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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Argentina

Cuartirolo argentinoQueso Cuartirolo

A soft, high-moisture cow cheese defined by the Argentine Food Code. Whole or standardised milk is soured with a lactic culture and set with rennet, and the uncooked curd is moulded, pressed, brined and ripened at least 20 days. With cremoso and Port Salut it makes up most of Argentina's cheese output. Made in 9 steps over 20 days. The longest step, ripen, takes at least 20 days (Código Alimentario Argentino 2006) and runs at 12 °C (Carro Techera S 2016). Lactic acid bacteria culture and Streptococcus thermophilus do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 20 daysSet[caa621]Ripen
Temperature12 °CReported[innotec2016]Ripen
AciditypH 5.2Reported[innotec2016]Brine

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe Code fixes the cheese's definition, not a recipe. The amounts come from a 40 L pilot make of a Cuartirolo-type cheese at Uruguay's national technology laboratory (LATU).
Whole or standardised cow milk · Must be pasteurised, because the cheese ripens less than 60 days[caa621][caa605]
Lactic acid bacteria culture[caa621]
Rennet and/or specific coagulating enzymes[caa621]
Calcium chloride · Added to the milk and the brine in one pilot make[innotec2016]
29 kg per 100 L of waterSalt (brine) · One pilot make[innotec2016]
Starterlactic acid bacteria culture (required by the Code); Streptococcus thermophilus in the pilot make

Total time across the recorded steps: 20 days

Start
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63 °C

What changes: The milk is pasteurised so it is safe for a short-ripened cheese

Step 1 of 9
Pasteurise the milk
Time
30 min
Reported
Temperature
63 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria
S. thermophilus

The Code requires pasteurised milk unless a cheese ripens at least 60 days above 5 °C. Output: pasteurised 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

Named after Italy's quartirolo, but defined by the Argentine Food Code, not by place. It is a pressed, uncooked, high-moisture cheese with a short ripening that depends on weight.

Moisture
High-moisture class, 46.0–54.9 %; about 50 % measured in one study
Fat
A fat (graso) cheese, 45.0–59.9 % fat in dry matter; 22.7 % fat in the cheese measured
Protein
21.0 % measured in one study
Rind
Whole, slightly firm, smooth or rough

Related ferments

Safety

The Argentine Food Code requires pasteurised milk (or an equal heat treatment) unless a cheese ripens at least 60 days above 5 °C, so Cuartirolo is made from pasteurised milk. Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella must be absent in 25 g.

Hazards the sources name: Listeria monocytogenes (must be absent in 25 g); Salmonella (must be absent in 25 g); Coagulase-positive staphylococci (at most 100–1000 per g).

History and sources

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

The Code's current definition dates from Joint Resolution 33/2006 and 563/2006. In Argentina most cheese made is soft cheese, mainly Cremoso, Cuartirolo and Port Salut.

  1. [caa621] Código Alimentario Argentino, chapter VIII (Alimentos lácteos), article 621 'Queso Cuartirolo' (Resolución Conjunta SPRyRS 33/2006 and SAGPyA 563/2006), October 2025 textspec
  2. [caa605] Código Alimentario Argentino, chapter VIII, article 605 (cheese definition, classification, pasteurisation rule and microbiological criteria for Cuartirolo, Cremoso, Criollo and Minas Frescal), October 2025 textspec
  3. [innotec2016] Carro Techera S., González Revello Á., Cal K., Giacaman S., Aldrovandi A. 2016, Lactococcus lactis autóctono, evaluación del efecto antilisterial y de propiedades sensoriales en quesos tipo Cuartirolo, INNOTEC 12, pp. 15–26paper
  4. [mammarella2000] Mammarella E.J., De Piante Vicín D.A., Rubiolo A.C. 2000, Efecto del proceso de congelamiento-descongelamiento sobre las características reológicas de quesos blandos argentinos, MERCOFRIO 2000 congress paperpaper
  5. [inti] INTI 2011, Lácteos, queso artesanal y ricotta (cuadernillo para unidades de producción), 2nd edition, coord. J. Kurlat (lists Cuartirolo as a soft-paste cheese)gov