Physical Object An inanimate, three-dimensional object or substance. Note that digital representations of, or surrogates for, these objects should use Moving Image, Still Image, Text or one of the other types. Material Cow's milk, rennet, salt Natural Cultural Cultural Function It is a food product and a traditional way to preserve domestic milk production Creation Purpose Retail sale Technique The milk delivered to the cheese factory is stored in an outdoor tank at temperatures below 4 degrees Celsius. The following morning, it is pasteurized using a pasteurizer, subjecting it to 72 degrees Celsius for 5 seconds, which eliminates bacteria and microorganisms. Subsequently, the pasteurizer pours the milk into curdling vats, where it is maintained at an average temperature of 27-28 degrees Celsius, ideal for producing this type of cheese. Once in the vats, the milk is left for 3 to 4 hours to allow its pH to drop to a level of 4.5-5. Afterward, rennet is added. Originally, the rennet was of animal origin, though nowadays it is produced in laboratories. The amount used is 45 milliliters of rennet per 1,000 liters of milk, representing a very small quantity. Traditionally, in the production of afuega’l pitu cheese, two processes can be followed, historically documented and related to the curdling process. It is possible to curdle without rennet by utilizing temperature differences and pH reduction. However, the issue with this curd, known in Asturian as leche presa, is that it has much less consistency. If poured into a mold with holes (barreña), the curd escapes through the openings. For this reason, a piece of cloth (trapu) is used to strain the whey when pouring the curd. If rennet is used, the curd gains greater consistency and can be directly placed into the barreñas to finish draining the whey. Rennet (cuayo in Asturian) is a digestive enzyme that enables milk coagulation, traditionally obtained from the stomach of ruminants. However, in the past, this enzyme was also extracted from the intestines of pigs, which were slaughtered at home for domestic consumption during the traditional pig-slaughtering (matanzas). The curd of Afuega’l Pitu cheese is of an acid-lactic or mixed type, as the milk coagulates due to the pH reduction caused by acidity, with rennet aiding in the process. Once the milk is placed in the curdling vat, it is left to rest for 24 hours Material Source The milk comes from pasture-based farms located in villages near the cheese factory Conecept The 'Atroncáu cheese' is one of the traditional varieties of Afuega’l Pitu cheese, produced in the region where the cheese factory is located. It is made following traditional procedures Production Quality In batches of between 150-200 cheeses. External ID UNIOVI_AR_07 Field Worker Santiago Rodríguez Pérez Tool Milk pasteurizer, coagulation vat, ladle, cheese draining mold, curating chamber. Place The town or city Ambás, Grau/Grado, Asturias, Spain Prim Media 1352 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Afuega'l Pitu Cheese. 'Atroncáu blancu' variety Type The nature or genre of the resource Physical Object Description An account of the resource Afuega’l pitu ‘Atroncáu blancu’ cheese is made from pasteurized cow's milk. Its conical shape is due to the mold used in its production, called ‘barreña’. The cheese's consistency varies depending on its degree of maturation, as does its color, which changes from white to yellowish over time. Its rind is natural, and as it matures, after 30 days, the mold ‘geotricum candida’ appears, originating from the milk itself. It has a slightly acidic and mildly salty taste, is creamy, and quite dry. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource Cheeses are produced daily at the cheese factory. The documented piece was made days before our visit Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource 1242 Language A language of the resource Asturian Extent The size or duration of the resource. cm x 5-12cm x 8-14cm Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource iain Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 623 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived asturiasmap,craftedobjects References A related resource that is referenced, cited, or otherwise pointed to by the described resource. Cuesta, P., Fernández-García, E., González De Llano, D., Montilla, A., & Rodríguez, A. (1996). Evolution of the Microbiological and Biochemical Characteristics of Afuega’l Pitu Cheese During Ripening. Journal of Dairy Science, 79(10), 1693–1698. https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.S0022-0302(96)76534-7 González Álvarez, M. G., Díaz-Méndez, C., & Novo Vázquez, A. (2019). De la agricultura familiar a las denominaciones de origen protegida (DOP): Transformación del sector del queso en asturias. In Agricultura familiar y derecho a la alimentación: Reflexiones desde España, América Latina y el Caribe (pp. 131–142). Ediciones de la Universidad de Oviedo. https://investigacion.usc.es/documentos/600b7d595ef744589ee4ccfd?lang=es Fernández Ramírez, I., & González de la Plata, I. (2006). El queso Afuega’l Pitu. Fenicia / Gráficas Muñiz. López Murias, Raquel. «Las cinco muyeres de Grau que salvaron al “queisu” que llegó a prohibirse en Asturias: el Afuega’l Pitu». ElDiario.es, 15 de febrero de 2025. https://www.eldiario.es/asturias/cinco-muyeres-grau-salvaron-queisu-llego-prohibirse-asturias-afuega-l-pitu_1_12053455.html MAPAMA. (2016). Pliego de condiciones de la denominación de origen protegida (D.O.P.) ”Afuega’l Pitu”. Ministerio de Agricultura y Pesca, Alimentación y Medioambiente (MAPAMA). [Specification of Afuega’l Pitu P.D.O. Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Food and Environment (MAPAMA)]. Official website of the Protected Designation of Origin "Afuega'l Pitu": https://doafuegalpitu.es/ Piñeiro Lago, L. (2021). Study of the thermo-rheological and biochemical parameters of Afuega’l Pitu PDO cheese [Doctoral dissertation, Universidade de Vigo]. http://hdl.handle.net/11093/2269 Turismo Asturias. (2020, January 13). DOP Queso Afuega’l Pitu [Video recording]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhtNe344HzM Date Submitted Date of submission of the resource. Examples of resources to which a Date Submitted may be relevant are a thesis (submitted to a university department) or an article (submitted to a journal). 02/09/2025 Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. current,43.3169333969445,-6.13166887325786; Date Modified Date on which the resource was changed. 08/09/2025 Alternative Title An alternative name for the resource. The distinction between titles and alternative titles is application-specific. Queisu de Afuega'l pitu. Variedá Atroncáu blancu Europeana Specific elements of the Europeana Semantic Elements. Europeana Type The Europeana material type of the resource. TEXT