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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Italy, Lazio

Cacio di GenazzanoPecorino di Genazzano

Raw ewe milk is set with lamb rennet in a tinned copper cauldron, skimmed of its foam, broken to rice-grain size and reheated to 41–43 °C. The curd drains in baskets with a wooden reed pushed into its centre, is dry-salted for several days, dried on boards for a month and ripened in a wooden chest for 3 to 6 months. Made in 9 steps over 4.1 months – 7.2 months. The longest step, ripen in a wooden chest, takes 3–6 months (ARSIAL (Lazio regional agency for agricultura…) and runs at 12–14 °C (ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters)). Salt is 3.5 % (ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters)). Lactic bacteria of the raw ewe milk does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step3–6 monthsSet[arsial-genazzano]Ripen in a wooden chest
Temperature12–14 °CReported[onaf-sheet]Ripen in a wooden chest
Salt3.5 %Reported[onaf-sheet]Dry-salt

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe ARSIAL sheet gives temperatures and times but no batch size. The rennet and salt amounts come from the ONAF technical sheet. A wheel weighs 1.5 to 4–5 kg.
Raw ewe milk from two milkings · Comisana, Sarda and Massese ewes and their crosses; the evening milk is chilled, the morning milk is used at once[arsial-genazzano]
5 g per 10 L of milkLamb or kid paste rennet · Diluted in water before use; by tradition made on the farm from slaughtered lambs (one maker's sheet)[arsial-genazzano][onaf-sheet]
3.5 % of the wheel's weightSalt · Rubbed on dry in two halves (one maker's sheet); some makers also brine the wheels[arsial-genazzano][onaf-sheet]
Starternone; the raw milk's own flora

Total time across the recorded steps: 4.1 months – 7.2 months

Start
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What changes: Starting material: raw ewe milk from two milkings in a copper cauldron

Step 1 of 9
Collect 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: raw ewe milk from the evening and morning milkings.

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

The cheese is semi-cooked at 41–43 °C. ONAF notes two steps it has not found in any other Lazio cheese, skimming the foam off the setting milk and draining the curd through a wooden reed. It ripens shut in a wooden chest, not on open shelves.

Rind
Thin, smooth, straw-yellow
Size
Cylinder with flat faces, 1.5 to 4–5 kg
Season
Made from September or October to May

Related ferments

Variants

  • Da tavola (table)Ripened about 3 months.
  • Da grattugia (grating)Ripened 5–6 months; harder and flaky.

Safety

Made from raw milk and ripened at least 3 months. The Lazio list marks it as allowed to use derogations from the standard hygiene rules for its traditional methods.

History and sources

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

Local shepherds trace the cheese back more than 100 years. Private land-rent contracts from Genazzano dated 1958 list "formaggio secco" among the farm goods paid to the landowner as rent.

  1. [arsial-genazzano] ARSIAL (Lazio regional agency for agricultural development), Lazio patrimonio agroalimentare, tra biodiversità e tradizione, PAT sheet 'Cacio di Genazzano', p. 149gov
  2. [pat-lazio] Regione Lazio and ARSIAL, PAT Lazio 2026, Lazio section of the national list of traditional agri-food products (law 238/2016, art. 12), no. 83 'Cacio di Genazzano*' (* = hygiene derogation)gov
  3. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters), technical sheet 'Cacio di Genazzano'web