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Cheese from Italy, Piemonte

Toma della Valsesia

Whole cow milk, raw or pasteurised and not yet souring, is set with calf rennet at 36–39 °C in 30–60 minutes. The curd is cut twice to rice-grain size and semi-cooked at 40–45 °C while stirred, then moulded and left on the draining table at 20 °C or more until the paste reaches about pH 5.2–5.3. After dry-salting or brining it ripens on wooden boards at 8–12 °C for at least about 30 days.

Fully documentedCheese30 days – 12 monthsTraditional food product (PAT, Piemonte)Family: Uncooked or semi-cooked pressed cheese family (tomme, Saint-Nectaire, Reblochon, Morbier, Raclette)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedA mountain cheese with no fixed amounts; the rennet dose is set to give a 30–60 minute set. A cheese weighs 1.5–2.5 kg.
Whole cow milk from one or two milkings (rarely part-skimmed), raw or pasteurisedThe milk must not have started to sour; a second milking is kept cold[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Starter culture (innesto con fermenti)[onaf-sheet]
Calf rennet[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Salt (dry or brine)[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Starterstarter cultures (ONAF)

Total time across the recorded steps: 30 days – 12 months

Start
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72 °C

What changes: Whole milk is used raw or pasteurised at 72 °C, then cooled

Step 1 of 7
Prepare the milk
Time
1 min
Reported
Temperature
72 °C → 39 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
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 and not yet souring, is set with calf rennet at 36–39 °C in 30–60 minutes. The curd is cut twice to rice-grain size and semi-cooked at 40–45 °C while stirred, then moulded and left on the draining table at 20 °C or more until the paste reaches about pH 5.2–5.3. After dry-salting or brining it ripens on wooden boards at 8–12 °C for at least about 30 days. Made in 7 steps over 30 days – 12 months. The longest step, ripen on boards, takes 30 days – 12 months (Regione Piemonte 2015) and runs at 8–12 °C (Regione Piemonte 2015). Starter cultures (fermenti) added to the milk; the ONAF sheet names no species does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step30 days – 12 monthsReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Ripen on boards
Temperature8–12 °CReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Ripen on boards
AciditypH 5.2–5.3Reported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Mould and rest on the table

What makes this one different

Soft semi-cooked Valsesia toma; late-spring and summer flower-fed wheels are rated best. Its milk must not have started to sour, unlike the toma ajgra of the same valley.

Rind
Thin, straw with grey moulds when young; hard, wrinkled, brown-grey when aged
Size
1.5–2.5 kg; cylinder ø 20–25 cm, side 6–8 cm
Season
June to September on pasture (ONAF)

Related ferments

Safety

The milk may be pasteurised (ONAF), and the moulded curd rests on the table at 20 °C or more until the paste reaches about pH 5.2–5.3. Milk from a second milking is kept cold so it does not start to sour. The regional sheet finds no risks beyond normal cheesemaking. Raw milk is also allowed, and the cheese ripens for as little as about 30 days. The US FDA says ageing raw-milk cheese for 60 days may not eliminate or adequately reduce E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella, and Listeria may grow in some cheeses during ageing [fda-rawcheese2016]. ANSES advises pregnant women, people with weak immunity, people over 65 and young children to avoid raw-milk cheese, except cooked pressed cheeses such as Gruyère or Comté [anses2022].

History and sources

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

The regional sheet says the tome of Valsesia have been known for centuries, shown by historical records of tolls paid on goods in transit and of pasture rentals. It cites Giovanni Del Forno's 1981 book on the typical cheeses of Piedmont and Aosta Valley.

  1. [pat-sheet] Regione Piemonte, D.D. 24 July 2015 n. 460, Schede tecniche prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali (BU 38S1, 24/09/2015), category D product 36 'Toma della Valsesia' (copy hosted by ONAF)gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters), technical sheet 'Toma della Valsesia'web
  3. [onaf] ONAF, cheese page 'Toma della Valsesia' (id 476)web
  4. [fda-rawcheese2016] US Food and Drug Administration 2016, FY 2014–2016 Microbiological Sampling Assignment Summary Report, Raw Milk Cheese Aged 60 Daysgov
  5. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov