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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Italy, Basilicata

Caciocavallo PodolicoCaciocavallo Podolico Lucano

Raw milk from grazing Podolica cows is set with calf or kid paste rennet in a wooden vat. The curd sours for 4–5 hours under hot whey and the previous day's whey starter, then is stretched in boiling water and shaped by hand into a pear-shaped cheese. After brining it ripens for months, or for years in the largest forms, in cellars or caves. Made in 10 steps over 6.1 months – 5 years. The longest step, ripen in a cellar or cave, takes 6 months – 5 years (Di Trana A. et al. 2023). Lactobacilli, which make up 94.19–100 % of the bacteria in the ripened cheese and Streptococci and lactobacilli of the wooden-vat biofilm (94.74–99.70 % of its bacteria), which seed the milk do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step6 months – 5 yearsReported[ditrana2023][slowfood-cpl]Ripen in a cellar or cave
Temperature35–38 °CSet[alsia-cacio]Filter and warm the milk
Fully documentedCheese6.1 months – 5 yearsTraditional food product (PAT, Basilicata); Slow Food PresidiumFamily: Pasta filata (stretched-curd) cheese familyMore stretched-curd cheesesMore from Italy

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe ALSIA sheet gives temperatures and times but no batch size. A finished cheese weighs 2–3 kg; large forms of 4–8 kg are kept for the longest ripening.
Raw cow milk · From Podolica cows or their crosses, or from cows at pasture; filtered[alsia-cacio][ditrana2023]
Calf or kid paste rennet · Kid rennet gives the most piquant cheese[alsia-cacio]
Whey starter (cizza) · Whey kept from the previous day's make[alsia-cacio]
Salt (saturated brine)[alsia-cacio]
Starter: whey starter (cizza) from the previous day's make, plus the lactic bacteria living in the wooden vat

Total time across the recorded steps: 6.1 months – 5 years

Start
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35–38 °C

What changes: Raw Podolica milk is filtered and warmed over a wood fire

Step 1 of 10
Filter and warm the milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
35–38 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactobacilli
Lactic acid bacteria

Output: warm raw 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

Made only from the raw milk of the grazing Podolica breed, in wooden vats whose biofilm seeds the milk. It ripens far longer than most caciocavallo, up to 4–5 years for large forms.

Milk
Raw milk of Podolica cows or their crosses, or of other cows at pasture
Ripening
6 and 12 months in one study; large forms up to 4–5 years
Season
The grazing season (ALSIA); all year with a peak from March to May (Slow Food)
Composition
At 6 and 12 months, fat 30–32 and protein 31–32 g/100 g; naturally lactose-free
Size
2–3 kg, pear-shaped; widest 20–22 cm, 25–30 cm high with the head

Related ferments

Variants

  • Caciocavallo podolico dauno (Puglia)Gargano and Sub-Appennino Dauno version with a longer shape and smaller head.
  • Caciocavallo podolico dei Monti Picentini (Campania)Campanian Podolica caciocavallo.

Safety

Made from raw milk. In a study of four dairies the only undesirable bacteria found were coagulase-positive staphylococci.

Hazards the sources name: Coagulase-positive staphylococci (the only undesirable group detected in four dairies).

History and sources

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

The ALSIA sheet cites the 1811 statistical survey of the Kingdom of Naples among its historical records. The Podolica, once the main cattle breed of southern Italy, is down to about 25,000 animals. The Slow Food Presidium was set up with ANFOSC, the association of pasture cheesemakers.

  1. [alsia-cacio] ALSIA (Basilicata regional agency for development and innovation in agriculture), Prodotti tradizionali della Basilicata (D.M. 350/99), sheet 'Caciocavallo' (copy held by ONAF)gov
  2. [ditrana2023] Di Trana A. et al. 2023, Caciocavallo Podolico cheese, a traditional agri-food product of the region of Basilicata, Italy, Foods 12(23):4339paper
  3. [busetta2023] Busetta G. et al. 2023, Metagenomic, microbiological, chemical and sensory profiling of Caciocavallo Podolico Lucano cheese, Food Research International 169:112926 (abstract)paper
  4. [slowfood-cpl] Fondazione Slow Food, Presidium 'Caciocavallo podolico della Basilicata'web