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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Italy, Piedmont and Lombardy

Gorgonzola PDO dolce/piccanteGorgonzola

Gorgonzola is a blue cheese made only from whole pasteurised cow milk. Lactic starter, Penicillium spores and yeasts go into the milk with calf rennet; the curd is moulded, dry-salted in a warm room for a few days, then pierced with needles so the blue-green mould can grow. Dolce ripens 50 to 150 days and piccante 60 to 270 days, in cold rooms. Made in 8 steps over 53 days – 9 months. The longest step, ripen cold, takes 50 days – 8.9 months (European Union 2016) and runs at -1–7 °C (Regione Piemonte 2013). Lactic starter cultures, whose acid opens the paste for the mould and Penicillium roqueforti, added to the milk as spores do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step50 days – 8.9 monthsSet[gorg-oj2016]Ripen cold
Temperature-1–7 °CSet[piemonte2013][gorg-oj2016]Ripen cold
AciditypH 6.8Measured[dalzini2017]Ripen cold

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe specification fixes limits, not a recipe. A wheel is 20–32 cm across and at least 13 cm high; dolce and piccante wheels weigh 9–13.5 kg and piccola piccante 5.5 to under 9 kg.
Whole cow milk, pasteurised · At least half the cows' yearly feed dry matter comes from the production area[gorg-oj2016]
Lactic starter, Penicillium spores and selected yeasts · Added to the milk after pasteurising[gorg-oj2008]
Calf rennet[gorg-oj2016]
Salt · Dry salt rubbed on the faces and sides[gorg-oj2016][gorg-oj2008]
Starter: lactic starter, Penicillium spores and selected yeasts added to the pasteurised milk

Total time across the recorded steps: 53 days – 9 months

Start
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What changes: Starting material: whole cow milk, pasteurised before anything is added

Step 1 of 8
Pasteurise the whole milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Moulds
Penicillium roqueforti
Yeasts
Penicillium added

The specification requires pasteurised whole milk but sets no time or temperature for it.

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

Gorgonzola is a cow-milk blue made only from pasteurised milk. The mould spores go into the milk, and the starter's acid opens the paste for the veins. The old method of mixing two curds of different ages was dropped.

Milk
Whole pasteurised cow milk with lactic starter, Penicillium spores and selected yeasts
Setting
Calf rennet at 28–36 °C
Ripening
Dolce 50–150 days; piccante 80–270 days; piccola piccante 60–200 days
Size
Cylinder 20–32 cm across and at least 13 cm high; dolce and piccante 9–13.5 kg, piccola piccante 5.5 to under 9 kg; fat in dry matter at least 48%

Related ferments

Variants

  • Gorgonzola dolceLarge 9–13.5 kg wheel with a sweet taste, ripened 50–150 days
  • Gorgonzola piccanteSame size with a sharp taste, ripened 80–270 days
  • Gorgonzola piccola piccanteSmall 5.5 to under 9 kg wheel with a sharp taste, ripened 60–200 days

Safety

Gorgonzola is made from pasteurised milk, but Listeria monocytogenes can contaminate it in the dairy. In a challenge test the core pH rose to 6.8 near the end of ripening, and Listeria grew in the core when the cheese was held at 8–12 °C. Keep it refrigerated and wrapped. A study of nine Penicillium roqueforti starters found no roquefortine C, PR toxin or mycophenolic acid in the finished cheeses.

Hazards the sources name: Listeria monocytogenes (survives the make and can grow in the core when pH rises late in ripening).

History and sources

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

The cheese takes its name from Gorgonzola, a town near Milan where herds coming down from the Alps were gathered. It was once sold as a kind of stracchino. In 2008 the specification first wrote down pasteurisation and the spore, yeast and starter additions, which replaced the two-curd method.

  1. [gorg-oj2016] European Union, Publication of an amendment application for "Gorgonzola" (PDO) with the single document, Official Journal C 188, 27 May 2016, pp. 44–49 (Italian text, copy hosted by ONAF)spec
  2. [gorg-oj2008] European Union, Publication of an amendment application for "Gorgonzola" (PDO) with the summary sheet, Official Journal C 111, 6 May 2008 (Italian text, copy hosted by ONAF)spec
  3. [piemonte2013] Regione Piemonte, Direzione Agricoltura, notice of the Gorgonzola PDO amendment request with the proposed production rules, Bollettino Ufficiale 2013 no. 20gov
  4. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Formaggi), technical sheet Gorgonzola DOP (restating the disciplinare)web
  5. [dalzini2017] Dalzini E. et al. 2017, Listeria monocytogenes in Gorgonzola cheese, behaviour throughout the process and growth prediction during shelf life, International Journal of Food Microbiology 262, 71–79 (abstract)paper
  6. [vallone2014] Vallone L., Giardini A. and Soncini G. 2014, Secondary metabolites from Penicillium roqueforti, a starter for the production of Gorgonzola cheese, Italian Journal of Food Safety 3(3):2118paper