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Cheese from Italy, Liguria

Toma di Mendatica (dell'alta Valle Arroscia)

Raw cow milk, or cow and sheep milk mixed in a share that changes with the season, is set at 34–37 °C with liquid calf rennet and left about 40 minutes. The curd is broken by hand to rice-grain size, gathered into hoops or onto cloths, pressed lightly for 3–24 hours and salted dry or in brine. It ripens 5–40 days at 12–15 °C on wooden boards.

Fully documentedCheese5.2 days – 41 daysTraditional food product (PAT, Liguria)Family: Uncooked or semi-cooked pressed cheese family (tomme, Saint-Nectaire, Reblochon, Morbier, Raclette)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedA mountain farm cheese with no fixed amounts; the sheets give no milk volume or rennet dose. A cheese weighs 0.8–7 kg.
Raw whole cow milk, or cow and sheep milk mixed; ONAF allows a small addition of goat milkWinter cheese can be all cow milk; spring cheese mixed or mostly sheep milk[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Calf rennet, usually liquid[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Coarse salt, or brine[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]

Total time across the recorded steps: 5.2 days – 41 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play

What changes: Raw milk from one or two milkings is warmed and stirred in the cauldron

Step 1 of 6
Warm the milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Milk from one or two milkings is brought to setting temperature while stirred slowly to even out the heat.

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, or cow and sheep milk mixed in a share that changes with the season, is set at 34–37 °C with liquid calf rennet and left about 40 minutes. The curd is broken by hand to rice-grain size, gathered into hoops or onto cloths, pressed lightly for 3–24 hours and salted dry or in brine. It ripens 5–40 days at 12–15 °C on wooden boards. Made in 6 steps over 5.2 days – 41 days. The longest step, ripen, takes 5–40 days (Regione Liguria) and runs at 12–15 °C (Regione Liguria).

Key numbers
Main step5–40 daysReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Ripen
Temperature12–15 °CReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Ripen

What makes this one different

Soft alpine toma of the Brigasca-sheep area whose milk mix shifts with the season; made February–November; served with Ligurian potato dishes. It is a short-ripened, uncooked toma pressed only lightly.

Rind
Thin (2–3 mm), smooth, elastic; straw to reddish brown with age on the regional page, white to pale yellow or orange on ONAF's sheet
Size
About 1.0 kg, up to 7 kg (regional sheet 0.8–7 kg); Ø 15–45 cm, height 6–10 cm; round or rectangular
Season
February to November (ONAF)
Listing
Entry 66, 'Toma di mendatica (dell'alta Valle Arroscia)', among the cheeses of the Liguria Gourmet list of traditional products (2015)

Related ferments

Safety

Made from raw milk and ripened 5–40 days. A 2025 study looked only at Staphylococcus aureus and its enterotoxins in 123 Alpine cheeses made from raw or thermised milk, not this one, sampled before or just after brining. It found counts above the legal limit in 16% and enterotoxins in 1.6%. It says safe artisanal production is achievable with hurdles such as high scalding temperatures or thermization, quality starter cultures and robust milk quality management (Berger 2025). The CDC says pregnant women, newborns, people 65 or older and people with weak immunity should avoid any cheese made with raw milk unless it is heated to 165 °F (74 °C) or until steaming hot.

History and sources

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

History
The sources we found do not record its history.
Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
  1. [pat-sheet] Regione Liguria, Agriligurianet (the region's agriculture portal), product page 'Toma di Mendatica' under typical cheesesgov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters), technical sheet "Toma di Mendatica (dell'alta Valle Arroscia)"web
  3. [liguria-gourmet] Camera di Commercio Riviere di Liguria, 'Elenco prodotti tradizionali Liguria Gourmet' (Rev 01, 16 April 2015), drawn from the Regional Atlas of Traditional Productsgov
  4. [berger2025] Berger T.F.H. et al., 2025, Critical Factors Affecting the Prevalence of Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcal Enterotoxins in Raw Milk Cheese in the Alpine Region of Austria, Italy, and Switzerland, Foods 14(13):2176paper
  5. [cdc-listeria] US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Preventing Listeria Infectiongov