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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Italy, Lazio

Provola di vacca (semplice e affumicata)

Cow milk, raw with a soured-milk starter or pasteurised with cultures, is set with rennet, broken, cooked to about 46 °C and left to sour for a few hours. The curd is stretched in hot water once it reaches pH 5.1–5.2, shaped by hand into an egg, firmed in cold water and brined. It is sold fresh the next day or ripened up to six months, plain or smoked. Made in 9 steps over 35 h – 6 months. The longest step, ripen in a cool room, takes 24 h – 6 months (ARSIAL (Lazio regional agency for agricultura…) and runs at 11–12 °C (ARSIAL (Lazio regional agency for agricultura…). Lactic acid bacteria of the soured-milk starter, in the raw-milk make and Thermophilic or mesophilic lactic cultures, in the pasteurised make do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step24 h – 6 monthsSet[arsial-provvac]Ripen in a cool room
Temperature11–12 °CSet[arsial-provvac][onaf-provvac]Ripen in a cool room
AciditypH 5.1–5.2Set[arsial-provvac][onaf-provvac]Stretch in hot water
Fully documentedCheese35 h – 6 monthsPAT (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 provola weighs 2–3 kg.
Whole cow milk · Two milkings, filtered through cloth or by centrifuge; raw in the Latina make[arsial-provvac][onaf-provvac]
Soured-milk starter (lattoinnesto) · Milk soured in the fridge for 2 days, for raw milk[arsial-provvac][onaf-provvac]
Thermophilic or mesophilic cultures · For pasteurised milk[arsial-provvac][onaf-provvac]
Liquid calf rennet, or kid or lamb rennet paste · The paste gives a sharper, piquant taste[arsial-provvac]
Salt · Saturated brine; in the Latina make, salt is worked into the paste while stretching[arsial-provvac][onaf-provvac]
Straw smoke or liquid smoke, olive oil (optional)[arsial-provvac][onaf-provvac]
Starter: soured milk (lattoinnesto) for raw milk; thermophilic or mesophilic cultures for pasteurised milk

Total time across the recorded steps: 35 h – 6 months

Start
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35–38 °Cshapes, not to countLactic acid bacteria

What changes: A soured-milk starter or a culture goes into the cow milk

Step 1 of 9
Add starter to the milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
35–38 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria

Output: inoculated milk.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

the starter brings 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 a firm cow-milk provola made across Lazio with local recipes. The raw-milk make uses a starter of milk soured in the fridge, and kid or lamb rennet paste gives a sharper taste. It is sold from one day old to six months.

Milk
Whole cow milk, raw (Latina) or pasteurised
Ripening
Primo sale after 1–2 days; traditionally over 30 days and up to 6 months
Rind
Smooth, glossy; white (primo sale) to straw-yellow, amber when smoked
Size
2–3 kg; egg-shaped or truncated cone

Related ferments

Variants

  • Primo saleSold fresh after 1–2 days of drying.
  • StagionataRipened over 30 days, up to 6 months.
  • AffumicataSmoked over straw or with liquid smoke.

Safety

Some makes use raw milk, and the primo sale is fresh and soft. 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 fresh soft cheese made from unpasteurised milk.

History and sources

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

Provola comes from southern Italy and spread to most regions. 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-provvac] ARSIAL (Lazio regional agency for agricultural development), Lazio patrimonio agroalimentare, tra biodiversità e tradizione, PAT sheet 'Provola di vacca (semplice e affumicata)', p. 177gov
  2. [onaf-provvac] ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Formaggi), technical sheet 'Provola di vacca (semplice e affumicata)', PAT Regione Lazio, with zone-by-zone methodsweb
  3. [nhs-preg] NHS (UK), Foods to avoid in pregnancy (cheese section)gov