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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Italy, Trentino-Alto Adige, province of Bolzano

Zieger (Formaggio fresco aromatizzato)Zieger

Zieger is a small cone of fresh skim-milk curd kneaded with chives or other herbs, salt and black pepper. Today the curd is made by heating raw skim milk to 85–90 °C and adding vinegar or citric acid, so the set is acid and heat, not microbial. In the older farm method the skimmed milk was left to sour on its own. Made in 7 steps over 56 days. The longest step, keep cool, takes up to 56 days (ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters)) and runs at 4–12 °C (ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters)). Souring flora of skimmed milk in the older farm method does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepup to 56 daysReported[onaf-sheet]Keep cool
Temperature4–12 °CReported[onaf-sheet]Keep cool
Fully documentedCheese56 daysTraditional food product (PAT, Provincia autonoma di Bolzano, no. 35)Family: Acid-heat set cheese family (FERMENTATION BOUNDARY)More acid-heat set cheesesMore from Italy

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe source gives the curd temperature but no amounts. Each cone weighs about 150 g.
Raw cow milk, skimmed or part-skimmed · Traditionally skimmed by letting the cream rise[onaf-sheet]
Vinegar or citric acid · In some places buttermilk is used, or the curd comes from lactic souring[onaf-sheet]
Chives or other fresh herbs[onaf-sheet]
Ground black pepper[onaf-sheet]
Salt[onaf-sheet]
Starter: none today (acid and heat); naturally soured skim milk in the older method

Total time across the recorded steps: 56 days

Start
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What changes: Cream is taken off the raw milk, leaving skimmed milk

Step 1 of 7
Skim the raw milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Output: skimmed or part-skimmed raw 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

It is not ripened by a culture. Hot skim milk is curdled with vinegar or citric acid, and the flavour comes from the herbs and pepper kneaded in. It is shaped as a small hand-made cone.

Rind
None; a mould bloom when mature
Size
Small cone, about 0.150 kg
Boundary
The modern curd is set by heat and acid, not by microbes

Related ferments

Variants

  • Lightly smokedIn some places the cones are lightly smoked before they are eaten.

Safety

The milk is heated to 85–90 °C before the curd forms. Keep the cones cold, at 4–12 °C, and eat them within about 8 weeks.

History and sources

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

Farm families made it centuries ago from milk skimmed by creaming and left to sour, mixed with whatever wild herbs were at hand. Small local makers have since taken it up again.

  1. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters), technical sheet 'Zieger (Formaggio fresco aromatizzato)'web
  2. [pat-list-bz] Ministero delle politiche agricole, Elenco nazionale dei prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali (L. 238/2016 art. 12), Allegato I, Provincia autonoma di Bolzano, no. 35 (copy hosted by informacibo.it, 2018)gov
  3. [onaf] ONAF, scheda formaggio 'Zieger' (id 806)web