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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Greece, West Macedonia

AnevatoΑνεβατό

Anevato is a soft, grainy Greek cheese made from raw sheep or goat milk, or a mix. The milk sours at 18–22 °C, is chilled for a day, then set slowly with a little rennet over 12 hours. The curd drains for 12 hours, is salted on the surface and ripens for at least two months. Made in 6 steps over 2.1 months. The longest step, ripen, takes at least 2 months (European Commission). Lactococcus lactis, the most abundant lactic species, dominant for the first 15 days and Lactobacilli, which take over after 30 days do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 2 monthsSet[anevato-pdo]Ripen
Temperature18–22 °CSet[anevato-pdo]Sour the milk
Fully documentedCheese2.1 monthsPDO (Reg. (EC) 1107/96; Greek ministerial decision 313060/17.1.94)Family: Fresh lactic (acid-set) cheese familyMore fresh acid-set cheesesMore from Greece

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe PDO summary fixes temperatures and times but gives no amounts; the rennet dose is only "a little".
Sheep milk, goat milk or both · From traditionally reared flocks in the PDO area[anevato-pdo]
Natural milk flora · The milk is left to sour on its own before renneting[anevato-pdo][hatzikamari1999]
Rennet (a little)[anevato-pdo]
Salt · Rubbed on the surface after draining[anevato-pdo]
Starter: spontaneous (milk's own lactic flora)

Total time across the recorded steps: 2.1 months

Start
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Milk sugarLactic acid18–22 °Cshapes, not to countLactic acid bacteria

What changes: Raw sheep or goat milk sours on its own until it reaches 35 °D

Step 1 of 6
Sour the milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
18–22 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria
Lactococcus lactis
Lactobacilli

Output: soured milk.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

the milk's own lactic bacteria turn lactose into lactic acid

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

Anevato is soured first and chilled for a day, and only then set with a little rennet at a cool 12–14 °C, slowly over 12 hours. Its PDO also requires at least two months of ripening, so it is a ripened spread rather than a fresh one.

Milk
Sheep milk, goat milk or a mix
Ripening
At least 2 months
Rind
None; soft, grainy cheese

Related ferments

Safety

In a study of nine raw goat-milk batches, Gram-negative bacteria and coliforms were high, and lower in cheese made in March and May, when the pH was lower and lactic bacteria were higher. The authors advised better milk quality or heat-treated milk, and suggested Lactococcus lactis as a starter to suppress unwanted organisms.

History and sources

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

The PDO file says the cheese has been made by a traditional method for many years and ripens inside the delimited area. It was registered as a PDO in 1996.

  1. [anevato-pdo] European Commission, Anevato PDO (PDO-GR-0438), registration summary sheet under Reg. (EC) 1107/96, summarising Greek ministerial decision 313060/17.1.94 (Italian and Greek versions)spec
  2. [hatzikamari1999] Hatzikamari M., Litopoulou-Tzanetaki E., Tzanetakis N. 1999, Microbiological characteristics of Anevato, a traditional Greek cheese, Journal of Applied Microbiology 87(4):595–601 (abstract)paper
  3. [michailidou2021] Michailidou S. et al. 2021, Microbial profiles of Greek PDO cheeses assessed with amplicon metabarcoding, Food Microbiology 99:103836 (abstract)paper