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Cheese from Italy, Liguria

Pecorino ligure di malga

A raw sheep-milk cheese from the mountain valleys behind Imperia, made in two types. The milk is soured with acid whey from the last make and set with calf rennet; the curd is broken with a stick to hazelnut size for the sweet type or corn size for the aged type, lightly pressed by hand in baskets and dry-salted or brined. The sweet type ripens 20–60 days, the aged type 2–12 months.

Fully documentedCheese2.7 months – 14 monthsPAT (traditional agri-food product, Liguria)Family: Hard pressed ewe cheese family (Manchego and Pecorino Romano as templates)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe sheets give the method, not a batch recipe or a weight.
Raw whole sheep milk[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Acid whey starter (siero-innesto) from the previous make[onaf-sheet]
Liquid calf rennet[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Salt (dry or as brine)[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Starteracid whey starter (siero-innesto) from the previous make

Total time across the recorded steps: 2.7 months – 14 months

Start
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What changes: Acid whey from the last make and calf rennet go into the raw sheep milk

Step 1 of 6
Add whey starter and rennet
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

The raw milk is inoculated with acid whey, brought to setting temperature and given liquid calf rennet. Neither sheet gives the temperature or time.

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 sheep-milk cheese from the mountain valleys behind Imperia, made in two types. The milk is soured with acid whey from the last make and set with calf rennet; the curd is broken with a stick to hazelnut size for the sweet type or corn size for the aged type, lightly pressed by hand in baskets and dry-salted or brined. The sweet type ripens 20–60 days, the aged type 2–12 months. Made in 6 steps over 2.7 months – 14 months. The longest step, ripen the aged type, takes 2–12 months (Regione Liguria (agriligurianet)).

Key numbers
Main step2–12 monthsReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Ripen the aged type

What makes this one different

The sweet and aged types are salted the same way. They differ in curd size, hazelnut or corn kernel, and in ripening time, 20–60 days or 2–12 months.

Size
Faces 15–20 cm across; side 6–10 cm (dolce) or 10–13 cm (stagionato); weight not given
Rind
Smooth and thin, white to pale straw when young; firmer and straw to brown when aged
Season
May to November (ONAF)

Related ferments

Variants

  • DolceCurd cut to hazelnut size, side 6–10 cm, ripened 20–60 days
  • StagionatoCurd cut to corn size, side 10–13 cm, ripened 2–12 months

Safety

Made from raw milk; the sheets give no safety values, and the sweet type ripens as little as 20 days. ANSES, the French food safety agency, says Listeria and enterohaemorrhagic E. coli in raw-milk cheeses can kill, and advises pregnant women, people with weak immunity, people over 65 and young children to avoid raw-milk cheeses other than pressed cooked ones such as Gruyère or Comté. It says cheese cooked well, 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

The regional sheet recalls flocks from the Bergamo valleys and Piedmont that wintered in Liguria from November to May and sold fresh ricotta and sheep cheese in the coastal markets.

Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
Temperature, salt and pH
The sources we found give no temperature, salt or pH figure for any of its steps.
  1. [pat-sheet] Regione Liguria (agriligurianet), Prodotti tradizionali, sheet «Pecorino ligure di malga» (copy hosted by ONAF)gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Formaggi), technical sheet «Pecorino ligure di malga»web
  3. [onaf] ONAF, cheese page «Pecorino ligure di malga» (id 972)web
  4. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov