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Cheese from Italy, Abruzzo

Cacio marcetto (Pecorino marcetto)Cacio marcetto

A raw-milk pecorino whose young, cracked forms are left to the cheese fly Piophila casei. The fly lays eggs under the rind, and over several months many generations of larvae break down the protein until the whole paste turns creamy and very piquant. The cream is then dug out, packed in clay or glass jars and kept in the fridge.

Fully documentedCheeseTraditional food product (PAT, Regione Abruzzo)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedNo doses are given. The cream is sold by jar, so its weight depends on the container.
Pecorino made from raw whole ewe milk[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Whey or milk starter from an earlier make (optional)[onaf-sheet]
Animal rennet (liquid, or powder dissolved in water), or a wild-artichoke flower infusion[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Salt[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Starteroptional whey or milk starter (thermophilic lactic flora), then Piophila casei larvae
Start
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What changes: Raw ewe milk is set with rennet and broken to maize-size grains

Step 1 of 5
Make a raw-milk pecorino
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Milk is mixed in the cauldron, with whey or milk starter if used, set with animal rennet or a wild artichoke infusion, broken coarsely with the spino and, after a short rest, to maize-grain size.

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 raw-milk pecorino whose young, cracked forms are left to the cheese fly Piophila casei. The fly lays eggs under the rind, and over several months many generations of larvae break down the protein until the whole paste turns creamy and very piquant. The cream is then dug out, packed in clay or glass jars and kept in the fridge. Thermophilic lactic flora from the optional whey or milk starter and Piophila casei larvae (an insect, not a microbe), whose digestive enzymes break down protein and fat do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Temperature10–14 °CReported[pat-sheet]Larvae turn the paste to cream

What makes this one different

A pecorino that Piophila casei larvae turn into a spreadable cream, which is then dug out of the rind and jarred rather than eaten in the form.

Form
No shape of its own; sold in terracotta or glass jars
Season
Made May to October (ONAF)

Related ferments

Variants

  • Casu marzu (Sardinia)The same fly on a Sardinian pecorino, often eaten with the live larvae

Safety

The PAT sheet and ONAF say the larvae do not make marcetto a hygiene risk; ONAF's note on the fly records reports of intestinal myiasis from live larvae. The finished cream must be kept in the fridge.

Hazards the sources name: Live Piophila casei larvae; ONAF notes gastrointestinal myiasis reported after eating them, as not all larvae are killed by stomach acid.

History and sources

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

ONAF says shepherds ripened cheese in makeshift places; failed forms with soft or cracked rinds were attacked by the fly and eaten rather than wasted.

  1. [pat-sheet] Regione Abruzzo, PAT sheet 'Cacio marcetto o Pecorino marcetto' (copy hosted by ONAF)gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters), technical sheet 'Cacio marcetto - Pecorino marcetto'web
  3. [onaf] ONAF, cheese page 'Cacio marcetto' (id 317)web