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Cheese from Italy, Lombardia

Quartirolo Lombardo PDO

Raw or pasteurised cow milk is set with calf rennet at 35–44 °C within 25 minutes, optionally with a milk starter from earlier makes. The curd is broken twice to hazelnut size and soured in square moulds at 24–30 °C for 4–24 hours, then salted and ripened at 2–8 °C. It is sold as fresco from 2 to 30 days and as maturo after 30 days, its rind sponged with salt water.

Fully documentedCheese2.2 days – 31 daysPDO (EU), registered by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1107/96 of 12 June 1996; amendments to the specification approved by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/2009 of 7 November 2017Family: Washed-rind (smear-ripened) cheese family (Munster and Époisses as templates)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe specification fixes limits, not a recipe; it gives no doses. Cheeses weigh 1.5–3.5 kg.
Cow milk from cows raised in the area, from at least two milkingsAt least 50% of the feed dry matter comes from the area, on a yearly basis[ql-disc]
Calf rennet[ql-disc]
Milk starter (latto-innesto) from earlier makes in the same dairy, or selected culturesOptional[ql-disc]
Salt, dry or as brine[ql-disc]
Starteroptional milk starter (latto-innesto) from earlier makes, or selected cultures

Total time across the recorded steps: 2.2 days – 31 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play

What changes: Milk from two milkings comes together, part of it skimmed

Step 1 of 7
Collect the milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Raw or pasteurised milk from at least two milkings; the later milkings may give whole or part-skimmed milk.

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

Raw or pasteurised cow milk is set with calf rennet at 35–44 °C within 25 minutes, optionally with a milk starter from earlier makes. The curd is broken twice to hazelnut size and soured in square moulds at 24–30 °C for 4–24 hours, then salted and ripened at 2–8 °C. It is sold as fresco from 2 to 30 days and as maturo after 30 days, its rind sponged with salt water. Made in 7 steps over 2.2 days – 31 days. The longest step, ripen cold, takes 2–30 days (Disciplinare di produzione della denominazion…) and runs at 2–8 °C (Disciplinare di produzione della denominazion…).

Key numbers
Main step2–30 daysSet[ql-disc]Ripen cold
Temperature2–8 °CSet[ql-disc]Ripen cold

What makes this one different

A square stracchino-family cheese that is soured warm in its moulds and then ripened cold. It is sold fresh after a few days or as maturo after a month, its rind only sponged with salt water.

Milk
Cow milk, raw or pasteurised, from at least two milkings; later milkings may be part-skimmed
Ripening
Fresco 2–30 days; maturo (stagionato) after 30 days
Size
Square, 18–22 cm a side and 4–8 cm high, 1.5–3.5 kg
Composition
Fat in dry matter at least 30% when made with part-skimmed milk

Related ferments

Safety

Raw milk is allowed. The specification sets cold ripening at 2–8 °C; ONAF advises keeping the cheese at 0–6 °C at home. If it is made with raw milk, ANSES advises pregnant women, people with weak immunity, people over 65 and young children to avoid raw-milk cheese, except cooked pressed cheeses such as Gruyère or Comté.

History and sources

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

ONAF says the cheese has been made since the 10th century, first as 'stracchino quadro'. The name comes from erba quartirola, the grass of the late cuttings eaten by herds back from the summer pastures; in autumn the small milk yield was made into quick-ripening stracchini (ONAF). The name was registered as a PDO in 1996, and amendments to its specification were approved in 2017.

Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
  1. [ql-disc] Disciplinare di produzione della denominazione di origine protetta 'Quartirolo Lombardo', text of the 2016 amendment request (27.6.2016), copy hosted by ONAF. The amendments to the specification were later approved by Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/2009; the final consolidated text was not readother
  2. [ql-1993] Disciplinare di produzione del formaggio 'Quartirolo lombardo' (initial text, 1993), copy hosted by ONAFspec
  3. [ql-onaf] ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters), technical sheet 'Quartirolo Lombardo'web
  4. [ql-reg2017] Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/2009 of 7 November 2017 approving non-minor amendments to the specification for a name entered in the register of protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications ('Quartirolo Lombardo' (PDO)), Official Journal L 292, 10.11.2017, p. 1spec
  5. [ql-reg1996] Commission Regulation (EC) No 1107/96 of 12 June 1996 on the registration of geographical indications and designations of origin under the procedure laid down in Article 17 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92, Official Journal L 148, 21.6.1996, pp. 1–10 (Annex lists 'Quartirolo Lombardo' as a PDO)spec
  6. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov