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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Portugal, Centro, the Sicó hills

Queijo Rabaçal

Raw ewe and goat milk is mixed, salted with a spoonful of salt and set with animal rennet at about 30 °C in 45 minutes to an hour. The cheesemaker breaks the curd by hand, presses it gently into hoops and dry-salts one face, then the other the next day. The small cheeses ripen at least 20 days at 10–15 °C, washed often and scraped with a piece of roof tile, a knife or a fig leaf. Made in 6 steps over 21 days. The longest step, wash, scrape and ripen, takes at least 20 days (DGADR) and runs at 10–15 °C (DGADR). Lactic acid bacteria from the raw ewe and goat milk does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 20 daysSet[caderno]Wash, scrape and ripen
Temperature10–15 °CSet[caderno]Wash, scrape and ripen

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedFarm-scale making with no fixed batch. Each cheese weighs 300–500 g.
Raw ewe and goat milk · Mixed after milking and filtering; more ewe than goat milk in older descriptions[caderno][eu-summary]
Salt in the milk (one tablespoon) · Added before the rennet in the dairy studied for the specification[caderno]
Animal rennet · Cardoon is no longer used; some makers still use dried lamb abomasum[caderno]
Coarse salt (enough to cover each face) · A 1938 account gives 60 g of salt per cheese[caderno]
Starter: none added; the raw milk carries the lactic bacteria

Total time across the recorded steps: 21 days

Start
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What changes: Starting material: raw ewe and goat milk, filtered and mixed in the pot

Step 1 of 6
Filter and mix the milks
Time
up to 12 h
Set
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria

Output: mixed raw ewe and goat 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

What makes this one different

The milk is a mix of ewe and goat, set with animal rennet. During ripening the rind is scraped with a piece of roof tile, a knife or a fig leaf and wiped with linen.

Milk
Raw ewe and goat milk, mixed
Composition
Moisture 52–60 % of the fat-free cheese; fat at least 45 % of dry matter
Size
300–500 g; 10–15 cm across, 3–5 cm high

Related ferments

Safety

Made from raw milk that must be worked within 12 hours of milking, and ripened at least 20 days.

History and sources

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

Writers from 1938 to 1966 describe small Rabaçal cheeses of 200–500 g made mostly from ewe milk with some goat milk and cured in about 20 days. One 1961 author credits the aromatic pasture herb 'erva de Santa Maria' for its flavour. It was registered as a PDO in 1996.

  1. [caderno] DGADR, Caderno de especificações Queijo Rabaçal DOP (production rules and technical study, 1990s)spec
  2. [eu-summary] European Commission, Summary sheet for registration of 'Queijo Rabaçal' (VIB14/PO/0221), eAmbrosia registerspec
  3. [freitas2000] Freitas C., Malcata F.X. 2000, Microbiology and biochemistry of cheeses with Appélation d'Origine Protegée and manufactured in the Iberian Peninsula from ovine and caprine milks, Journal of Dairy Science 83(3):584–602 (abstract)paper