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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Spain, La Rioja

Queso Camerano

Goat milk, pasteurised except for some cured cheeses, gets lactic cultures and kid rennet and sets at 29–38 °C. The curd is cut to 4–5 mm grains and ladled into 'cilla' moulds shaped like the old woven-cane baskets, where it drains by its own weight with no press. After a short brine bath it is eaten fresh or ripened 15, 30 or 75 days at 9–15 °C, when a brownish-green mould rind forms. Made in 8 steps over 16 days. The longest step, ripen, takes at least 15 days (Gobierno de La Rioja / MAPA 2012) and runs at 9–15 °C (Gobierno de La Rioja / MAPA 2012). Added lactic acid bacteria cultures does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 15 daysSet[pliego][oj-2012]Ripen
Temperature9–15 °CSet[pliego]Ripen

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe only fixed amount is the calcium chloride limit. Cheeses weigh 200–1,200 g.
Goat milk · At least 3.3 % protein and 4.0 % fat; pasteurised for fresco, tierno and semicurado; raw or pasteurised for curado[pliego][oj-2012]
Up to 250 mg per kg of milkCalcium chloride[pliego]
Lactic acid bacteria cultures[pliego]
Natural kid rennet · Rennet of goat origin only[pliego][oj-2012]
Salt · As a brine of 15 °Bé to saturation[pliego]
OptionalOlive oil · Rubbed on cheeses ripened 30 days or more to limit mould on the rind[pliego][oj-2012]
Starteradded lactic acid bacteria cultures

Total time across the recorded steps: 16 days

Start
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up to 6 °C

What changes: Starting material: filtered goat milk, kept cold

Step 1 of 8
Filter and chill the milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
up to 6 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria

Output: filtered, chilled 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 curd is never pressed; it drains slowly by its own weight inside cilla moulds that print a basket weave on the rind. One designation covers four ages, from unripened fresco to curado of at least 75 days.

Milk
Goat milk only; pasteurised except for curado, which may be raw
Composition
Fat at least 35 % of dry matter
Size
200–1,200 g; flat cylinder with convex sides and the cilla's woven pattern on the surface

Related ferments

Variants

  • FrescoNot ripened; soft, no rind; pasteurised milk.
  • TiernoRipened at least 15 days; pasteurised milk.
  • SemicuradoRipened at least 30 days; rind with moulds; pasteurised milk.
  • CuradoRipened at least 75 days; raw or pasteurised milk; may be rubbed with olive oil.

Safety

The specification follows the rule that raw milk may only be used for cheeses ripened at least 60 days, so only curado may be made from raw milk; the others use milk heated to 71.7 °C for 15 seconds. Fresco is kept at 4 °C or less.

History and sources

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

Goatherds in the Sierra de Cameros made the cheese from surplus milk in woven-cane cillas. A verse by Gonzalo de Berceo mentions cheeses offered by the people of Cameros, and the cheese appears in Spanish cheese catalogues from 1973 and 1990. The 2008 national application allowed kid, lamb or industrial rennet; the registered 2012 specification keeps only natural goat rennet.

  1. [pliego] Gobierno de La Rioja / MAPA 2012, Pliego de condiciones de la Denominación de Origen Protegida 'Queso Camerano' (archived copy)spec
  2. [oj-2012] European Commission 2012, Publication of an application, 'Queso Camerano' (ES-PDO-0005-0767-19.03.2009), single document, Official Journal of the EU C 101, 4 April 2012, p. 6spec
  3. [boe-2008] Gobierno de La Rioja 2008, Anuncio sobre la solicitud de registro de la DOP 'Queso Camerano', Boletín Oficial del Estado no. 249, 15 October 2008, pp. 12041–12042gov