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Cheese from Italy, Sicily, Valle del Belìce

Vastedda della Valle del Belìce PDOVastedda della valle del Belìce

Raw whole milk of Valle del Belìce sheep is set with lamb rennet paste at 36–40 °C in 40–50 minutes in a wooden vat, broken to rice-grain size and left in rush baskets at room temperature for 24–48 hours to sour to pH 4.7–5.5. The sliced curd is stretched under whey or water at 80–90 °C, shaped into balls and set in deep ceramic dishes. After 30 minutes to 2 hours in saturated brine it is eaten fresh, 12–48 hours later.

Fully documentedCheese37 h – 4.1 daysPDO (EU), entered in the register by Commission Regulation (EU) No 971/2010 of 28 October 2010Family: Pasta filata (stretched-curd) cheese family

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceRennet dose is per 100 litres of milk; the specification gives no batch size. Each cheese weighs 500–700 g.
Raw whole milk of Valle del Belìce sheep from the areaEvening and next morning's milk, worked within 48 hours of the first milking[vastedda-disc][vastedda-eu2010]
Lamb rennet paste made in the area, dissolved in warm water60–100 g per 100 litres of milkFrom the abomasum of 25–35-day-old suckling lambs, salted, dried and mixed five parts paste to one part salt[vastedda-disc]
Saturated brine of cooking salt[vastedda-disc]
Starterno starter culture is added; the curd ferments naturally in rush baskets

Total time across the recorded steps: 37 h – 4.1 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
shapes, not to countLactic acid bacteriaS. gallolyticusS. thermophilusLactococcus lactis36–40 °C

What changes: Lamb rennet paste sets the raw ewe milk at 36–40 °C

Step 1 of 7
Set with lamb rennet paste
Time
40–50 min
Set
Temperature
36–40 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria
S. gallolyticus
S. thermophilus
Lactococcus lactis
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 whole milk of Valle del Belìce sheep is set with lamb rennet paste at 36–40 °C in 40–50 minutes in a wooden vat, broken to rice-grain size and left in rush baskets at room temperature for 24–48 hours to sour to pH 4.7–5.5. The sliced curd is stretched under whey or water at 80–90 °C, shaped into balls and set in deep ceramic dishes. After 30 minutes to 2 hours in saturated brine it is eaten fresh, 12–48 hours later. Made in 7 steps over 37 h – 4.1 days. The longest step, sour in rush baskets, takes 24 h – 2 days (Disciplinare di produzione della DOP 'Vastedd…). Autochthonous lactic acid bacteria; the commonest in winter and spring cheeses were Streptococcus gallolyticus subsp. macedonicus, Streptococcus thermophilus, Lactococcus lactis and Leuconostoc mesenteroides does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step24 h – 2 daysSet[vastedda-disc]Sour in rush baskets
Temperature36–40 °CSet[vastedda-disc]Set with lamb rennet paste
AciditypH 4.7–5.5Set[vastedda-disc]Sour in rush baskets

What makes this one different

One of very few stretched-curd cheeses made from sheep milk; the raw curd sours for a day or two in rush baskets before it is stretched, and it is eaten fresh.

Milk
Raw whole milk of Valle del Belìce sheep
Ripening
None; eaten fresh, 12–48 hours after salting, and packed in polyethylene
Composition
At least 35 % fat in dry matter (18 % on the fresh cheese); salt at most 2.7 % of the fresh cheese

Related ferments

Safety

The specification requires the milk to be worked within 48 hours of the first milking and allows it to be chilled. The curd is stretched at 80–90 °C, the shaped loaves sit 30 minutes to 2 hours in saturated brine, and the cheese is sold fresh 12–48 hours later, packed at the dairy where it was made because it is a "living" product rich in changing microorganisms. The curd is ready to stretch at pH 4.7–5.5. A study of the cheese found enterobacteria at 3.3–5.6 log CFU/g in some samples.

Hazards the sources name: Enterobacteria, when present, at 3.3–5.6 log CFU/g.

History and sources

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

The specification says the name comes from the vastedde, the deep ceramic dishes in which the stretched cheese is set to firm into a loaf shape. It adds that the name may also come from "vasta", meaning spoiled, because local cheesemakers tried to recover fresh cheeses made in summer that had gone off in the heat. The EU entered the name in the PDO register on 28 October 2010.

  1. [vastedda-disc] Disciplinare di produzione della DOP 'Vastedda della valle del Belìce' (Article 5, method of production; copy hosted by ONAF)spec
  2. [vastedda-eu2010] Single document, 'Vastedda della valle del Belìce', EC No IT-PDO-0005-0661-26.11.2007, Official Journal of the European Union C 42, 19.2.2010 (Publications Office copy)spec
  3. [vastedda-reg971] Commission Regulation (EU) No 971/2010 of 28 October 2010 entering a name in the register of protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications (Vastedda della valle del Belìce (PDO)), Official Journal of the European Union L 283, 29.10.2010, pp. 23-24 (Publications Office copy)spec
  4. [gaglio2014] Gaglio R, Francesca N, Di Gerlando R, Cruciata M, Guarcello R, Portolano B, Moschetti G, Settanni L (2014). Identification, typing and investigation of the dairy characteristics of lactic acid bacteria isolated from 'Vastedda della valle del Belìce' cheeses. Dairy Science & Technology 94:157–180, doi:10.1007/s13594-013-0150-5paper