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Cheese from Italy, Basilicata

Treccia di Massa di Maratea

Raw cow milk is soured with the previous day's whey, warmed over the fire and set with calf rennet at 35 °C in 40–60 minutes. The curd drains on a table, then ripens 3–4 hours under a wool blanket until a piece stretches in 85–90 °C water. It is stretched in hot water, braided into small flat plaits and brined 4–5 minutes.

Fully documentedCheese3.9 h – 5.3 hTraditional food product (PAT, Basilicata)Family: Pasta filata (stretched-curd) cheese family

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe sheets give no doses. Each plait weighs about 100 g.
Whole raw cow milk, filtered[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Acid whey from the previous day's make[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Calf rennet[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Brine (salimura)[pat-sheet]
Starteracid whey from the previous day's make

Total time across the recorded steps: 3.9 h – 5.3 h

Start
Drag the bar or press Play

What changes: The previous day's sour whey goes into the filtered milk as it warms

Step 1 of 6
Add yesterday's whey and warm the milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactococcus lactis
S. thermophilus
Enterococcus faecium
Streptococcus
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 is soured with the previous day's whey, warmed over the fire and set with calf rennet at 35 °C in 40–60 minutes. The curd drains on a table, then ripens 3–4 hours under a wool blanket until a piece stretches in 85–90 °C water. It is stretched in hot water, braided into small flat plaits and brined 4–5 minutes. Made in 6 steps over 3.9 h – 5.3 h. The longest step, ripen the curd under a wool blanket, takes 3–4 h (ALSIA (Agenzia lucana di sviluppo e innovazio…). In a related product, the natural whey starter of cow's milk used for caciocavallo, sampled in a 2022 study of two artisanal Campania dairies (this cheese's own starter was not tested), culture found Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis, Streptococcus thermophilus and Enterococcus faecium, and sequencing found mostly Streptococcus (read as S. salivarius) with some Lactococcus lactis does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step3–4 hReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Ripen the curd under a wool blanket
Temperature35 °CReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Set with calf rennet

What makes this one different

A very small, thin plait from one hamlet of Maratea, soured with yesterday's whey and ripened under a wool blanket before stretching.

Size
Plait 4–5 cm wide, 10–11 cm long, 2 cm thick, about 100 g
Keeping
Up to 3 days in plain water
Season
Made all year

Related ferments

Safety

Made from raw milk; the curd is stretched in near-boiling water and the cheese is eaten within 3 days.

History and sources

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

The ONAF sheet says the women of Massa turned milk into braided mozzarelle and caciocavalli to feed their families and keep the milk, handing the craft from mother to daughter. Testimonies collected in the area show it has been made for at least 25 years. It was declared a traditional food product and entered in the Basilicata regional list.

  1. [pat-sheet] ALSIA (Agenzia lucana di sviluppo e innovazione in agricoltura), traditional food products (PAT) of Basilicata, sheet 'Treccia di Massa di Maratea' (copy hosted by ONAF)gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters), technical sheet 'Treccia di Massa di Maratea'web
  3. [foods2022-nws] Marasco R., Gazzillo M., Campolattano N., Sacco M., Muscariello L. (2022), Isolation and Identification of Lactic Acid Bacteria from Natural Whey Cultures of Buffalo and Cow Milk, Foods 11(2):233 (natural whey starters from two artisanal dairies in Campania)paper