Skip to main content
Support

Browse by category

All categories
Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Italy, Lazio

Pecorino in grotta del viterbese

Heat-treated ewe milk is soured with a starter, set with lamb or calf rennet and broken to corn-kernel size. The unpressed cheeses are warmed to drain, salted and kept two weeks in a cold room, then finished for 60–90 days in caves cut in volcanic tuff or lapilli, often wrapped in meadow hay and rubbed with oil. Made in 8 steps over 2.3 months – 3.5 months. The longest step, finish in a volcanic cave, takes 2–3 months (ARSIAL (Lazio regional agency for agricultura…) and runs at 10–11 °C (ARSIAL (Lazio regional agency for agricultura…). Mesophilic and/or thermophilic lactic starter cultures does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step2–3 monthsSet[arsial-grotta]Finish in a volcanic cave
Temperature10–11 °CSet[arsial-grotta][onaf-grotta]Finish in a volcanic cave
Fully documentedCheese2.3 months – 3.5 monthsPAT (traditional food product, Lazio)Family: Formaggio di fossa (pit-ripened)More cave- and pit-ripened cheesesMore from Italy

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe sheet gives one amount, 40–60 g of rennet per 100 litres of milk. A cheese weighs 1.8–3.5 kg.
Whole ewe milk · Only ewe milk, from flocks around Lake Bolsena; filtered first[arsial-grotta][onaf-grotta]
Mesophilic and/or thermophilic lactic cultures · Added at 36–38 °C[arsial-grotta]
40–60 g per 100 L of milkLamb rennet paste or calf rennet powder[arsial-grotta]
Salt · Brine at 20–22 °Bé, or dry salt[arsial-grotta][onaf-grotta]
Meadow hay, olive oil · Wrapped round and rubbed on the cheeses in the cave; some makers use oil and ash or walnut leaves[arsial-grotta][onaf-grotta]
Startermesophilic and/or thermophilic cultures added at 36–38 °C

Total time across the recorded steps: 2.3 months – 3.5 months

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
62–68 °C

What changes: Filtered ewe milk is heated briefly to 62–68 °C

Step 1 of 8
Heat-treat the milk
Time
0.2–0.4 min
Set
Temperature
62–68 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Output: heat-treated ewe milk.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

the heat kills most milk bacteria

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

It is not buried in a pit like formaggio di fossa. It finishes in open caves dug in volcanic tuff, which hold about 10–11 °C and 90 % humidity all year, often on beds of meadow hay.

Milk
Whole ewe milk, heat-treated at 62–68 °C
Ripening
About 2 weeks in a cold room, then 60–90 days in a cave; ONAF gives at least 100 days and up to about a year in all
Rind
Wrinkled, dry or oiled; straw-yellow to grey-brown; treated with oil and ash or walnut leaves by some makers
Size
1.8–3.5 kg (ONAF 1.8–4 kg); cylinder

Related ferments

Variants

  • Piansano makeCalf rennet powder at 34–36 °C, warmed in a hot, humid room and dry-salted.
  • Capodimonte makeLamb rennet paste at 38–40 °C; oiled and wrapped in hay in the cave.

Safety

The milk is heat-treated and a starter is added, and the cheese ripens for months. The UK NHS lists hard cheeses as safe in pregnancy.

History and sources

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

The first maker is in Montefiascone, where a long lapilli cave under the papal fortress is still used. A local story credits Saverio, an innkeeper in the cave, with finding the taste of cheeses left for months beside fragrant herbs.

  1. [arsial-grotta] ARSIAL (Lazio regional agency for agricultural development), Lazio patrimonio agroalimentare, tra biodiversità e tradizione, PAT sheet 'Pecorino in grotta del viterbese', p. 174gov
  2. [onaf-grotta] ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Formaggi), technical sheet 'Pecorino in grotta del viterbese', PAT Regione Lazioweb
  3. [nhs-preg] NHS (UK), Foods to avoid in pregnancy (cheese section)gov