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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Italy, Molise

Burrino

A ball of butter churned from whey cream is sealed inside a pouch of stretched cow-milk curd, brined and ripened at least two months. Shepherds devised it to keep butter away from the air for weeks. Sliced across, it shows a white or pale yellow butter heart. Made in 7 steps over 2 months. The longest step, ripen in a cool, airy room, takes at least 2 months (ERSA Molise (Agenzia Regionale per lo Svilupp…). Lactic flora of the whey starter, which acidifies the curd and keeps unwanted flora down does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 2 monthsReported[ersa-molise][onaf-sheet]Ripen in a cool, airy room
Temperature90 °CReported[ersa-molise][onaf-sheet]Stretch the curd in hot water
Fully documentedCheese2 monthsPAT (traditional agri-food product, Regione Molise)Family: Pasta filata (stretched-curd) cheese familyMore stretched-curd cheesesMore from Italy

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe regional sheets give no amounts. Each burrino weighs 0.2–0.3 kg.
Whole cow milk, raw or thermised · From local breeds kept mostly at pasture[ersa-molise][onaf-sheet]
Whey starter (siero-innesto) · More is added when the milk has been heat-treated[ersa-molise]
Liquid calf rennet[onaf-sheet]
Whey butter · From the cream of the whey left by a previous stretched-curd make[ersa-molise][onaf-sheet]
Salt · For the brine[ersa-molise]
Starter: whey starter (siero-innesto) from earlier makes

Total time across the recorded steps: 2 months

Start
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What changes: Cream from leftover whey is churned and the butter separates out

Step 1 of 7
Churn the whey butter
Time
24 h
Reported
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria

The whey left from an earlier stretched-curd make is centrifuged to take off its cream. Output: whey butter, formed into balls firmed in running water.

Flavour
butter
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

Burrino hides a heart of whey butter inside a casing of stretched cow-milk curd and is ripened at least two months. Burrata, by contrast, is filled with cream and curd shreds and eaten fresh.

Rind
Very thin, glossy, straw-yellow (especially when made in spring)
Size
200–300 g; 6–8 cm across; round with a small head
Fat
60–70 % fat in dry matter
Boundary
The butter heart is churned cream, not a ferment; only the casing is cheese

Related ferments

Variants

  • MantecaThe name used in many southern Italian regions, from Spanish mantequilla (butter).

Safety

The regional sheet notes that the raw milk comes from cows free of brucellosis and tuberculosis. When contamination is more likely, the milk is heat-treated and more whey starter is added. Souring the curd and stretching it in water at 90 °C, which brings the paste to about 64–65 °C, further cut unwanted microbes.

History and sources

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

Shepherds in inland southern Italy devised it to keep butter; sealed in stretched curd away from the air, it kept for many weeks. It is cited in La Cucina Italiana (July 1960) and the INSOR atlas of typical cheeses.

  1. [ersa-molise] ERSA Molise (Agenzia Regionale per lo Sviluppo Agricolo, Rurale e della Pesca), L'atlante dei prodotti tradizionali del Molise, Burrino (Manteca)gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF technical sheet, Burrino - Manteca (PAT Regione Molise)web
  3. [onaf] ONAF, scheda formaggio 'Burrino' (id 402)web