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Cheese from Italy, Toscana

PratolinaFormaggio caprino

A small bloomy-rind goat cheese from the Maremma, made from pasteurised milk with a lactic culture, lamb rennet and Penicillium candidum spores. The curd is broken to wheat-grain size, drained in hoops and dried a few days, then left to grow its thin white mould coat. It is eaten fresh or kept up to 60 days.

Fully documentedCheese2 monthsPAT (traditional agri-food product, Toscana)Family: Bloomy-rind soft cheese family (Camembert de Normandie as template)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedMade in small amounts, often to order; the sheets give no batch recipe. A cheese weighs about 300 g.
Whole goat milk from semi-wild goats of mixed breeds[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Lactic starter culture[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Penicillium candidum spores[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Lamb rennet[onaf-sheet]
Salt[onaf-sheet]
Starterlactic cultures plus Penicillium candidum spores

Total time across the recorded steps: 2 months

Start
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What changes: Whole goat milk is pasteurised in the vat

Step 1 of 5
Pasteurise the milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Penicillium candidum
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 small bloomy-rind goat cheese from the Maremma, made from pasteurised milk with a lactic culture, lamb rennet and Penicillium candidum spores. The curd is broken to wheat-grain size, drained in hoops and dried a few days, then left to grow its thin white mould coat. It is eaten fresh or kept up to 60 days. Made in 5 steps over 2 months. The longest step, grow the white rind, takes up to 2 months (ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori F…). Penicillium candidum does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepup to 2 monthsReported[onaf-sheet]Grow the white rind

What makes this one different

A rare bloomy-rind goat cheese from Maremma, revived from an old farm manager's recipe. The regional sheet says one farm makes it; the ONAF sheet says very few do.

Size
Small cylinder of about 300 g with a slightly sagging side
Rind
Very thin, snow-white, edible white mould
Season
March to October

Related ferments

Safety

The milk is pasteurised; the regional sheet gives a shelf life of 60 days. Pasteurised or not, the UK NHS says mould-ripened soft cheeses with a white rind must be thoroughly cooked in pregnancy, because soft ripened dairy foods may contain Listeria.

History and sources

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

The regional sheet says the method comes from an old recipe of the farm manager of the estate where it is made. Maremma families once kept a few goats each and gave the fresh milk to children. The ONAF sheet says an old cheesemaker found that Grosseto goat cheese covered in edible white moulds could be appreciated and sold.

Temperature, salt and pH
The sources we found give no temperature, salt or pH figure for any of its steps.
  1. [pat-sheet] Regione Toscana (ARSIA), Prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali, sheet «Pratolina» (copy hosted by ONAF)gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Formaggi), technical sheet «Pratolina»web
  3. [onaf] ONAF, cheese page «Pratolina» (id 940)web
  4. [nhs-preg] NHS (UK), Foods to avoid in pregnancy (cheese section)gov