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Cheese from Brazil, Minas Gerais

Queijo Minas Artesanal de Araxá

Raw whole cow milk is worked within 90 minutes of milking, seeded with pingo and set with rennet. The curd is cut, stirred, pressed into moulds by hand and dry-salted, then ripened on shelves at room temperature. The 1–1.4 kg cheese is buttery, creamy white and mildly acid, milder and less salty than Canastra.

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe state standard fixes ingredients and steps, not amounts; additives are banned. Cheeses weigh 1,000–1,400 g.
Raw whole cow milk from the farm's own herd, not heat-treated[rtiq2303]
Pingo (fermented whey used as natural starter)[rtiq2303][penna2021]
Rennet registered with the authorities[rtiq2303]
Salt[rtiq2303]
Starterpingo, whey collected during salting of the previous batch

Total time across the recorded steps: 14 days

Start
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What changes: Fresh raw milk is filtered into the vat soon after milking

Step 1 of 8
Milk and filter
Time
up to 1.5 h
Set
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactococcus
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 whole cow milk is worked within 90 minutes of milking, seeded with pingo and set with rennet. The curd is cut, stirred, pressed into moulds by hand and dry-salted, then ripened on shelves at room temperature. The 1–1.4 kg cheese is buttery, creamy white and mildly acid, milder and less salty than Canastra. Made in 8 steps over 14 days. The longest step, ripen, takes at least 14 days (Instituto Mineiro de Agropecuária (IMA) 2013) and runs at at least 12 °C (Instituto Mineiro de Agropecuária (IMA) 2024). Lactococcus, the most abundant genus in Araxá cheese does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 14 daysSet[ima1305][penna2021]Ripen
Temperatureat least 12 °CSet[rtiq2303]Ripen

What makes this one different

Made by the same Minas steps as Canastra, but less ripened, less salty and milder. The 2013 rules gave Araxá the shortest minimum ripening of the Minas microregions.

Size
Cylinder 14–17 cm across, 4–7 cm high; 1,000–1,400 g
Composition
About 40.1 g moisture and 27.3 g fat per 100 g (one study); at most 45.9 g moisture by the state standard

Related ferments

Safety

The milk is raw. The state standard requires processing within 90 minutes of milking, a set minimum ripening, moisture of at most 45.9%, and no Salmonella or Listeria monocytogenes in 25 g.

Hazards the sources name: Coagulase-positive staphylococci, Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes, limited by the state standard (Salmonella and Listeria absent in 25 g).

History and sources

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

Araxá cheese has been made on the Araxá plateau, which takes in 9 towns, since the 18th century.

  1. [rtiq2303] Instituto Mineiro de Agropecuária (IMA), Portaria IMA nº 2303 of 20 May 2024, technical regulation of identity and quality of Queijo Minas Artesanal (DOE-MG 21/05/2024, annex republished 30/05/2024), text as reproduced by LegisWebspec
  2. [ima1305] Instituto Mineiro de Agropecuária (IMA), Portaria IMA nº 1305 of 30 April 2013, art. 2 as worded by Portaria 1736/2017 (revoked by Portaria 1969/2020), text as reproduced by LegisWebspec
  3. [penna2021] Penna A.L.B., Gigante M.L., Todorov S.D. 2021, Artisanal Brazilian Cheeses, History, Marketing, Technological and Microbiological Aspects, Foods 10(7):1562paper