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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Italy, Campania

Caciocavallo affumicato

Raw cow milk, traditionally from white Podolica-type cows, is set with lamb or kid rennet, and the curd is left to sour on a table for 4–10 hours until it stretches. It is spun in water at 90–95 °C, shaped into a pear with a small head, brined and hung in pairs over poles in smoke from wood or straw. It then ripens 60 days to over a year in cool rooms or caves and turns piquant. Made in 8 steps over 2 months. The longest step, ripen, takes at least 2 months (Regione Campania 2015). Lactic bacteria of the raw milk, which acidify the curd on the table does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 2 monthsSet[campania-pat]Ripen
Temperature36–38 °CReported[onaf-sheet]Set with lamb or kid rennet
Fully documentedCheese2 monthsTraditional food product (PAT, Campania)Family: Pasta filata (stretched-curd) cheese familyMore stretched-curd cheesesMore from Italy

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedNo source gives a batch size. A cheese weighs 0.5–2.0 kg on the ONAF sheet.
Raw whole cow milk · Traditionally from white-coated cows of Podolica stock[campania-pat][onaf-sheet]
Lamb or kid rennet[onaf-sheet]
Salt (brine)[onaf-sheet]
Wood or natural straw · For the smoke[campania-pat]
Starter: none; the curd sours with the milk's own lactic bacteria

Total time across the recorded steps: 2 months

Start
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What changes: Starting material: raw whole cow milk in the vat

Step 1 of 8
Warm 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 whole 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

The smoked form of the Campania caciocavallo. The cheeses are hung in pairs in wood or straw smoke, the old practice near the hearth that gave the cheese its name, before months of ripening.

Rind
Fairly thin, smooth, matt; straw to orange
Size
0.5–2.0 kg; rounded and elongated with a small head and a plant-fibre tie (ONAF)
Ripening
60 days to more than 12 months

Related ferments

Variants

  • Matese straw-ripenedIn parts of Caserta province the last stage of ripening takes place in straw.

Safety

Made from raw milk and ripened at least 60 days.

History and sources

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

The name comes from the old habit of hanging the cheeses in pairs, tied with a plant-fibre loop, astride wooden poles near the hearth, where they formed a skin and then ripened. The cheese is made across southern Italy, with many local forms.

  1. [campania-pat] Regione Campania, Prodotti agro-alimentari tradizionali, 'Caciocavallo affumicato, del Matese, di bufala, Podolico, di Castelfranco' (updated 13 March 2015; copy hosted by ONAF)gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters), technical sheet 'Caciocavallo affumicato'web