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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Greece, island of Lesvos

Ladotyri Mytilinis PDOΛαδοτύρι Μυτιλήνης

Ewe milk, with up to 30 % goat milk, is set at 32–34 °C with rennet, cut, reheated to 45 °C and moulded into small cylinders. The cheeses are dry-salted on the surface and ripened at least three months at 12–16 °C and about 85 % humidity. The name means "oil cheese"; traditionally the wheels are kept under olive oil, which the 1994 rules do not mention. Made in 5 steps over 3.1 months. The longest step, dry-salt and ripen, takes at least 3 months (Ministry of Agriculture (Greece) 1994) and runs at 12–16 °C (Ministry of Agriculture (Greece) 1994). Lactic acid bacteria does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 3 monthsSet[lado-ya-1994]Dry-salt and ripen
Temperature12–16 °CSet[lado-ya-1994]Dry-salt and ripen

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe rules give one amount, calcium chloride up to 20 g per 100 kg of milk when the milk is pasteurised. A cheese is a cylinder of about 1.5 kg.
Ewe milk, or ewe and goat milk mixed · Goat milk no more than 30 %; from Lesvos only; set within 48 hours of milking; raw or pasteurised[lado-ya-1994]
Traditional rennet or similar enzymes[lado-ya-1994]
Harmless lactic cultures · Allowed only when the milk is pasteurised[lado-ya-1994]
Up to 20 g per 100 kg of milkCalcium chloride · Allowed only when the milk is pasteurised[lado-ya-1994]
Dry salt · On the surface[lado-ya-1994]
Olive oil · Traditional storage layer; not in the 1994 rules[papagianni2023]
Starterrennet; lactic cultures allowed with pasteurised milk

Total time across the recorded steps: 3.1 months

Start
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32–34 °Cshapes, not to countLactic acid bacteria

What changes: Rennet goes into ewe milk at 32–34 °C and it sets to a curd

Step 1 of 5
Set the milk with rennet
Time
up to 2 days
Set
Temperature
32–34 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria

Output: curd.

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

Ladotyri is a hard ewe-milk cheese made in small cylinders of about 1.5 kg and, by tradition, kept under olive oil, which gives it its name ("oil cheese").

Milk
Ewe milk, or ewe with up to 30 % goat milk, from Lesvos; raw or pasteurised
Ripening
At least three months at 12–16 °C
Composition
Moisture at most 38 %; fat at least 40 % of dry matter
Size
Cylinder about 10 cm across, about 1.5 kg

Related ferments

Safety

Raw or pasteurised milk is allowed; milk must be set within 48 hours of milking and the cheese ripened at least three months. Colourings, preservatives and antibiotics are banned.

History and sources

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

Greece recognised the name in Ministerial Decision 313058 of January 1994, after an application by the Union of Agricultural Cooperatives of Lesvos.

  1. [lado-ya-1994] Ministry of Agriculture (Greece) 1994, Ministerial Decision No. 313058, Recognition of the PDO for the cheese «Λαδοτύρι Μυτιλήνης» (Ladotyri Mytilinis), Government Gazette B 25, 18 January 1994 (Greek text on WIPO Lex)spec
  2. [papagianni2023] Papagianni O. et al. 2023, Postprandial inflammatory and metabolic responses induced by Authentic Mytilinis cheese, Life 13(4):923paper
  3. [kamilari2022] Kamilari E., Tsaltas D., Stanton C., Ross R.P. 2022, Metataxonomic mapping of the microbial diversity of Irish and Eastern Mediterranean cheeses, Foods 11(16):2483paper