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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Italy, Lazio

Caciotta di bufala pontina

Caciotta di bufala pontina is a small soft cheese of whole buffalo milk from the Pontine plain, made mostly in autumn and winter instead of mozzarella and other stretched-curd cheeses. Milk with lactic cultures is set with liquid calf rennet at 38 °C, cut to rice-grain size, lifted out in a cloth into cylindrical moulds, then salted in saturated brine for 10 hours. It is sold fresh or after 30 days at 8–12 °C. Made in 7 steps over 31 days. The longest step, sell fresh or ripen 30 days, takes 30 days (ARSIAL (Lazio regional agency for agricultura…) and runs at 8–12 °C (ARSIAL (Lazio regional agency for agricultura…). Added lactic cultures, thermophilic according to ONAF does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step30 daysReported[arsial2025][onaf-cacbuf]Sell fresh or ripen 30 days
Temperature8–12 °CReported[arsial2025][onaf-cacbuf]Sell fresh or ripen 30 days

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedTraditional dairy cheese with no fixed batch size. Each cheese weighs 1–5 kg.
Whole buffalo milk · From Mediterranean buffalo; raw or pasteurised (ARSIAL); ONAF lists raw for the Pontine type[arsial2025][onaf-cacbuf]
Lactic cultures · Thermophilic cultures (ONAF)[arsial2025][onaf-cacbuf]
Liquid calf rennet[arsial2025][onaf-cacbuf]
Salt · As saturated brine[arsial2025]
Starter: lactic cultures (thermophilic)

Total time across the recorded steps: 31 days

Start
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What changes: Starting material: whole milk from Mediterranean buffalo

Step 1 of 7
Take whole buffalo milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Made mainly in autumn and winter, when buffalo milk is turned into caciotta rather than pasta filata.

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

Most Pontine buffalo milk becomes mozzarella, scamorza or provola. This caciotta is the alternative made mainly in autumn and winter, a soft moulded cheese that is salted in brine and ripened up to a month rather than stretched.

Rind
Thin, light yellow
Size
1–5 kg; cylinder with flat faces

Related ferments

Variants

  • FreshSold soon after brining
  • RipenedAbout 30 days at 8–12 °C on wooden boards

Safety

The milk may be raw or pasteurised, and the cheese is eaten fresh or after up to 30 days. No safety study of this cheese was found.

History and sources

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

Buffalo caciotta is a long-standing product of the buffalo-rearing areas of Lazio, especially the Pontine plain, made by tradition as an alternative to the stretched-curd cheeses, mostly in autumn and winter. ONAF reports oral, family and municipal-archive traces of it.

  1. [arsial2025] ARSIAL (Lazio regional agency for agricultural development), Lazio Patrimonio Agroalimentare, PAT sheet 'Caciotta di bufala pontina' (2025)gov
  2. [onaf-cacbuf] ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Formaggi), scheda 'Caciotta di bufala e Caciotta di bufala Pontina' (PAT Lazio)web