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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Peru, Puno region

Queso pariaqueso fresco tipo paria

Cow milk is pasteurised, cooled to 34 °C and set with rennet in about 30 minutes. The curd is cut fine, stirred, partly drained, washed with water at 65 °C, salted and pressed in straw-lined moulds that mark the rind. It is the altiplano's everyday fresh cheese, ready the next day and not ripened. Made in 6 steps over 36 min – 51 min. The longest step, cool and set with rennet, takes 30 min (Trujillo Miranda C. 2020) and runs at 34 °C (Trujillo Miranda C. 2020). Thermophilic lactic bacteria in the commercial coagulant does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step30 minReported[candelaria2020]Cool and set with rennet
Temperature34 °CReported[candelaria2020]Cool and set with rennet

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe review gives additive doses as percentages and 32 g of rennet, without the milk volume. About 7 litres of milk make a kilo of cheese (Sierra Exportadora, 2012).
Cow milk · Fresh, at 15–18 °D acidity; sometimes sheep milk[candelaria2020]
0.06 %Calcium chloride[candelaria2020]
0.04 %Potassium nitrate[candelaria2020]
0.002 %Lipase[candelaria2020]
Commercial coagulant with thermophilic bacteria, and rennet · 32 g of rennet in the plant flow described[candelaria2020]
Hot water at 65 °C · For washing the curd[candelaria2020]
Salt[candelaria2020]
Starterthermophilic bacteria in the commercial coagulant

Total time across the recorded steps: 36 min – 51 min

Start
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75 °C

What changes: Filtered cow milk is pasteurised at 75 °C for a minute

Step 1 of 6
Pasteurise the milk
Time
1 min
Reported
Temperature
75 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria

Output: pasteurised 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

Paria is the altiplano's fresh pressed cheese, sold the day after making. Its curd is washed with hot water, which slows the souring, and it is pressed in straw moulds that leave a ridged rind. Queso andino, made in the same plants, is brined and ripened for weeks.

Milk
Pasteurised cow milk; sometimes sheep milk
Ripening
None; ready the day after making. Peruvian technical standard NTP 202.044 (2014) treats it as an unripened cheese
Composition
Moisture 58.08 %, protein 14.56 %, fat 35.98 % (Caritas 2015, as cited); pH 5.5 (Apaza 2014, as cited)
Yield
About 10 % (9.8 % from 1,000 litres; 10 % from 600 litres), or about 7 litres of milk per kilo

Related ferments

Safety

The milk is pasteurised in the process described, and the cheese is kept at 12 °C and eaten fresh.

History and sources

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

Puno produces more than 200,000 litres of milk a day, and 65 % of its cheese is fresh (MINAGRI 2019, as cited). In 2012 Sierra Exportadora ran courses to help Puno makers move from high-moisture fresh cheeses like paria to ripened ones.

  1. [candelaria2020] Trujillo Miranda C. 2020, Estudio del proceso de elaboración del queso fresco y madurado en la región Puno, bachelor's research work, Universidad Peruana Unión, Juliacapaper
  2. [agraria2012] Agraria.pe, 'Impulsan elaboración de quesos maduros en Puno', 19 April 2012web