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Cheese from Spain, Catalan Pyrenees

Tupíformatge de tupí

Tupí is a soft, spreadable Pyrenean cheese paste. Fresh or too-dry cheese is broken up, packed into a glazed clay jar (the tupí), usually with aiguardent or another spirit and sometimes olive oil, stirred for the first days and left covered to ferment for at least two months. It began as a way to save cheeses that were too dry or starting to spoil.

A short entry: the sources we found record only what is said here about Tupí itself.

DocumentedCheese2.1 months – 2.2 months

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedNo source gives amounts; households used whatever cheese needed saving.
Fresh curd or dry, leftover cheese of goat, cow or sheep milkSet with chemical (commercial) or animal rennet[gencat-tupi]
Aiguardent or another spirit (left out by some makers)[gencat-tupi][wp-ca]
Olive oil[gencat-tupi][wp-en]

Total time across the recorded steps: 2.1 months – 2.2 months

Start
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35 °C

What changes: Warm milk sets with herba-col and the curd is pressed until it stops dripping

Step 1 of 4
Set and press the curd
Time
Not documented
Temperature
35 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Makers today use commercial or animal rennet. The curd is pressed by hand into a ball and then in a mould until no more whey comes out.

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

Tupí is a soft, spreadable Pyrenean cheese paste. Fresh or too-dry cheese is broken up, packed into a glazed clay jar (the tupí), usually with aiguardent or another spirit and sometimes olive oil, stirred for the first days and left covered to ferment for at least two months. It began as a way to save cheeses that were too dry or starting to spoil. Made in 4 steps over 2.1 months – 2.2 months. The longest step, cover and ferment, takes at least 2 months (Wikipedia (en)).

Key numbers
Main stepat least 2 monthsReported[wp-en][wp-ca]Cover and ferment
Temperature35 °CReported[wp-ca]Set and press the curd

What makes this one different

Not a cheese made in a mould but a paste fermented in a clay jar, usually with spirit and sometimes olive oil, to rescue cheeses that were too dry or going off.

Related ferments

History and sources

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

The Generalitat's inventory says tupí belonged to the life of high-mountain shepherds and transhumance and faded with it; household production is now almost gone. Pyrenean artisans revived it for sale in the 1980s.

  1. [gencat-tupi] Generalitat de Catalunya, Departament d'Agricultura, Inventari de productes de la terra, sheet «Formatge de tupí» (productes de la terra 36)gov
  2. [wp-ca] Viquipèdia (ca), Formatge de tupíwiki
  3. [wp-en] Wikipedia (en), Tupíwiki