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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Italy, Lazio

Caciotta mista ai bronzi

Half ewe and half cow milk is soured with a mesophilic starter and set with calf rennet at 40 °C. The curd is broken to peanut size, pressed into moulds and dry-salted for 48 hours. After drying, the cheeses are rubbed with oil and vinegar and ripen 30 days in wooden chests, then 45 more days standing on edge in cone-shaped wooden tubs called bronzi. Made in 8 steps over 2.8 months – 3 months. The longest step, finish in the bronzi, takes 45 days (ARSIAL (Lazio regional agency for agricultura…). Mesophilic lactic starter cultures does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step45 daysSet[arsial-bronzi]Finish in the bronzi
Temperature65 °CSet[arsial-bronzi]Prepare the milk

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe sheet gives temperatures and times but no batch size. A cheese weighs 0.7–1.0 kg on the ONAF sheet.
50 %Ewe milk[arsial-bronzi]
50 %Cow milk[arsial-bronzi]
Mesophilic starter culture[arsial-bronzi]
Calf liquid rennet[arsial-bronzi]
Salt · Rubbed on dry[arsial-bronzi]
Oil and vinegar · Rubbed on the rind before ripening[arsial-bronzi]
Startermesophilic cultures added at 41 °C

Total time across the recorded steps: 2.8 months – 3 months

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
65 °C

What changes: Equal parts ewe and cow milk are used raw or held at 65 °C in the vat

Step 1 of 8
Prepare the milk
Time
20 min
Set
Temperature
65 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Output: mixed ewe and cow milk, chilled to 4 °C.

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

A mixed-milk version of Pecorino ai bronzi. After a month in wooden chests it finishes standing on edge in cloth-covered wooden tubs, which the makers used to keep damp away from the cheese.

Rind
Thin, fairly hard, dry, straw-yellow (ONAF)
Milk
Ewe and cow milk, half and half
Size
Cylinder with a side; 0.7–1.0 kg and a 7 cm side (ONAF)

Related ferments

Safety

Made from raw milk or milk pasteurised in the vat at 65 °C for 20 minutes, and ripened about 75 days after drying. 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

A fairly modern variant of Pecorino ai bronzi, made for more than 25 years and handed down in families. Local cheesemakers long used wooden chests and the bronzi to protect their cheese from damp.

  1. [arsial-bronzi] ARSIAL (Lazio regional agency for agricultural development), Lazio patrimonio agroalimentare, tra biodiversità e tradizione, PAT sheet 'Caciotta mista ai bronzi', p. 157gov
  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. 98 'Caciotta mista ai bronzi*' (* = hygiene derogation)gov
  3. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters), technical sheet 'Caciotta mista ai bronzi'web