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Cheese from Italy, Trentino

Fontal

A mild, semi-soft cheese of whole cow milk, pasteurised (Trento also allows thermised), first made in the Val di Non in Trentino and named in 1955 by joining Fontina and Emmental. Mesophilic lactococci and rennet set the milk at 30–35 °C; the pressed wheels are brined and ripened one to two months in the cold, then usually coated with coloured wax.

Fully documentedCheese33 days – 2.1 monthsTraditional food product (PAT) in Lombardy and in Trento province; not a protected nameFamily: Uncooked or semi-cooked pressed cheese family (tomme, Saint-Nectaire, Reblochon, Morbier, Raclette)

Recipe

Fontal, a photo from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Luigi Chiesa, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
No fixed amounts recordedDairy production; the regional sheets give temperatures and times but no amounts. Wheels weigh 8–12 kg (Lombardy) or 10–12 kg (Trento).
Whole cow milk, pasteurised (Lombardy) or thermised or pasteurised (Trento)[lomb-pat][tn-pat]
Selected lactic culture with mesophilic lactococci[lomb-pat]
Rennet[lomb-pat][tn-pat]
Salt, as brine[lomb-pat][tn-pat]
Starterselected lactic cultures that include mesophilic lactococci

Total time across the recorded steps: 33 days – 2.1 months

Start
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What changes: The whole cow milk is pasteurised before cheesemaking; Trento also allows thermised milk

Step 1 of 6
Pasteurise the milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Commercial Fontal tested had residual alkaline phosphatase under 10 mU/g, which confirms 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

At a glance

A mild, semi-soft cheese of whole cow milk, pasteurised (Trento also allows thermised), first made in the Val di Non in Trentino and named in 1955 by joining Fontina and Emmental. Mesophilic lactococci and rennet set the milk at 30–35 °C; the pressed wheels are brined and ripened one to two months in the cold, then usually coated with coloured wax. Made in 6 steps over 33 days – 2.1 months. The longest step, ripen cold, takes 30 days – 2 months (Regione Lombardia 2008) and runs at 4–10 °C (Regione Lombardia 2008). Selected lactic starter culture that includes mesophilic lactococci does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step30 days – 2 monthsReported[lomb-pat][tn-pat]Ripen cold
Temperature4–10 °CReported[lomb-pat][tn-pat]Ripen cold
AciditypH 5.6–5.9Measured[pellegrino2021]Ripen cold

What makes this one different

A cousin of Fontina made from pasteurised milk (or thermised, in Trento) with a selected culture, ripened one to two months. In a study of commercial cheeses, Fontal had a coated rind with no smear and a lower pH than raw-milk Fontina; two cheeses sold as traditional Fontal had a thin smear and a Fontina-like pH.

Name
Coined in 1955 from the names Fontina and Emmental
Acidity
pH 5.62–5.90 in commercial Fontal, against 6.01–6.46 in Fontina PDO
Size
Wheels 30–40 cm across with an 8–10 cm heel, weighing 8–12 kg

Related ferments

Safety

The milk is pasteurised in Lombardy and thermised or pasteurised in Trento, and thermised milk is not pasteurised milk. The cheese ripens cold, at 4–10 °C in the regional sheets.

History and sources

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

Both regional sheets say Fontal began in the Val di Non in the 1960s–70s at a butter-making company, where a partner had introduced a Danish-type cheese whose whey was used to melt the butter blocks. After some years Fontal replaced it. Around the 1970s the large Trentino cooperative dairies took it up. The Lombardy sheet says it is now made industrially across Lombardy.

  1. [lomb-pat] Regione Lombardia, Schede prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali, 'Fontal', Allegato B to DDUO n. 3392 of 7/4/2008gov
  2. [tn-pat] Provincia autonoma di Trento, Trentino Agricoltura, Prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali, 'Fontal' (updated 2013)gov
  3. [pellegrino2021] Pellegrino L, Hogenboom JA, Rosi V, D'Incecco P 2021, Evaluating the Authenticity of the Raw-Milk Cheese Fontina (PDO) with Respect to Similar Cheeses, Foods 10(2):350paper