Skip to main content
Support

Browse by category

All categories
Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Spain, Catalonia

GarrotxaFormatge Garrotxa

Pasteurised whole goat milk is ripened with lactic cultures, then set with animal rennet at 32–38 °C, cut to maize-grain size, moulded, lightly pressed and salted in brine. During at least 21 days at 7–14 °C, a grey-blue, cotton-like coat of wild Mucor and Penicillium grows on the rind and is combed by hand; it is never inoculated. Made in 6 steps over 21 days. The longest step, ripen and comb the mould, takes at least 21 days (Generalitat de Catalunya 2022) and runs at 7–14 °C (Generalitat de Catalunya 2022). Salt is 18–20 % (Generalitat de Catalunya 2022). Lactic cultures added to the milk; lactic bacteria acidify the moist paste does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 21 daysSet[garrotxa-pliego-2022]Ripen and comb the mould
Temperature7–14 °CSet[garrotxa-pliego-2022]Ripen and comb the mould
Salt18–20 %Set[garrotxa-pliego-2022]Brine and dry

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe specification fixes temperatures, times and mould sizes but not milk volumes. Cheeses weigh 0.5 kg or 1 kg.
Whole goat milk · Kept cold until use, then pasteurised[garrotxa-pliego-2022]
Lactic cultures[garrotxa-pliego-2022]
Calcium chloride; lysozyme optional[garrotxa-pliego-2022]
Animal rennet · The only coagulant accepted[garrotxa-pliego-2022][icex-garrotxa]
Saturated brine (18–20 % salt), or at least 1.5 % dry saltSalt[garrotxa-pliego-2022]
Starterlactic cultures added to the pasteurised milk

Total time across the recorded steps: 21 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
up to 38 °C

What changes: Lactic cultures go into pasteurised goat milk and it starts to sour

Step 1 of 6
Pasteurise and ripen the milk
Time
30 min – 1 h
Set
Temperature
up to 38 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria
Mucor
Penicillium cover

Output: ripened 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

Garrotxa is a mixed-coagulation goat cheese, set by rennet after a lactic ripening, so its paste sits between firm rennet cheeses and crumbly lactic ones. Its grey rind of wild Mucor and Penicillium is never inoculated and is combed by hand during ripening.

Milk
Whole goat milk, pasteurised
Ripening
At least 21 days at 7–14 °C and over 70 % humidity
Composition
Fat at least 45 % and protein at least 30 % of dry matter; dry matter at most 70 %
Size
1 kg (±100 g) or 0.5 kg (±50 g); height no more than diameter

Related ferments

Safety

Made from pasteurised milk. Ripened cheese is kept at 4–8 °C and sold within four months of making.

History and sources

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

Goat cheese was made in the Garrotxa long ago, but in the early 1980s local goat farmers had cheese experts revive an old ripened goat-cheese recipe to use their surplus milk, and it took the district's name. It reached the Barcelona fair in 1985, spread through courses at the Torre Marimon school, and was registered as a PGI in December 2023.

  1. [garrotxa-pliego-2022] Generalitat de Catalunya 2022, Pliego de condiciones de la Indicación Geográfica Protegida «Formatge Garrotxa» / «Queso Garrotxa», registration version (public information April 2022, favourable decision August 2022), hosted by MAPAspec
  2. [reg-2023-2872] Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/2872 of 13 December 2023 entering «Formatge Garrotxa» / «Queso Garrotxa» (PGI) in the register (BOE copy of the Official Journal)spec
  3. [icex-garrotxa] ICEX Foods and Wines from Spain, Garrotxa cheesegov