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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Spain, Catalonia

Queso de l'Alt Urgell y la Cerdanyaformatge de l'Alt Urgell i la Cerdanya

This is a soft, creamy pressed cheese of pasteurised whole milk from Friesian cows in two Pyrenean valleys. The milk is held 30 minutes at 30–33 °C to set, the curd is drained, moulded, pressed and brined, and the rind is seeded with aromatic surface cultures. It ripens at least 45 days. Made in 7 steps over 45 days. The longest step, ripen in the caves, takes at least 45 days (Ministerio de Agricultura 2000) and runs at 11–14 °C (ICEX). Added lactic starter cultures and Aromatic surface cultures seeded on the rind do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 45 daysSet[pliego][icex]Ripen in the caves
Temperature11–14 °CReported[icex]Ripen in the caves

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe specification gives temperatures and times but no batch amounts. A cheese weighs about 2.5 kg.
Whole milk of Friesian cows from Alt Urgell and Cerdanya · Acidity no higher than 16 °Dornic; pasteurised and homogenised[pliego]
Lactic starter cultures (fermentos lácteos)[pliego]
Salt · As a brine bath[pliego]
Aromatic surface cultures · Seeded on the rind in the first days of ripening[pliego][icex]
Calcium chloride; pimaricin for the surface (optional) · The only additives allowed; no colourings[pliego]
Starter: lactic starter cultures

Total time across the recorded steps: 45 days

Start
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What changes: The whole milk is homogenised and pasteurised

Step 1 of 7
Homogenise and pasteurise the milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Output: pasteurised whole milk.

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

What makes this one different

Unlike most Spanish pressed cheeses, its rind is deliberately seeded with aromatic surface cultures in the first days of ripening, which gives it a soft, creamy paste after only 45 days. One cooperative makes it.

Rind
Natural, slightly moist, light brown, smelling of the surface cultures
Size
About 2.5 kg; cylinder 195–200 mm across with rounded edges
Composition
Dry matter at least 54 %, fat in dry matter at least 50 %, sodium chloride 1.5 to 2.5 %

Related ferments

Safety

The milk is pasteurised, and the specification limits Clostridium tyrobutyricum spores in the milk to 2000 per litre to prevent late blowing.

History and sources

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

The Cooperativa del Cadí was founded in 1915 to raise beef cattle, and imported Swiss cattle soon left a milk surplus that went into cheese. Better methods were brought in from 1930. From the 1940s to the 1960s it was the main cheese sold in Barcelona.

  1. [pliego] Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación, Pliego de condiciones de la Denominación de Origen Protegida 'Queso de l'Alt Urgell y la Cerdanya' (21 February 2000; archived copy)spec
  2. [icex] ICEX, Foods & Wines from Spain, 'Alt Urgell-Cerdanya cheese' (PDO product page)gov