38 °C in about 30 minutes. The curd is cut twice to walnut size, moulded, kept warm 2–3 hours and dry-salted once per face. The flat, rindless cheese ripens only about 5 days at 4 °C.

Fully documentedCheese5.1 days – 5.2 daysPAT (traditional agri-food product, Piemonte; Regione Piemonte D.D. 24 July 2015 no. 460)Family: Uncooked or semi-cooked pressed cheese family (tomme, Saint-Nectaire, Reblochon, Morbier, Raclette)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe sheet gives temperatures and times, not doses or batch sizes. Each cheese weighs 350–400 g.
Whole cow milk from two or more milkings, pasteurisedEvery milking is kept at 4 °C until it is used[piemonte-pat][onaf-sheet]
Lactic culturesFor a correct souring[piemonte-pat][onaf-sheet]
Liquid calf rennet[piemonte-pat][onaf-sheet]
SaltDry-salted once on each face[piemonte-pat][onaf-sheet]
Starterlactic cultures

Total time across the recorded steps: 5.1 days – 5.2 days

Start
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4 °C

What changes: Cold-stored whole cow milk is pasteurised in the vat

Step 1 of 6
Keep the milk cold, then pasteurise
Time
Not documented
Temperature
4 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

The cold-stored whole milk is pasteurised at the start of making.

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 from two or more milkings, kept at 4 °C, is pasteurised, soured with lactic cultures and set with liquid calf rennet at 38 °C in about 30 minutes. The curd is cut twice to walnut size, moulded, kept warm 2–3 hours and dry-salted once per face. The flat, rindless cheese ripens only about 5 days at 4 °C. Made in 6 steps over 5.1 days – 5.2 days. The longest step, ripen cold, takes 5 days (Regione Piemonte 2015) and runs at 4 °C (Regione Piemonte 2015).

Key numbers
Main step5 daysReported[piemonte-pat][onaf-sheet]Ripen cold
Temperature4 °CReported[piemonte-pat][onaf-sheet]Ripen cold

What makes this one different

Very thin (1–1.5 cm) and rindless, it ripens only about 5 days in a cold room. It is made from pasteurised cow milk with added lactic cultures.

Rind
None; the whole cheese is eaten
Size
Flat round 12–14 cm across, 1–1.5 cm high
Weight
350–400 g
Season
Made all year

Related ferments

Safety

The milk is held at 4 °C and pasteurised, and the cheese ripens and is kept in cold rooms at 4 °C.

History and sources

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

The ONAF sheet says the cheese seems to be owed to local women who, in a rather remote past, made it a real speciality. The Piemonte sheet notes a 1932 song in praise of the robiola, cited in a Cocconato town guide. The ONAF sheet and a tourism-board page add that the poet Nino Costa wrote verses in Piedmontese in praise of the cheese.

Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
  1. [piemonte-pat] Regione Piemonte, Schede tecniche prodotti PAT 2015 (D.D. 24 July 2015 no. 460, BU38S1 24/09/2015), Category D product 26 'Robiola di Cocconato'gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters), technical sheet 'Robiola di Cocconato'web
  3. [visitlmr] Visit Langhe Monferrato Roero (tourism board), 'Robiola di Cocconato cheese' product pageweb