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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Italy, Campania

Caprino conciato del Montemaggiore

Raw goat milk is set with kid rennet, broken to chickpea size and drained in small baskets. Wheels kept for ageing dry 10–20 days on wooden boards, are washed with olive oil and vinegar, coated with wild thyme and aged 2–3 months in closed glass or clay jars. The wash is repeated a couple of times; it keeps moulds and pests away. Made in 7 steps over 2.3 months – 3.7 months. The longest step, age in closed jars, takes 2–3 months (ONAF technical sheet). Lactic acid bacteria of the raw goat milk does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step2–3 monthsReported[onaf-sheet][pat-sheet]Age in closed jars
Fully documentedCheese2.3 months – 3.7 monthsPAT (traditional agri-food product, Regione Campania)Family: Hard pressed ewe cheese family (Manchego and Pecorino Romano as templates)More hard sheep and goat cheesesMore from Italy

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe regional sheets give no amounts. The cheeses are small cylinders; made January to October.
Raw whole goat milk · From one milking; filtered through hemp cloth within a few hours[onaf-sheet][pat-sheet]
Kid rennet paste · Made by shepherds from the dried stomachs of slaughtered kids[onaf-sheet]
Kitchen salt · Amount varies with the room temperature[onaf-sheet]
Olive oil and local wine vinegar · Emulsion for the wash (concia)[onaf-sheet][pat-sheet]
Wild thyme (timo serpillo), sometimes ground hot chilli · Finely chopped and pressed onto the rind[onaf-sheet][pat-sheet]
Starter: none added; raw milk and kid rennet paste

Total time across the recorded steps: 2.3 months – 3.7 months

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
shapes, not to countLactic acid bacteria

What changes: Raw goat milk, filtered through hemp cloth, is warmed and set with kid rennet

Step 1 of 7
Filter the milk and add kid rennet
Time
1 h
Reported
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria

The milk is warmed to setting temperature; the sheets give no figure. Output: curd.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
soft gel
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 goat cheese is cured on the outside with oil, vinegar and wild thyme and aged in sealed jars. Conciato di San Vittore, from nearby southern Lazio, is a ewe-milk cheese rubbed with pepper and about 15 herbs and spices.

Rind
Thin, slightly hard, oily, ridged from the baskets, yellow-brown with herb residue
Size
Small cylinder (weight not given)
Season
Made January to October

Related ferments

Variants

  • Caprino freschissimoThe same curd drained less, kept moister and sold fresh, without the concia.

Safety

The regional sheet names raw milk, wooden tools and rush baskets as the main hygiene risks, with Staphylococcus aureus among raw-milk problems. It advises checking the milk against the legal limits (or thermising or pasteurising it), good hygiene, and discarding cheeses that look abnormal.

Hazards the sources name: Staphylococcus aureus (named by the regional sheet as a raw-milk risk).

History and sources

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

Goat herding was common on the upper slopes; until after the Second World War Formicola alone had several thousand goats, now a few dozen herds. Surplus fresh cheese was cured and jarred. The method is said to go back to the Samnites (6th–5th century BC).

  1. [onaf-sheet] ONAF technical sheet, Caprino conciato del Montemaggiore, compiled from the Regione Campania PAT recordweb
  2. [pat-sheet] Regione Campania, Prodotti tradizionali, Caprino conciato del Montemaggiore (updated 13 March 2015)gov
  3. [onaf] ONAF, scheda formaggio 'Caprino conciato del Montemaggiore' (id 1153)web