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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Italy, Piemonte

Motta

Motta is a small ball of acid curd from the Valsesia, made with no rennet at all. Raw milk, partly skimmed by letting the cream rise, sours at room temperature for 12–24 hours until it sets like yoghurt. The moist curd is kneaded with salt, pepper, fennel seed and cumin, rolled into balls and eaten fresh or after 1–2 weeks. Made in 5 steps over 7.5 days – 15 days. The longest step, ripen on wooden boards, takes 7–14 days (Regione Piemonte 2015). Native lactic bacteria of the raw milk, which sour it until it sets does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step7–14 daysSet[piemonte-pat][onaf-sheet]Ripen on wooden boards
Fully documentedCheese7.5 days – 15 daysTraditional food product (PAT, Piemonte, schede tecniche 2015)Family: Fresh lactic (acid-set) cheese familyMore fresh acid-set cheesesMore from Italy

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe regional sheet gives times but no amounts. A ball weighs about 300–600 g.
Raw cow milk, one milking · Partly skimmed by letting the cream rise in shallow tubs[piemonte-pat][onaf-sheet]
Salt, pepper, fennel seed and cumin[piemonte-pat][onaf-sheet]
Wine (sometimes) · Small amounts[piemonte-pat]
No rennet and no starter · Coagulation is by acid only[piemonte-pat]
Starter: none; the milk's own lactic flora sours it

Total time across the recorded steps: 7.5 days – 15 days

Start
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What changes: The milk stands in shallow tubs and part of the cream is taken off

Step 1 of 5
Let the cream rise
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria

Output: partly skimmed raw 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

Motta uses no rennet. The regional sheet says it arose because milk left to cream overnight became too sour for normal cheesemaking, so the acid curd was spiced and rolled into balls.

Rind
Irregular, pale yellow to hazelnut; none or slightly mouldy
Size
300–600 g; irregular ball Ø 7–8 cm

Related ferments

Safety

The regional sheet notes that a well-developed acidity in the finished cheese holds back unwanted microbes; the milk is raw.

History and sources

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

The regional sheet cites Del Forno (1981), Vizzardi and Maffeis (1990) and Doglio (1996) as evidence of the method. The summer-pasture version is the most typical.

  1. [piemonte-pat] Regione Piemonte, D.D. 24 luglio 2015 n. 460, schede tecniche dei prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali, categoria D prodotto n. 19 Motta, Bollettino Ufficiale BU38S1, 24 September 2015gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Formaggi), technical sheet Mottaweb
  3. [onaf] ONAF, scheda formaggio 'Motta' (id 462)web