Skip to main content
Support

Browse by category

All categories
Home

Cheese from Italy, Liguria

Formaggio di Santo Stefano d'Aveto (San Stè)Formaggio de San Stè

Raw cow milk, the evening milking part-skimmed by creaming for under 12 hours, is set with calf rennet at 32–35 °C for about 2 hours in copper vats. The curd is broken to rice-grain size, gathered in a cloth, crumbled and squeezed by hand, salted and pressed 2–3 days, then dry-salted. It ripens at least two months at cellar temperature, about 15 °C.

Fully documentedCheese2.1 monthsPAT (traditional agri-food product, Liguria)Family: Uncooked or semi-cooked pressed cheese family (tomme, Saint-Nectaire, Reblochon, Morbier, Raclette)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe sheets give the method, not doses or batch sizes. Wheels weigh 3–18 kg. Families helped each other by taking turns to collect and work the milk.
Raw cow milk of Bruna, Cabannina and crossbred cowsEvening milk part-skimmed by creaming for less than 12 hours, mixed with whole morning milk[liguria-pat][onaf-sheet]
Calf rennetONAF says liquid[liguria-pat][onaf-sheet]
SaltMixed into the curd before pressing, then rubbed on dry for some days[liguria-pat][onaf-sheet]

Total time across the recorded steps: 2.1 months

Start
Drag the bar or press Play

What changes: Cream rises on the evening milk and is skimmed off

Step 1 of 7
Part-skim the evening milk
Time
up to 12 h
Reported
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

The cream that rises is taken off for butter.

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 cow milk, the evening milking part-skimmed by creaming for under 12 hours, is set with calf rennet at 32–35 °C for about 2 hours in copper vats. The curd is broken to rice-grain size, gathered in a cloth, crumbled and squeezed by hand, salted and pressed 2–3 days, then dry-salted. It ripens at least two months at cellar temperature, about 15 °C. Made in 7 steps over 2.1 months. The longest step, ripen in the cellar, takes at least 2 months (Regione Liguria) and runs at 15 °C (Regione Liguria).

Key numbers
Main stepat least 2 monthsReported[liguria-pat][onaf-sheet]Ripen in the cellar
Temperature15 °CReported[liguria-pat][onaf-sheet]Ripen in the cellar

What makes this one different

The curd is crumbled and squeezed by hand in a cloth, then salted before it is pressed for 2–3 days. Regione Liguria says the ricotta made from the whey of this cheese is salted and aged into Sarasso.

Rind
Thin, elastic, smooth, straw yellow turning brown with age
Size
Cylinder 30–35 cm across and 10 cm high (ONAF)
Weight
3–18 kg, depending on the size of the wheel
Season
Made all year

Related ferments

Safety

Made from raw milk, with no heat treatment (ONAF sheet). It ripens at least two months at about 15 °C. CDC advises people who are pregnant, 65 or older or have a weakened immune system to avoid any cheese made with raw milk.

History and sources

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

On the tables of Genoa it was called Formaggio di Chiavari. In the valley, butter was the main fat, so mountain cheeses were made from part-skimmed milk.

Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
  1. [liguria-pat] Regione Liguria, agriligurianet, traditional product page 'Formaggio de San Ste'' (read on the regional site; ONAF hosts a copy)gov
  2. [sarasso-liguria] Regione Liguria, agriligurianet, traditional product page 'Sarasso'gov
  3. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters), technical sheet 'Formaggio de San Stè'web
  4. [cdc-listeria] US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Preventing Listeria Infectiongov