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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Italy, Lazio

Provolone vaccino (Lazio)

Cow milk, raw with a soured-milk starter or pasteurised with cultures, is set with rennet, cooked and left to sour under the whey for 3–5 hours. At pH 5.1–5.2 the curd is stretched, shaped by hand into a pear, firmed in cold water and brined for a day and a half per kilo. Tied with string, it ripens from one or two months to a year. Made in 8 steps over 32 days – 12 months. The longest step, ripen, takes 30 days – 12 months (ARSIAL (Lazio regional agency for agricultura…) and runs at 4–12 °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 step30 days – 12 monthsSet[arsial-provolone][onaf-provolone]Ripen
Temperature4–12 °CSet[arsial-provolone][onaf-provolone]Ripen
AciditypH 5.1–5.2Set[arsial-provolone][onaf-provolone]Sour under the whey
Fully documentedCheese32 days – 12 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 provolone weighs about 3 kg or more.
Whole cow milk · Two milkings, filtered through cloth or by centrifuge; raw in the Latina make[arsial-provolone][onaf-provolone]
Soured-milk starter (lattoinnesto) · Milk soured in the fridge for about 2 days, added at 38 °C[arsial-provolone][onaf-provolone]
Thermophilic or mesophilic cultures · For pasteurised milk, added at 40–42 °C[arsial-provolone][onaf-provolone]
Lamb rennet paste, or liquid calf rennet[arsial-provolone][onaf-provolone]
Salt · Brine at 20 °Bé, or saturated brine[arsial-provolone][onaf-provolone]
String · For tying the cheese[arsial-provolone]
Starter: soured milk (lattoinnesto) or thermophilic or mesophilic cultures

Total time across the recorded steps: 32 days – 12 months

Start
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38–42 °Cshapes, not to countLactic acid bacteria

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

Step 1 of 8
Add starter to the milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
38–42 °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 provolone of southern origin made in Lazio with raw milk and a starter of milk soured in the fridge, not with fully standard dairy methods. It is brined far longer than provola and ripens up to a year.

Milk
Whole cow milk, raw (Latina) or pasteurised at 70–72 °C (Amatrice)
Ripening
30–60 days to 1 year; the ARSIAL description gives 60 days to 1 year
Rind
Hard, smooth, straw-yellow, deepening with age, with brownish mould spots
Size
About 3 kg or more; pear, ball, cylinder or egg, tied with string

Related ferments

Variants

  • Latina makeRaw milk, soured-milk starter, liquid rennet, cooked to 55–65 °C, aged 60–365 days at 4 °C.
  • Amatrice makePasteurised milk, cultures, lamb rennet paste, cooked to 45 °C, aged 30–60 days at 12 °C.

Safety

The cheese is cooked, stretched in hot water and ripened for months. The UK NHS lists hard cheeses as safe in pregnancy, unpasteurised or not.

History and sources

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

Provolone comes from southern Italy and spread to other regions, Lazio among them.

  1. [arsial-provolone] ARSIAL (Lazio regional agency for agricultural development), Lazio patrimonio agroalimentare, tra biodiversità e tradizione, PAT sheet 'Provolone vaccino', p. 178gov
  2. [onaf-provolone] ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Formaggi), technical sheet 'Provolone vaccino', PAT Regione Lazio, with zone-by-zone methodsweb
  3. [nhs-preg] NHS (UK), Foods to avoid in pregnancy (cheese section)gov