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Cheese from Italy, Piemonte

Tomino del Talucco

Whole goat milk, alone or mixed with cow milk, is heated to at least 75 °C for 5 minutes, as for cacioricotta, so that part of the whey proteins stays in the cheese. It is set with calf rennet at 35–40 °C, cut small and drained at least 8 hours in tiny moulds while being salted. The cheeses ripen at least 10 days at 10–16 °C on plastic cloths or rye-straw mats; aged and jarred ('in composta') types are peppered.

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe sheets give no doses. Fresh cheeses weigh 80–100 g; aged and in composta ones 50–80 g.
Whole goat milk, or a mix of cow and goat milkThe milk must not have soured[pat-sheet]
Natural calf rennet[pat-sheet]
Salt[pat-sheet]
Ground pepper (aged and in composta types only)[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Starternone named; the milk is heated above pasteurisation before renneting

Total time across the recorded steps: 20 days

Start
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at least 75 °C

What changes: The milk is heated to 75 °C or more for at least 5 minutes

Step 1 of 6
Heat the milk as for cacioricotta
Time
at least 5 min
Reported
Temperature
at least 75 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

The heat treatment is stronger than normal pasteurisation, so part of the whey proteins stays in the cheese.

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 goat milk, alone or mixed with cow milk, is heated to at least 75 °C for 5 minutes, as for cacioricotta, so that part of the whey proteins stays in the cheese. It is set with calf rennet at 35–40 °C, cut small and drained at least 8 hours in tiny moulds while being salted. The cheeses ripen at least 10 days at 10–16 °C on plastic cloths or rye-straw mats; aged and jarred ('in composta') types are peppered. Made in 6 steps over 20 days. The longest step, ripen on cloths or rye-straw mats, takes at least 10 days (Regione Piemonte 2015) and runs at 10–16 °C (Regione Piemonte 2015).

Key numbers
Main stepat least 10 daysReported[pat-sheet]Ripen on cloths or rye-straw mats
Temperature10–16 °CReported[pat-sheet]Ripen on cloths or rye-straw mats

What makes this one different

The milk is heated above pasteurisation, as for cacioricotta, so whey proteins stay in the cheese; the aged and jarred types are peppered.

Size
Cylinder 5–6 cm across, side 3–4 cm; 80–100 g fresh, 50–80 g aged or in composta
Rind
None when fresh; straw-coloured when aged; white-grey to brown with pepper

Related ferments

Variants

  • FrescoFresh, no rind, 80–100 g
  • StagionatoAged, with a peppered or straw-marked rind, 50–80 g
  • In compostaRipened at least 5 days, peppered, then kept at least 10 days in a sealed jar

Safety

The milk is heated to at least 75 °C for 5 minutes before renneting. The regional sheet rates the cheese high for safety because of this heating. The only risk it names is rye-straw mats, now rarely used, which can pass on moulds, microbes or pesticides if badly managed. It does not discuss the sealed jar. Jarred cheeses are closed airtight, which keeps air out but does not protect them. Botulism bacteria grow without air in sealed low-acid food (pH 4.6 or above), and the sheets give no pH or salt figures for the jar.

History and sources

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

ONAF notes that the name is now remembered mainly by older people. Talucco lived on goats and a few cows, and the cheeses were carried to market in woven hazel baskets because fresh milk was hard to carry far.

  1. [mohw-botulism] Ministry of Health and Welfare (Taiwan), 慎防肉毒桿菌危害 (Beware of botulism)gov
  2. [pat-sheet] Regione Piemonte, D.D. 24 July 2015 n. 460, technical sheets of traditional food products (BU 38 S1, 24 September 2015), product D 45 'Tomino del Talucco' (copy hosted by ONAF)gov
  3. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters), technical sheet 'Tomino del Talucco'web
  4. [dalzini2014] Dalzini E, Cosciani-Cunico E, Sfameni C, Monastero P, Daminelli P, Losio MN, Varisco G (2014) Microbiological and Physico-Chemical Changes During Manufacture of an Italian Goat Cheese Made from Raw Milk. Italian Journal of Food Safety, article 4586, doi 10.4081/ijfs.2014.4586paper