Skip to main content
Support

Browse by category

All categories
Home

Cheese from Italy, Trentino-Alto Adige, Provincia di Trento

Tre valli

Whole cow milk, thermised or pasteurised, is warmed to 38–40 °C with a natural milk starter or selected cultures and set with bovine rennet in 20–25 minutes. The walnut-size curd is moulded and kept 7–8 hours in a warm room at 25–30 °C to sour, then brined 3–4 hours. The soft, buttery cheese is ready after 15–20 days in a cold room at 4–6 °C.

Fully documentedCheese15 days – 21 daysTraditional food product (PAT, Provincia autonoma di Trento)Family: Uncooked or semi-cooked pressed cheese family (tomme, Saint-Nectaire, Reblochon, Morbier, Raclette)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe sheets give no doses and name only the equipment of a classic dairy. A cheese weighs 2.5 kg.
Whole cow milk of one or two milkings, thermised or pasteurisedFrom cows fed pasture grass or permanent-meadow hay; Bruna, Pezzata Nera and other breeds[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Natural milk starter (latteinnesto) or selected starter cultures[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Bovine rennet[pat-sheet]
Salt, as a light brine[pat-sheet]
Starternatural milk starter or selected starter cultures

Total time across the recorded steps: 15 days – 21 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
38–40 °C

What changes: Starter and then bovine rennet go into the milk at 38–40 °C and it sets in 20–25 minutes

Step 1 of 5
Warm the milk with starter and rennet
Time
20–25 min
Reported
Temperature
38–40 °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, thermised or pasteurised, is warmed to 38–40 °C with a natural milk starter or selected cultures and set with bovine rennet in 20–25 minutes. The walnut-size curd is moulded and kept 7–8 hours in a warm room at 25–30 °C to sour, then brined 3–4 hours. The soft, buttery cheese is ready after 15–20 days in a cold room at 4–6 °C. Made in 5 steps over 15 days – 21 days. The longest step, ripen cold, takes 15–20 days (Provincia autonoma di Trento 2013) and runs at 4–6 °C (Provincia autonoma di Trento 2013).

Key numbers
Main step15–20 daysReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Ripen cold
Temperature4–6 °CReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Ripen cold

What makes this one different

A soft cheese made since the 1970s with a method derived from Italico, soured 7–8 hours in a warm room and ripened only 15–20 days in the cold. The provincial sheet credits its aroma to the milk of the surrounding valleys.

Rind
Wrinkled
Size
Cylinder 20–22 cm across, side 8–9 cm, 2.5 kg
Season
Made all year
National list
Tre valli is named in the Provincia autonoma di Trento section of the national list of traditional agri-food products (D.M. 7 February 2019, Gazzetta Ufficiale of 12 March 2019, S.O. n. 9)

Related ferments

Safety

The milk is thermised or pasteurised, and the cheese ripens in a cold room at 4–6 °C.

History and sources

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

The provincial sheet says it has been made since the 1970s with a method derived from Italico.

Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
  1. [pat-sheet] Provincia autonoma di Trento, Trentino Agricoltura, traditional food products (PAT), sheet 'Tre Valli' (updated 2013-12-28; copy hosted by ONAF)gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters), technical sheet 'Tre valli'web
  3. [gu-pat-2019] Ministero delle politiche agricole alimentari, forestali e del turismo, D.M. 7 February 2019, update of the national list of traditional agri-food products, Gazzetta Ufficiale n. 60, 12 March 2019, S.O. n. 9 (Provincia autonoma di Trento section lists Tre valli among the cheeses)gov