Skip to main content
Support

Browse by category

All categories
Home

Cheese from Italy, Puglia

Scamorza di pecoraScamorzh dh Peckrh

Raw sheep milk from two milkings is warmed to 38 °C over a direct fire and set with calf rennet, with no added starter. The curd ripens for 16–24 hours on wooden tables, is stretched by hand in water at 90–95 °C and shaped into a pear with a small head. It is brined and eaten at once or after 15–20 days in a cool room.

Fully documentedCheese16 days – 21 daysTraditional food product (PAT, Puglia)Family: Pasta filata (stretched-curd) cheese family

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceFarm dairy process; the regional sheet gives the rennet dose per quintal (100 kg) of milk and no batch size. A cheese weighs 0.25–1 kg.
Raw whole sheep milk from two milkings[pat-sheet]
Liquid calf rennet30–35 ml per quintal of milk[pat-sheet]
Salt, as an 18–20% brine[pat-sheet]
Starternone; the milk's own acidity

Total time across the recorded steps: 16 days – 21 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
38 °C

What changes: Raw sheep milk is filtered into a copper cauldron and warmed to 38 °C

Step 1 of 8
Filter and warm the milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
38 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

The milk is filtered through a fine mesh or a cotton cloth.

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 sheep milk from two milkings is warmed to 38 °C over a direct fire and set with calf rennet, with no added starter. The curd ripens for 16–24 hours on wooden tables, is stretched by hand in water at 90–95 °C and shaped into a pear with a small head. It is brined and eaten at once or after 15–20 days in a cool room. Made in 8 steps over 16 days – 21 days. The longest step, eat fresh or ripen, takes 15–20 days (Regione Puglia) and runs at 15–20 °C (Regione Puglia). Salt is 18–20 % (Regione Puglia).

Key numbers
Main step15–20 daysReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Eat fresh or ripen
Temperature15–20 °CReported[pat-sheet]Eat fresh or ripen
Salt18–20 %Reported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Brine

What makes this one different

One of very few pasta filata cheeses made from sheep milk. It uses raw milk with no starter, ripens on wooden tables for up to a day, and comes in two styles, eaten within a day or ripened 15–20 days.

Rind
Fresh: none, white; ripened: very thin, smooth, pale straw skin
Size
Pear with a head, 6–12 cm across and 10–16 cm high, 0.25–1 kg
Composition
Fat 50% of dry matter, water 40%
Season
Made from October to February

Related ferments

Variants

  • Lactic ripening (eaten within 1 day)White, sweet, no rind, elastic paste
  • Lactic-proteolytic ripening (15–20 days)Thin straw skin, more compact, savoury taste

Safety

The milk is raw. The curd is stretched in water at 90–95 °C, which heats it. The regional sheet records a hygiene exemption for traditional tools and notes that hand-made cheese may not meet the coliform limits; milk must come from disease-free flocks. NHS pregnancy advice says unpasteurised dairy foods may contain listeria, which can cause miscarriage or stillbirth.

Hazards the sources name: Coliform bacteria; the sheet says hand-made cheese may not meet the coliform limits.

History and sources

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

ONAF's technical sheet explains the shape this way. Mozzarella kept poorly, so it was dried hung from a cord. A sphere slips off the cord, so it was pinched into a pair of spheres that holds the tied cord in the hollow.

  1. [pat-sheet] Regione Puglia, Area politiche per lo sviluppo, PAT identification sheet (scheda A) and exemption sheet (scheda B) 'Scamorza di pecora'gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters), technical sheet 'Scamorza di pecora'web
  3. [onaf] ONAF, cheese page 'Scamorza di pecora' (id 900)web
  4. [nhs-preg] NHS (UK), Foods to avoid in pregnancy (cheese and dairy section)gov