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Cheese from Italy, Calabria

Pecorino Crotonese PDO

Whole sheep milk, raw or heat-treated, is set with kid rennet paste at 36–38 °C, broken to rice-size grains and semi-cooked at 42–44 °C. The curd is pressed into rush or plastic baskets, then dipped for a few minutes in hot whey at no more than 55 °C so it knits and forms a rind. After dry or brine salting it is sold fresh, semi-hard after 60–90 days or aged beyond 90 days.

Fully documentedCheese2 months – 3 monthsPDO (EU), registered by Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1262/2014; non-minor amendment approved by Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/2728Family: Hard pressed ewe cheese family (Manchego and Pecorino Romano as templates)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe specification sets conditions, not doses. Fresh cheeses weigh 0.5–3 kg; aged ones 1.3–2.5 kg or 5–15 kg.
Whole sheep milk from flocks in the PDO area, raw or thermised or pasteurised; no additives or preservatives[crot-2023]
Kid rennet paste (pasta di capretto)[crot-disciplinare][crot-2023]
Natural lactic ferments of the milk, or natural whey or milk starters from the area; for heat-treated milk, only native strains from the Consortium's strain bank[crot-2023]
Rock salt or sea salt[crot-disciplinare][crot-2023]
Olive oil or olive-oil lees, for the rind of long-aged cheese (optional)[crot-2023]
Starternatural lactic ferments or whey and milk starters from the area; selected native strains for heat-treated milk

Total time across the recorded steps: 2 months – 3 months

Start
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36–38 °C

What changes: Kid rennet paste goes into the warm sheep milk and it sets

Step 1 of 6
Set with kid rennet
Time
40–50 min
Set
Temperature
36–38 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
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

Whole sheep milk, raw or heat-treated, is set with kid rennet paste at 36–38 °C, broken to rice-size grains and semi-cooked at 42–44 °C. The curd is pressed into rush or plastic baskets, then dipped for a few minutes in hot whey at no more than 55 °C so it knits and forms a rind. After dry or brine salting it is sold fresh, semi-hard after 60–90 days or aged beyond 90 days. Made in 6 steps over 2 months – 3 months. The longest step, ripen, takes 2–3 months (Ministero delle politiche agricole 2014).

Key numbers
Main step2–3 monthsSet[crot-disciplinare][onaf-sheet]Ripen
Temperature36–38 °CSet[crot-disciplinare]Set with kid rennet

What makes this one different

Semi-cooked at 42–44 °C, then scalded briefly in hot whey (lacciata) at up to 55 °C inside the rush baskets, which marks the rind. The specification sets 60–90 days for the semi-hard type and over 90 days for the aged type.

Types
Fresco (fresh), semiduro (60–90 days) and stagionato (over 90 days)
Composition
Fat in dry matter at least 40%, protein at least 25%, moisture at least 30%
Size
Fresh 0.5–1.2 kg or 1.3–3 kg; semi-hard and aged 1.3–2.5 kg or 5–15 kg; basket marks on the rind

Related ferments

Safety

Raw milk is allowed, and the fresh type is sold at up to 60 days. Heat-treated milk may be soured only with native strains from the Consortium's strain bank, and the specification bans additives and preservatives. ANSES, the French food safety agency, says Listeria and enterohaemorrhagic E. coli in raw-milk cheeses can kill. It advises pregnant women, people with weak immunity, people over 65 and young children to avoid raw-milk cheeses, except cooked pressed kinds such as Gruyère or Comté, and does not say whether a semi-cooked cheese like this one counts. It adds that raw-milk cheese that is well cooked, as in an oven recipe, no longer poses a risk.

History and sources

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

ONAF's sheet places the area in the Marchesato of Crotone, a name it dates to 1390, and says documents proving export of the cheese go back only to the 16th century. It cites a sale in Naples in early January 1712, when a priest of Cutro sold 200 cantara of 'formaggio Cotrone' to a Neapolitan merchant, and says production peaked under the Bourbon kingdom, when the cheese began to be aged for the Naples market. The name was registered as a PDO by Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1262/2014 of 18 November 2014. Italy applied on 24 January 2022 to amend the specification, and Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/2728 of 28 November 2023 approved the non-minor amendment. The specification calls the miscu a local tool, says lacciata is the local word for the whey the cheese is dipped in, and traces the cheesemaking technique to a centuries-old local tradition.

Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
  1. [crot-disciplinare] Ministero delle politiche agricole, Disciplinare di produzione della DOP "Pecorino Crotonese" and single document, published with the registration application in OJ C 205, 2.7.2014 (copy hosted by ONAF)spec
  2. [crot-2023] European Commission 2023, Publication of an application for approval of a non-minor amendment to the specification, "Pecorino Crotonese" PDO, OJ C 288, 17.8.2023 (copy hosted by ONAF)other
  3. [crot-reg2014] European Commission 2014, Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1262/2014 of 18 November 2014 entering a name in the register of protected designations of origin [Pecorino Crotonese (PDO)], OJ L 341, 27.11.2014spec
  4. [crot-reg2023] European Commission 2023, Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/2728 of 28 November 2023 approving a non-minor amendment to the specification of the protected designation of origin 'Pecorino Crotonese', OJ L, 5.12.2023spec
  5. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters), technical sheet 'Pecorino Crotonese'web
  6. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov