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Cheese from Greece, Arachova on Mount Parnassus

Formaella Arachovas Parnassou PDOΦορμαέλλα Αράχωβας Παρνασσού

A semi-hard cheese from the mountain village of Arachova, made from goat milk, sheep milk or both. The curd is set for about two hours, then cooked in its moulds in hot whey twice, at 60 °C and then at 75–80 °C, salted and dried for five days.

Fully documentedCheese5.2 daysPDO (EU, registered by Commission Regulation 1107/96 of 12 June 1996; PDO-GR-0430)Family: Pasta filata (stretched-curd) cheese family

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe specification sets temperatures and times but no amounts.
Goat milk, sheep milk or a mix of the two[formaella-sum]
Whey, heated, for cooking the cheese in its moulds[formaella-sum]
Salt[formaella-sum]

Total time across the recorded steps: 5.2 days

Start
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32 °C

What changes: The goat or sheep milk sets at about 32 °C over two hours

Step 1 of 6
Set the milk
Time
2 h
Set
Temperature
32 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
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 semi-hard cheese from the mountain village of Arachova, made from goat milk, sheep milk or both. The curd is set for about two hours, then cooked in its moulds in hot whey twice, at 60 °C and then at 75–80 °C, salted and dried for five days. Made in 6 steps over 5.2 days. The longest step, finish drying on shelves, takes 4 days (Application for registration). Wild lactic acid bacteria isolated from Formaella and three other Greek cheeses (Kopanisti, Feta, Mana); mesophilic lactobacilli were the most abundant group across the four cheeses does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step4 daysSet[formaella-sum]Finish drying on shelves
Temperature32 °CSet[formaella-sum]Set the milk

What makes this one different

The specification has the filled moulds dipped in whey twice, first at 60 °C and then at 75–80 °C, before salting, and the cheese dries for about five days (24 hours in the moulds, 4 days on shelves). The same sheet says maturation takes place in facilities inside the area.

Milk
Goat milk, sheep milk or a mix
Type
Semi-hard cheese; analysed with the hard and semi-hard Greek PDO cheeses

Related ferments

Safety

The cheese is cooked for an hour in whey at 75–80 °C before salting.

History and sources

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

The specification says it has been made in the mountain area of Arachova for at least a century and is liked by visitors to Delphi and the Parnassus ski area. Commission Regulation (EC) No 1107/96 of 12 June 1996 (OJ L 148, 21.6.1996) registered the name as a PDO.

Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
  1. [formaella-sum] Application for registration, PDO 'Formaella Arachovas Parnassou', summary of Ministerial Decision 313063/17.1.94, summary sheet GR/0430 (Spanish version and Greek original), eAmbrosia registerspec
  2. [danezis2020] Danezis GP, Tsiplakou E, Pappa EC et al. 2020, Fatty acid profile and physicochemical properties of Greek protected designation of origin cheeses, implications for authentication, European Food Research and Technology 246:1741-1753 (abstract)paper
  3. [asteri2009] Asteri I.-A., Robertson N., Kagkli D.-M., Andrewes P., Nychas G., Coolbear T., Holland R., Crow V., Tsakalidou E. 2009, Technological and flavour potential of cultures isolated from traditional Greek cheeses – a pool of novel species and starters, International Dairy Journal 19:595-604 (abstract)paper
  4. [reg1107] Commission Regulation (EC) No 1107/96 of 12 June 1996 on the registration of geographical indications and designations of origin under the procedure laid down in Article 17 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92, OJ L 148, 21.6.1996, pp. 1-10 (Annex lists Formaella Arachovas Parnassou)spec