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Cheese from Greece, Crete

Graviera Kritis PDOΓραβιέρα Κρήτης

Cretan sheep milk, or sheep milk mixed with goat milk, is set at 34–36 °C, cut and cooked to 50–52 °C, then pressed in moulds. After a day at 14–16 °C and two to five days in brine, the wheels ripen at least 3 months at 14–18 °C and are salted all over the surface up to ten times.

Fully documentedCheese3.1 months – 3.2 monthsPDO (EU, registered 1996; PDO-GR-0451)Family: Cooked hard alpine cheese family (Comté, Gruyère and Emmentaler as templates)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe specification sets temperatures and times but no amounts.
Sheep milk, or a mix of sheep and goat milk, from breeds reared in the area[kritis-sum]
Salt, as brine and for surface salting[kritis-sum]
Starterthe traditional technology uses no starters; in a trial on Graviera Kritis it gave the highest organoleptic scores (Moatsou 2004 abstract)

Total time across the recorded steps: 3.1 months – 3.2 months

Start
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34–36 °C

What changes: The sheep milk is coagulated at 34–36 °C

Step 1 of 6
Set the milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
34–36 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria
Lactobacilli
Lactobacillus brevis
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

Cretan sheep milk, or sheep milk mixed with goat milk, is set at 34–36 °C, cut and cooked to 50–52 °C, then pressed in moulds. After a day at 14–16 °C and two to five days in brine, the wheels ripen at least 3 months at 14–18 °C and are salted all over the surface up to ten times. Made in 6 steps over 3.1 months – 3.2 months. The longest step, ripen with surface salting, takes at least 3 months (Application for registration) and runs at 14–18 °C (Application for registration). Lactic acid bacteria; among lactobacilli isolated from mature cheese at two traditional dairies, Lactobacillus brevis and L. paracasei were the main species does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 3 monthsSet[kritis-sum]Ripen with surface salting
Temperature14–18 °CSet[kritis-sum]Ripen with surface salting

What makes this one different

The Cretan graviera is made from sheep milk, alone or with goat milk, where Graviera Naxou is made mostly from cow milk. It is cooked to 50–52 °C and salted all over the surface during ripening.

Milk
Sheep milk, or sheep milk mixed with goat milk
Ripening
At least 3 months at 14–18 °C, with up to 10 surface saltings

Related ferments

Safety

The specification fixes a cook of 50–52 °C and at least 3 months of ripening. In a field trial at a small Cretan plant, samples of Graviera Kritis made from raw and from pasteurized milk were negative for Salmonella, E. coli O157:H7 and vancomycin-resistant enterococci. Coliforms and E. coli were 3 to 3.5 log units higher before the curd was cooked in the raw-milk cheese, and L. monocytogenes type 4b was isolated from cheeses of two trials until after salting. By the end of ripening the bacteria tested had fallen or disappeared to safe levels (abstract).

Hazards the sources name: Listeria monocytogenes type 4b, isolated from cheeses of two trials at a small Cretan plant until after salting (raw- and pasteurized-milk Graviera Kritis; Salmonella, E. coli O157:H7 and VRE were not found).

History and sources

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

The specification calls it one of the best-known Greek gravieras, made for centuries in Crete with traditional methods and ripened inside the area. Ministerial Decision 313047 of 14 January 1994 recognised the protected designation of origin, and the name was registered at European level by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1107/96 of 12 June 1996.

  1. [kritis-sum] Application for registration, PDO 'Graviera Kritis', summary of Ministerial Decision 313047/14.1.94, summary sheet GR/0451 (Regulation (EC) No 1107/96), eAmbrosia registerspec
  2. [tsafrakidou2016] Tsafrakidou P, Bozoudi D, Pavlidou S, Kotzamanidis C, Hatzikamari M, Zdragas A, Litopoulou-Tzanetaki E 2016, Technological, phenotypic and genotypic characterization of lactobacilli from Graviera Kritis PDO Greek cheese, manufactured at two traditional dairies, LWT 68:681-689 (abstract)paper
  3. [samouris-jhvms] Samouris G, Zdragas A, Vafeas G, Belibasaki S, Survival of pathogens in "Graviera Kritis" cheese made with raw and pasteurized milk, Journal of the Hellenic Veterinary Medical Society 62:205 (online 2017; abstract)paper
  4. [bozoudi2016] Bozoudi D, Pavlidou S, Kotzamanidis C, Georgakopoulos P, Torriani S, Kondyli E, Claps S, Belibasaki S, Litopoulou-Tzanetaki E 2016, Graviera Naxou and Graviera Kritis Greek PDO cheeses, discrimination based on microbiological and physicochemical criteria and volatile organic compounds profile, Small Ruminant Research 136:161-172 (abstract, University of Verona repository)paper
  5. [moatsou2004] Moatsou G, Moschopoulou E, Anifantakis E 2004, Effect of different manufacturing parameters on the characteristics of Graviera Kritis cheese, International Journal of Dairy Technology 57:215-220 (abstract)paper
  6. [reg1107-96] European Commission, 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, p. 1 (Publications Office copy)spec