Skip to main content
Support

Browse by category

All categories
Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Italy, Puglia

Burrata di Andria PGIBurrata di Andria

A pouch of fresh stretched cow-milk curd filled with stracciatella, hand-torn shreds of the same curd soaked in cream. The milk is soured either by lactic starters or by adding citric or lactic acid, so some burrata involves no fermentation at all. It is set with rennet, stretched in boiling water, filled and tied, and must be kept at about 4 °C and eaten fresh. Selected lactic cultures, milk starter or whey starter, when used to acidify the milk does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Temperature72 °CSet[andria-disc][andria-sd2020]Collect and, if chosen, pasteurise the milk
AciditypH 6.3Measured[dicerbo2020]Pack and keep cold

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe specification gives no amounts or ratio of cream to curd. Each burrata weighs 100 g to 1 kg.
Cow milk, raw or pasteurised · Fat above 3.30 %, protein above 3.20 %; pH 6.60–6.80 at the dairy[andria-disc]
Citric or lactic acid, or a starter (selected cultures, milk starter or whey starter) · Either route is allowed to acidify the milk[andria-disc]
Calf rennet or microbial coagulant[andria-disc]
Cream · From centrifuged milk or fresh whey, pasteurised; or bought pasteurised or UHT cream[andria-disc][andria-sd2020]
Salt · In brine, in the curd while stretching, or in the cream[andria-disc]
Starter: selected cultures, milk starter or whey starter; or none when the milk is acidified with citric or lactic acid
Start
Drag the bar or press Play
72 °CpH 6.6–6.8

What changes: Cow milk is used raw or briefly pasteurised at 72 °C

Step 1 of 9
Collect and, if chosen, pasteurise the milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
72 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
pH 6.6–6.8
Set

Output: cow 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 mozzarella, the stretched curd is only a casing; inside is stracciatella, torn curd soaked in cream. The PGI allows the milk to be acidified with citric or lactic acid instead of a starter.

Milk
Cow milk, raw or pasteurised, plus cream
Ripening
None; a fresh cheese kept at 4 °C ±2
Size
100 g to 1 kg

Related ferments

Variants

  • Lactose-free lineLactose below 0.1 g per 100 g.

Safety

Burrata has high moisture, little salt (about 0.4 %) and a pH above 6, which do not stop pathogens or spoilage bacteria. A survey of PGI samples found some E. coli and staphylococcus counts at borderline or unsatisfactory hygiene levels, so keep it at 2–6 °C and eat it fresh.

Hazards the sources name: Escherichia coli and coagulase-positive staphylococci, at borderline or unsatisfactory hygiene levels in some of 21 PGI samples; Yersinia enterocolitica, a non-pathogenic strain, in 9 of 21 samples.

History and sources

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

Local tradition credits Lorenzo Bianchino, on a farm near Andria early in the 20th century. Snow kept him from taking his milk to town, so he wrapped leftover curd scraps and cream in a casing of stretched curd, as was done for butter in manteca. A 1931 Touring Club guide mentions it.

  1. [andria-disc] MASAF 2023, Disciplinare di produzione 'Burrata di Andria' IGP (consolidated specification, September 2023)spec
  2. [andria-sd2020] European Commission 2020, Burrata di Andria PGI, amendment application and single document (PGI-IT-01393-AM01), Official Journal of the EU C 408, 27.11.2020, p. 9spec
  3. [andria-sd2024] European Commission 2024, Burrata di Andria PGI, standard amendment and single document (PGI-IT-01393-AM02), Official Journal of the EU C/2024/1948spec
  4. [dicerbo2020] Di Cerbo A. et al. 2020, 'Burrata di Andria' PGI cheese, physicochemical and microbiological features, Foods 9(11):1694paper