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Cheese from Portugal, Azores, island of São Jorge

Queijo São Jorge PDO

Raw whole cow milk from São Jorge is soured with a natural whey starter kept from the day before, acidified at 30 °C, and the curd is cooked at 35–36 °C, drained, shaped, salted and pressed. The hard, yellowish cheeses ripen at least 3–4 months and grow spicy with age; each batch is tasted by a panel before it gets the PDO seal.

Fully documentedCheese3 months – 4 monthsPDO (EU), Reg. (EC) No 1107/96Family: Cheddared cheese family (Cheddar as template)

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe starter dose is given per 1000 parts of milk; no other doses are published in these sources.
Raw whole cow milk produced on São Jorge[jorge-1994][coelho2023]
Natural whey starter, the whey of the previous day's cheese makingabout 1.5–2 per 1000 of the milk1.5/1000 for whey acidity of 50–65 °D; 2/1000 for 40–50 °D[coelho2023]
Salt[coelho2023]
Starternatural whey starter (backslopping with the previous day's whey)

Total time across the recorded steps: 3 months – 4 months

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
shapes, not to countStreptococcusLactococcusLactobacillusLeuconostoc30 °C

What changes: Yesterday's whey goes into the raw milk, which acidifies at 30 °C

Step 1 of 5
Add whey starter and acidify
Time
Not documented
Temperature
30 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Streptococcus
Lactococcus
Lactobacillus
Leuconostoc
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 from São Jorge is soured with a natural whey starter kept from the day before, acidified at 30 °C, and the curd is cooked at 35–36 °C, drained, shaped, salted and pressed. The hard, yellowish cheeses ripen at least 3–4 months and grow spicy with age; each batch is tasted by a panel before it gets the PDO seal. Made in 5 steps over 3 months – 4 months. The longest step, ripen, takes 3–4 months (Coelho M.C 2023). Streptococcus and Lactococcus, over 99 % of the bacteria in the natural whey starter and Lactobacillus, Streptococcus, Leuconostoc and Lactococcus dominate the ripened cheese do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step3–4 monthsReported[coelho2023][kongo2009]Ripen
Temperature30 °CReported[coelho2023]Add whey starter and acidify
AciditypH 5.6Measured[kongo2009]Ripen

What makes this one different

A raw cow-milk cheese from one Azorean island, soured with the previous day's whey and given its PDO seal only after a panel tastes each batch.

Ripening
At least 3–4 months
PDO seal
Each batch is judged by a trained tasting panel; 40–60 % of cheeses made to the specification are refused the seal and sold cheaper

Related ferments

Safety

Made from raw milk. In a year-long study of 357 samples from the production chain, Kongo et al. (2006) detected no Listeria in whey, curd or cheese, but 2 of 105 raw milk samples carried L. monocytogenes of a ribotype linked to human outbreaks elsewhere. Cheese ripened 4 months averaged pH 5.48 and 4.73 % salt, which the authors say likely limits its growth, but some samples had values that may allow it. A sequencing study also found no Listeriaceae in the whey starter, curd or cheese, although they appeared in the milk. Neither result shows the cheese is free of Listeria. ANSES advises pregnant women, young children, people over 65 and people with weak immunity not to eat raw-milk cheeses other than pressed cooked ones such as Gruyère or Comté, because of Listeria, Salmonella and Shiga-toxin E. coli.

Hazards the sources name: Listeria monocytogenes in 2 of 105 raw milk samples, a ribotype linked to human listeriosis outbreaks elsewhere; no Listeria detected in whey, curd or cheese samples (357 samples over one year); Listeriaceae in the raw milk (under 0.3 % of sequences), not found in the whey starter, curd or cheese.

History and sources

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

The 1994 application calls it one of the best known regional cheeses, made since at least 'the last century', cites a regional decree of 9 July 1986 (24/86-A) and an order of 1 February 1990 (73/90) as national rules, and names the Confraria do Queijo São Jorge as the inspection body. Commission Regulation (EC) No 1107/96 of 12 June 1996 registered "Queijo de São Jorge" as a PDO.

  1. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov
  2. [jorge-1994] IMAIAA (Portugal), Application for registration 'Queijo São Jorge' PDO under Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92, English summary sheet, eAmbrosia attachment 72068spec
  3. [coelho2023] Coelho M.C., Malcata F.X., Silva C.C.G. 2023, Distinct Bacterial Communities in São Jorge Cheese with Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), Foods 12(5):990paper
  4. [kongo2009] Kongo J.M., Gomes A.M., Malcata F.X., McSweeney P.L.H. 2009, Microbiological, biochemical and compositional changes during ripening of São Jorge - a raw milk cheese from the Azores (Portugal), Food Chemistry 112(1):131–138 (abstract)paper
  5. [kongo2006] Kongo J.M., Malcata F.X., Ho A.J., Wiedmann M. 2006, Detection and characterization of Listeria monocytogenes in São Jorge (Portugal) cheese production, Journal of Dairy Science (abstract)paper
  6. [eu1107-1996] 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, Annex (cheeses, Portugal)spec