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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Italy, Campania

Bocconcini alla panna di bufala

Whole buffalo milk is thermised or pasteurised, soured with whey kept from the last make and set with calf rennet. The curd sours under its whey until it stretches, is spun in water at 90–95 °C and pinched by hand into cherry-size balls. After a short brine the cherries are packed in buffalo cream. Made in 6 steps over 4 h – 4.5 h. The longest step, break the curd and let it sour under the whey, takes 4–4.5 h (Villani F. et al. 1996). Thermophilic lactic acid bacteria of the natural whey starter does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step4–4.5 hMeasured[villani1996]Break the curd and let it sour under the whey
Temperature35–38 °CReported[onaf-sheet]Add whey starter and rennet
AciditypH 4.8–4.9Measured[villani1996]Break the curd and let it sour under the whey
Fully documentedCheese4 h – 4.5 hPAT (traditional agri-food product, Regione Campania)Family: Pasta filata (stretched-curd) cheese familyMore stretched-curd cheesesMore from Italy

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe regional sheet gives temperatures and sizes, not amounts. Packs hold 0.5–1.0 kg of cherries of about 60–65 g each.
Whole buffalo milk · Italian Mediterranean buffalo; thermised or pasteurised[onaf-sheet]
Acid whey starter (sieroinnesto) from the previous make[onaf-sheet]
Calf rennet[onaf-sheet]
Hot water · 90–95 °C, for stretching[onaf-sheet]
Salt · In the brine[onaf-sheet]
Buffalo cream · The cherries are packed in it[onaf-sheet][pat-sheet]
Starter: natural acid whey starter (sieroinnesto) from the previous make

Total time across the recorded steps: 4 h – 4.5 h

Start
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What changes: Whole buffalo milk is thermised or pasteurised in the vat

Step 1 of 6
Heat-treat the milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria

Output: thermised or pasteurised whole buffalo 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

These are buffalo mozzarella cherries packed in buffalo cream instead of the sour liquid that Mozzarella di Bufala Campana is sold in. They are made in the same area, from thermised or pasteurised milk, and the PAT dates them to at least 25 years.

Rind
None or a thin skin; smooth, glossy, damp, bluish porcelain white
Size
Cherries 3–6 cm, about 60–65 g each; packs 0.5–1.0 kg
Age
Fresh; kept a few days only

Related ferments

Safety

The milk is thermised or pasteurised. In a challenge study on buffalo mozzarella, the curd's 4–4.5 h souring did not reduce Listeria, stretching at 95 °C cut it by about 2 log, and storage in the acidic liquid (about pH 4.0) removed it within 24–48 h. These cherries sit in cream instead, so keep them cold and eat them within days.

Hazards the sources name: Listeria monocytogenes (in a challenge study on buffalo mozzarella, cut by about 2 log by stretching at 95 °C).

History and sources

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

Witnesses in the area confirm it has been made for at least 25 years; Campania lists it among its traditional agri-food products.

  1. [onaf-sheet] ONAF technical sheet, Bocconcini alla panna di bufala, compiled from the Regione Campania PAT recordweb
  2. [pat-sheet] Regione Campania, Prodotti tradizionali, Bocconcini alla panna di bufala (updated 13 March 2015)gov
  3. [villani1996] Villani F. et al. 1996, Behaviour of Listeria monocytogenes during the traditional manufacture of water-buffalo Mozzarella cheese, Letters in Applied Microbiology 22:357–360 (abstract)paper
  4. [ercolini2012] Ercolini D., De Filippis F., La Storia A., Iacono M. 2012, "Remake" by high-throughput sequencing of the microbiota involved in the production of water buffalo mozzarella cheese, Applied and Environmental Microbiology 78:8142–8145 (abstract)paper
  5. [dop-mbc] Publication of an amendment application for 'Mozzarella di Bufala Campana' PDO, Official Journal of the EU C 90, 25.4.2007, pp. 5–9 (section 4.5, method of production)spec
  6. [onaf] ONAF, scheda formaggio 'Bocconcini alla panna di bufala' (id 1137)web