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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Italy, southern Lazio

Provola di bufala (semplice e affumicata)

Raw buffalo milk gets a whey starter from the day before and is set with calf rennet at 36–37 °C. The curd sours on a bench until it will stretch, is stretched with water at 93–95 °C and shaped into a pear or oval, then firmed in cold water and brined. It is eaten within a week, plain or smoked over straw. Made in 8 steps over 7.5 days. The longest step, smoke over straw, or keep cold, takes up to 7 days (ARSIAL (Lazio regional agency for agricultura…) and runs at 6–8 °C (ARSIAL (Lazio regional agency for agricultura…). Lactic acid bacteria of the whey starter and Streptococcus thermophilus, Lactobacillus delbrueckii and Lactobacillus helveticus, measured through the make of Mozzarella di Bufala Campana, which uses the same kind of whey starter do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepup to 7 daysSet[arsial-provbuf][onaf-provbuf]Smoke over straw, or keep cold
Temperature6–8 °CSet[arsial-provbuf][onaf-provbuf]Smoke over straw, or keep cold
Fully documentedCheese7.5 daysPAT (traditional food product, Lazio)Family: Pasta filata (stretched-curd) cheese familyMore stretched-curd cheesesMore from Italy

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe sheets give temperatures and times but no amounts. A cheese weighs 1–4 kg.
Raw whole buffalo milk · Two milkings; only the evening milk is chilled; filtered through cloth[arsial-provbuf][onaf-provbuf]
Whey starter (siero-innesto) · Whey kept from the previous make, added at 15–17 °C[arsial-provbuf][onaf-provbuf]
Liquid calf rennet[arsial-provbuf][onaf-provbuf]
Hot water · At 93–95 °C, for stretching[arsial-provbuf]
Salt · Brine diluted 1:24[arsial-provbuf][onaf-provbuf]
Straw for smoking (optional)[arsial-provbuf][onaf-provbuf]
Starter: whey starter (siero-innesto) from the previous day's make

Total time across the recorded steps: 7.5 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
15–17 °Cshapes, not to countLactic acid bacteria

What changes: Whey kept from yesterday's make goes into raw buffalo milk

Step 1 of 8
Add the whey starter
Time
Not documented
Temperature
15–17 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria
S. thermophilus
L. delbrueckii
Lactobacillus helveticus

Output: inoculated milk.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

the whey starter brings thermophilic lactic 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 made like buffalo mozzarella, with a whey starter and hot-water stretching, but shaped into a larger, firmer pear or oval of 1–4 kg and often smoked over straw.

Milk
Raw whole buffalo milk
Ripening
At most one week
Rind
Thin, smooth skin; white to pale yellow, hazelnut-brown if smoked
Size
1–4 kg; pear-shaped or oval

Related ferments

Variants

  • SempliceNot smoked.
  • AffumicataSmoked over straw.

Safety

The milk is raw and the cheese is soft and eaten within a week. The UK NHS advises that soft cheese made from unpasteurised milk be cooked until steaming hot for people at risk, because of Listeria.

Hazards the sources name: Listeria monocytogenes, a risk in soft cheese made from unpasteurised milk.

History and sources

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

Buffalo have long been kept in southern Lazio, and the cheese follows the provola of southern Italy, especially Caserta. The sheet reports a derivation of the name from pruvatura, a cheese offered for tasting to clergy on procession to the monastery of San Lorenzo in Capua.

  1. [arsial-provbuf] ARSIAL (Lazio regional agency for agricultural development), Lazio patrimonio agroalimentare, tra biodiversità e tradizione, PAT sheet 'Provola di bufala (semplice e affumicata)', p. 176gov
  2. [onaf-provbuf] ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Formaggi), technical sheet 'Provola di bufala (semplice e affumicata)', PAT Regione Lazioweb
  3. [levante2023] Levante A., Bertani G., Marrella M., Mucchetti G., Bernini V., Lazzi C., Neviani E. 2023, The microbiota of Mozzarella di Bufala Campana PDO cheese, a study across the manufacturing process, Frontiers in Microbiology 14:1196879paper
  4. [nhs-preg] NHS (UK), Foods to avoid in pregnancy (cheese section)gov