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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Italy, Lazio

Caciotta mista della Tuscia

Cow milk with up to half ewe milk is pasteurised, warmed to about 40 °C, soured with a lactic starter and set with calf or lamb rennet in 20–30 minutes. The curd is broken to corn-kernel size, moulded, held warm at 50–60 °C and salted. It ripens 20 days to 3 months at 8–15 °C. Made in 7 steps over 20 days – 3 months. The longest step, ripen, takes 20 days – 3 months (ARSIAL (Lazio regional agency for agricultura…) and runs at 8–15 °C (ARSIAL (Lazio regional agency for agricultura…). Lactic starter cultures does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step20 days – 3 monthsSet[arsial-tuscia]Ripen
Temperature8–15 °CSet[arsial-tuscia]Ripen

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe sheet gives temperatures and times but no batch size. A cheese weighs 0.8–3 kg.
Cow milk[arsial-tuscia]
Up to 50 %Ewe milk[arsial-tuscia]
Lactic starter cultures[arsial-tuscia]
Calf or lamb rennet, powder or paste[arsial-tuscia]
Salt · Dry salt or 20 °Bé brine[arsial-tuscia]
Starterlactic cultures

Total time across the recorded steps: 20 days – 3 months

Start
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40 °C

What changes: Cow milk with up to half ewe milk is pasteurised, then warmed to about 40 °C

Step 1 of 7
Pasteurise and warm the milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
40 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Output: pasteurised cow and ewe 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

A cow-milk caciotta with up to half ewe milk. It is much younger as a tradition than the Tuscia's ewe pecorino and tastes milder.

Rind
Thin, smooth, straw-yellow (ONAF)
Size
20–25 cm across, at most 10 cm high, 0.8–3 kg

Related ferments

Safety

The milk is pasteurised before the starter goes in, and the cheese ripens at least 20 days. 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

The ARSIAL sheet calls it much more recent than the pecorino the Etruscans made in the area, with a more neutral taste that suits today's buyers.

  1. [arsial-tuscia] ARSIAL (Lazio regional agency for agricultural development), Lazio patrimonio agroalimentare, tra biodiversità e tradizione, PAT sheet 'Caciotta mista della Tuscia', p. 159gov
  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. 99 'Caciotta mista della Tuscia*' (* = hygiene derogation)gov
  3. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters), technical sheet 'Caciotta mista della Tuscia'web