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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Italy, Lazio

Caciotta di mucca

Pasteurised cow milk is soured with a thermophilic starter or a home-made milk starter and set with calf rennet. The curd is broken small, sometimes cooked to 43 °C, moulded, held warm at 42–45 °C and brined. It ripens at 8 °C for 15 days to 6 months, from a soft young cheese to a firm, slightly piquant one. Made in 7 steps over 16 days – 6 months. The longest step, ripen, takes 15 days – 6 months (ARSIAL (Lazio regional agency for agricultura…) and runs at 8 °C (ARSIAL (Lazio regional agency for agricultura…). Thermophilic lactic starter cultures and Lactic bacteria of the naturally soured milk starter do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step15 days – 6 monthsSet[arsial-mucca]Ripen
Temperature8 °CSet[arsial-mucca]Ripen

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe sheet gives temperatures and times but no batch size. A cheese weighs 1.5–4 kg.
Whole cow milk from 2–4 milkings · Chilled and filtered through cloth or a centrifuge[arsial-mucca]
Thermophilic starter, or a milk starter (latto-innesto) · The milk starter is made every two days from milk left to sour at 4 °C for 24 hours[arsial-mucca]
Calf liquid rennet (lamb paste rennet in some dairies)[arsial-mucca]
Salt (brine)[arsial-mucca]
Chilli, pepper or rocket (to taste) · Flavoured version only[arsial-mucca]
Starter: thermophilic cultures (sometimes grown 24 hours ahead in boiled milk), or a milk starter soured at 4 °C for 24 hours

Total time across the recorded steps: 16 days – 6 months

Start
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65–75 °C

What changes: Chilled, filtered cow milk is pasteurised at 65–75 °C

Step 1 of 7
Chill, filter and pasteurise the milk
Time
0.2–0.5 min
Set
Temperature
65–75 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria

Output: pasteurised 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 general Lazio cow caciotta, made across the region with many local methods. The same cheese is sold young after two weeks or kept up to six months.

Rind
Soft and white on the young cheese; fairly hard, dry, straw to brownish on the aged one (ONAF)
Size
Cylinder, 1.5–4 kg

Related ferments

Variants

  • FreshSold after about 15 days; soft and sweet.
  • AgedUp to 6 months; firmer and slightly piquant.
  • FlavouredWith chilli, pepper or rocket.

Safety

The milk is pasteurised at 65–75 °C for 15–30 seconds before the starter goes in. 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

Cow caciotta has long been made across almost all of Lazio. For the Centrale del latte di Rieti, founded in May 1955, it has been one of the main products since at least the 1970s and 1980s, made only from local farmers' milk.

  1. [arsial-mucca] ARSIAL (Lazio regional agency for agricultural development), Lazio patrimonio agroalimentare, tra biodiversità e tradizione, PAT sheet 'Caciotta di mucca', p. 156gov
  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. 95 'Caciotta di mucca*' (* = hygiene derogation)gov
  3. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters), technical sheet 'Caciotta di mucca'web