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Cheese from Italy, the whole of Sardinia

Fiore Sardo PDOFiore Sardo

Raw whole milk of Sardinian sheep is set with lamb or kid rennet, cut very fine and moulded into a wheel shaped like two flattened cones. After brining the wheels spend about two weeks in a warm room where they are smoked a little each day, then ripen in a cooler store for at least 3.5 months, rubbed with olive oil, vinegar and salt.

Fully documentedCheese4 monthsPDO (EU, registered 1996; PDO-IT-0007)Family: Hard pressed ewe cheese family (Manchego and Pecorino Romano as templates)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedFarm and dairy practice with no fixed amounts in the sources opened. In one research trial a 35 kg vat of milk gave three wheels of about 1.9 kg each.
Raw whole milk of local Sardinian sheep breedsHeat treatment, even thermization, breaks the specification[fiore-sum][caredda2025]
Lamb and/or kid rennet[fiore-sum][manca2020]
Salt, as brine[manca2020]
Olive oil, vinegar and salt for rubbing the rind during ripening[manca2020]
Starterfermentation is carried out solely by the indigenous flora of the milk, or by an added natural autochthonous starter culture

Total time across the recorded steps: 4 months

Start
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shapes, not to countLactic acid bacteriaLactococcus lactisEnterococcus faeciumLactobacillus plantarum34–36 °C

What changes: Lamb or kid rennet goes into raw whole sheep milk at 34–36 °C

Step 1 of 6
Set the raw milk with lamb or kid rennet
Time
Not documented
Temperature
34–36 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria
Lactococcus lactis
Enterococcus faecium
Lactobacillus plantarum

The milk must stay raw. Thermization at 57–68 °C is one of the main types of fraud for this cheese, whose specification requires raw 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

At a glance

Raw whole milk of Sardinian sheep is set with lamb or kid rennet, cut very fine and moulded into a wheel shaped like two flattened cones. After brining the wheels spend about two weeks in a warm room where they are smoked a little each day, then ripen in a cooler store for at least 3.5 months, rubbed with olive oil, vinegar and salt. Made in 6 steps over 4 months. The longest step, cool second ripening, takes at least 3.5 months (Manca G 2020) and runs at 10–15 °C (Manca G 2020). Lactic acid bacteria and enterococci, mainly Lactococcus lactis ssp. lactis, Enterococcus faecium, Lactobacillus plantarum and the Lactobacillus casei group, dominant throughout maturation in 12 batches of artisanal Fiore Sardo made without added starters does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 3.5 monthsReported[manca2020]Cool second ripening
Temperature10–15 °CReported[manca2020]Cool second ripening

What makes this one different

Unlike Pecorino Sardo and Pecorino Romano it must use raw milk, and it is cut to millet-size grains without cooking.

Milk
Raw whole sheep milk from local Sardinian breeds only
Ripening
At least 3.5 months for table cheese and 6 months for grating cheese
Composition
Fat in dry matter always above 40 % in 37 farm samples ripened 6–12 months

Related ferments

Safety

The cheese is made from raw milk. In a survey of 37 farm cheeses ripened 6–12 months, 54 % of samples went over a suggested total biogenic amine threshold of 90 mg per 100 g (900 mg/kg); higher pH went with more amines.

History and sources

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

The application summary calls it a very old cheese said to originate from before the Roman conquest. It says the name refers to the former plant-based coagulant and to the colour of the curd.

  1. [fiore-sum] Application for registration, PDO 'Fiore Sardo', summary sheet IT/0007 (Regulation (EC) No 1263/96), eAmbrosia registerspec
  2. [manca2020] Manca G, Ru A, Siddi G, Mocci AM, Murittu G, De Santis PL 2020, Biogenic amines content in Fiore Sardo cheese in relation to free amino acids and physicochemical characteristics, Italian Journal of Food Safety 9(1):8457paper
  3. [caredda2025] Caredda M, Dedola AS, Pes M, Addis M 2025, The Use of NIR Spectroscopy and Chemometrics to Identify the Thermal Treatment of Milk in Fiore Sardo PDO Cheese to Detect Fraud, Foods 14(13):2288paper
  4. [pisano2006] Pisano M.B., Fadda M.E., Deplano M., Corda A., Cosentino S. 2006, Microbiological and chemical characterization of Fiore Sardo, a traditional Sardinian cheese made from ewe's milk, International Journal of Dairy Technology 59(3):171-179, doi:10.1111/j.1471-0307.2006.00260.x (abstract)paper