🧀 Casciotta d'Urbino

Casciotta d'Urbino is an Italian cheese with a protected designation of origin since 1996 (eAmbrosia PDO-IT-0005), made from whole sheep's milk (70 to 80%) and whole cow's milk (the remaining 20 to 30%). The milk may be raw or pasteurised.

According to the specification, the milk is curdled at about 35 °C with liquid or powdered rennet; starter cultures may also be used. The curd is placed in moulds to press out the whey. The cheeses are dry-salted or brined, then matured for 15 to 30 days at 8–14 °C and 80–90% humidity, depending on size.

The cheese is a low cylindrical wheel with rounded sides, 12 to 16 cm in diameter and 5 to 9 cm high, weighing 800 to 1200 g. The rind is thin, about 1 mm, and straw-coloured at the end of maturing; it is not edible. The paste is soft and crumbly, whitish straw-coloured, with a light scattering of small eyes. The taste is mild, sweet, full and pleasantly acidic, typical of sheep's and cow's milk. Fat is at least 45% of dry matter. The specification calls it a table cheese.

All stages, from rearing and milking to cheesemaking and maturing, take place in the province of Pesaro e Urbino in the Marche and in seven municipalities of the province of Rimini (Novafeltria, Talamello, Sant'Agata Feltria, Casteldelci, Maiolo, San Leo and Pennabilli). According to the specification, sheep and cattle farming here goes back to the 1500s under the Dukes of Montefeltro and Della Rovere, and the shape owes much to the terracotta moulds typical of the Urbania area.

The label is on one flat side of the cheese and bears the name Casciotta d'Urbino with DOP or Denominazione di Origine Protetta, the logo, the EU symbol and the details of the cheesemaker, maturing premises and packager. The cheese is sold whole or in portions, also vacuum-packed.