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Cheese from France, Savoie and Haute-Savoie

Emmental de Savoie PGI

Raw cow milk, sometimes partly skimmed, is seeded with natural starters and set with calf rennet at 31–34 °C. The rice- to maize-size curd is cooked to 51–55 °C, pressed at least 5 hours and brined. The wheel spends at least a week in a cold cellar and at least 21 days in a warm cellar, where the eyes form, and leaves the cellars no sooner than 75 days after making.

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe specification sets limits, not amounts. A ripened wheel is 72–80 cm across and weighs at least 60 kg.
Raw cow milk from herds that are at least 75 % Abondance, Montbéliarde or Tarentaise typeKept at 8 °C or less on the farm; bactofugation, microfiltration, pasteurisation and similar treatments are banned[es-cdc][es-sd2020]
Natural starters (levains naturels), and possibly other cultures[es-cdc]
Rennet, or a maceration of unweaned calf abomasum[es-cdc]
Calcium chloride (optional, before renneting)[es-cdc]
Salt (brine)[es-cdc]
Starternatural starters, with thermophilic lactobacilli

Total time across the recorded steps: 30 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
up to 8 °C

What changes: Raw milk waits in a cold tank for no more than a day and a half

Step 1 of 10
Hold the raw milk cold
Time
up to 36 h
Set
Temperature
up to 8 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactobacilli
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

At a glance

Raw cow milk, sometimes partly skimmed, is seeded with natural starters and set with calf rennet at 31–34 °C. The rice- to maize-size curd is cooked to 51–55 °C, pressed at least 5 hours and brined. The wheel spends at least a week in a cold cellar and at least 21 days in a warm cellar, where the eyes form, and leaves the cellars no sooner than 75 days after making. Made in 10 steps over 30 days. The longest step, form the eyes in a warm cellar, takes at least 21 days (Cahier des charges de l'indication géographiq…) and runs at up to 25 °C (Cahier des charges de l'indication géographiq…). Natural starters and thermophilic lactobacilli; the group holds references for the strains specific to this cheese does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 21 daysSet[es-cdc]Form the eyes in a warm cellar
Temperatureup to 25 °CSet[es-cdc]Form the eyes in a warm cellar

What makes this one different

It must be made from raw milk with natural starters, where its 1996 summary still allowed thermised milk, and the curd may not be washed. It ripens at least 75 days, including at least 21 days in a warm cellar.

Milk
Raw cow milk only; the coarse fodder comes entirely from the area
Ripening
At least 75 days from making to leaving the cellars
Size
Wheel 72–80 cm across, 14–32 cm high, at least 60 kg; fat at least 28% of the finished cheese, dry matter at least 62% at 75 days, salt at most 0.4 g per 100 g

Related ferments

Safety

The milk stays raw, so the specification limits storage to 36 hours at 8 °C or less (48 hours at 4 °C or less) before renneting. The US FDA says ageing raw-milk cheese for 60 days may not remove E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella, and Listeria may grow in certain cheeses during ageing. The CDC says people at higher risk, including pregnant women, people 65 or older and people with weak immunity, should avoid cheese made with raw milk unless it is heated to 165 °F (74 °C) or until steaming hot.

History and sources

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

Cheese dairies (fruitières) made Emmental in Savoie from the start of the nineteenth century; the 1996 summary counts over 400 such dairies in 1908. The original 1996 rules allowed raw or thermised milk and a 70-day minimum; the current specification requires raw milk and 75 days.

  1. [es-cdc] Cahier des charges de l'indication géographique protégée « Emmental de Savoie », homologated by arrêté of 16 December 2019 (JORF 26 December 2019), Bulletin officiel du Ministère de l'Agriculture n° 2020-1spec
  2. [es-sd2020] European Commission, Publication of the amended single document following approval of a minor amendment, 'Emmental de Savoie' PGI, Official Journal of the European Union C 180, 29.5.2020, p. 18spec
  3. [es-sum1996] Application for registration (Art. 17), summary sheet 'Emmental de Savoie', national file IG/53/94 (English summary in the eAmbrosia register)spec
  4. [fda-rawcheese2016] US Food and Drug Administration 2016, FY 2014–2016 Microbiological Sampling Assignment Summary Report, Raw Milk Cheese Aged 60 Daysgov
  5. [cdc-listeria] US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Preventing Listeria Infectiongov