The best cheeses of northern Italy
The Italian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Poland (CCIIP) is resuming its activities for True Italian Taste 2021 in Poland. True Italian Taste is a project run as part of the government programme “The Extraordinary Italian Taste”. Its aim is to raise consumer awareness of what makes Italian agri-food products authentic, and to promote them. The project was launched in 2016 in North America. Over time it has also expanded to markets in Europe, South America, Asia and Australia. The project is run in cooperation with 36 CCIE (Italian Chambers of Commerce Abroad) in 23 countries around the world. It aims to draw foreign customers' attention to eating and consciously buying food that is 100% produced in Italy, in order to counter so-called Italian Sounding: a phenomenon that misuses words, colours, places, images, names and recipes to suggest an Italian origin for products and dishes that in reality have little to do with Italy. 2021 sees the sixth edition of the project.
Formaggio di latteria turnaria from Friuli
The idea of cooperation allows traditional dairies to survive and create the unique “Formaggio di latteria turnaria” cheese in the Friuli region.
The idea of cooperation, cultivated for centuries, allows dairies more than 100 years old to carry on working in the Friuli region. Thanks to the commitment of people who cherish the region's heritage, the unique “Formaggio di latteria turnaria” cheese is still made here. Local cheese production is not only about keeping a tradition alive, but also about providing work for generations of young cheesemakers. With the support of the Slow Food Foundation, an exceptional product is being made and the farming areas are no longer emptying.
Friuli-Venezia Giulia is a relatively small autonomous administrative region in north-eastern Italy. Its area (7850 km²) is smaller than that of the Opole Voivodeship, Poland's smallest province. The region, home to 1.2 million people, borders Slovenia and Austria. It is Friuli-Venezia Giulia that “welcomes us” to Italian soil when we travel from Poland. The province is home to ethnic minorities, and the local Friulian language has the status of an official language of the region. Its superb local cheeses could well be the calling card of this part of Italy.
Dairy cooperatives, known as “latteria turnaria”, were once common across Friuli and for centuries were a pillar of the Friulian rural economy.
In 1880 the “turnaria” system was institutionalised, and the first such cooperative opened in Maniago. Others then sprang up throughout the Friulian area. Members of the cooperative took turns making their own cheese, which they then sold themselves. The system based on the idea of cooperation began to be abandoned after the Second World War, before the 1976 earthquake dealt it the final blow. The years that followed brought the closure of many dairies and the concentration of farms. The few remaining dairies managed to survive for several decades, but then they too began to close as small family farms gradually disappeared and agricultural policy forced producers to merge dairies in order to obtain the necessary certificates and to produce the quantities of cheese required for sale on the local market and for export.
Latteria Campolessi in Gemona
Today the last “turnarie” in Friuli can be counted almost on the fingers of one hand, but some of those that have survived have a wonderful history. In Campolessi di Gemona there is a dairy that is 123 years old, having been founded in 1908.
Today the plant in Campolessi is the only one in the area and one of seven in the whole of Friuli. The dairy has 17 members from Gemona and neighbouring municipalities, who deliver cow's milk every day to make cheese. Two cheesemakers work at Latteria Campolessi: a seasoned expert and a young cheesemaker who is learning all the secrets of the trade.
The cheese, known simply as “Latteria”, is aged for up to one year. It is a raw-milk cheese that contains no commercial starter cultures. The milk comes from small farms near the dairy, where the most common breed is the local “Pezzata Rossa”, and the cows' diet does not include maize silage. The cows, usually 2 - 4 on each farm, must eat hay, to which fresh grass is added from late spring to summer.
Sereno Milisso and the dairy shop in Campolessi
Fortunately, there are people who cherish the region's heritage; one of them is Sereno Milisso, who is wholeheartedly committed to keeping the culinary history of this area alive.
President Milisso proudly says: “I was born into a farming family in 1977, and in my family we always had cows and always delivered milk to the Turnaria dairy, where it was used to make cheese”, and then adds: “In 2007 I became president of the Latteria Turnaria of Campolessi. My aim is to bring new generations into the dairy. There is a need for generational change, because if the number of members falls too far, for example because of old age and retirement, keeping the cheese-making structure going will no longer be viable and the dairy will have to close. Promoting and improving the cheese means saving the age-old but fragile traditional farming system of our mountain community. Getting young people involved also means fighting the depopulation of our small towns”
The dairy has a shop where you can buy its products. It is in Gemona del Friuli, in the village of Campolessi, at Via San Marco, 7. The shop is open Monday to Saturday from 10.30 to 13.00. Sereno Milisso notes that “we may not be able to sell our cheeses in Poland”, but a moment later adds: “I invite all Poles to taste the cheese that only we know how to make here, in Campolessi, in our beautiful mountains”.
The Friuli project is supported by the Slow Food Foundation, which is present in more than 100 countries around the world. The foundation has the tools to promote a model of agriculture based on local biodiversity and on respect for the land and culture of the region, in harmony with the natural environment and with the aim of ensuring food self-sufficiency and access to good, unprocessed and well-balanced food for all communities.
Puzzone di Moena di malga from Trentino
In the shadow of the beautiful Dolomites, a cheese with a unique, pungent smell is made: “Puzzone di Moena di malga”.
Hospitality, food, sunshine and world-renowned ski areas are not all that Trentino has to offer. The biodiversity of the “malga” alpine pastures and a specific way of processing produce an exceptional local cheese, “Puzzone di Moena di malga”. The support of technologists combined with the passion of the local community creates an organic product whose brick-red rind and strong smell attract gourmets. Tasting dishes made with the cheese will be a valuable addition to a skiing holiday.
Trentino, or Trydent as it is called in Polish, is a province in northern Italy. It is well known to Poles, as it is often their favourite skiing area, where they can enjoy perfectly groomed pistes, hospitality, food and sunshine. The Dolomites, the backdrop to every town and village in Trentino, are covered with snow for six months of the year, and for the other six with a carpet of alpine vegetation. The province, covering 6200 km2, has half a million inhabitants.
“Puzzone di Moena di malga” is made from milk that is sent twice a day from alpine pastures in the heart of the Dolomites to the dairy in Predazzo, which produces Puzzone.
To understand what makes this cheese special, we need to know how it is made. The cows graze on meadows in mountain valleys, known in Trentino as “malga”. The specific plants that grow there, the altitude, the changing sunshine and the slope of the land all affect the quality of the milk. Were it not for the high mountain pastures where the cows graze, “Puzzone di Moena di malga” would probably never have come into being.
“Puzzone di Moena di malga” is a cheese with a strong smell (“puzza” means “stink”), which develops during maturing, when each cheese is regularly given a specific treatment. It is a painstaking task: there are several thousand cheeses in the store, and every week each of them has to be turned and washed with a damp cloth. This goes on for at least 60 days and up to six or seven months. Washing the rind with water creates a greasy, creamy layer and encourages the bacterial fermentation responsible for the cheese's intense, pungent smell and its characteristic brick-red rind. Puzzone is made only during the summer grazing season, from June to September. The cheese must mature for 4 to 16 months.
Caseificio di Primiero at the Rolle Pass
The centre for producing and promoting the cheese is Caseificio di Primiero. The complex, consisting of a dairy, a cheese-processing line, a shop and a restaurant, was built at an altitude of 1980 m above sea level, just past the Rolle Pass (Passo Rolle Trentino), beneath the imposing Pale di San Martino. The shop is open on weekdays (except Thursdays) from 8.00 to 12.00 and from 16.00 to 19.00. Weekend opening hours are: Saturday 8.00 - 12.00 and 15.30 - 19.00, and Sunday 8.00 - 12.00 and 15.00 - 18.00.
One dish worth trying at the local restaurant is “Canederlotti alla Tosèla su crema di Puzzone di Moena”. Besides eggs, butter, flour and other simple top-quality ingredients, it is made with this very locally produced, strong-smelling cheese.
It is worth noting that “Puzzone di Moena” has a sugar-free composition, which makes it particularly suitable for sweet products. It goes very well with figs, both fresh and dried.
Giampaolo Gaiarin on raw-milk cheese
One person who appreciates the skill of the local cheesemakers and the quality of the cheese produced here is Giampaolo Gaiarin. Born in 1960, the cheesemaker is a technologist, a quality expert and a promoter of agricultural products made to old recipes. He always stresses that understanding the art of creating high-quality products requires not only knowledge gained from study, but also, perhaps above all, experience gained from constant contact with the people who make a given product with passion.
Gaiarin stresses: “Cheese made from raw milk is the most respected and authentic form of production: the only one capable of restoring the original aroma of the milk”.
Guided by the same philosophy, he believes that “the biodiversity of dairy cow breeds must be preserved to ensure the best match between the production context and the welfare of each animal”.
The Predazzo area has much more to offer than just superb skiing. It turns out that you will come across hidden stories, culinary traditions, artisan flavours and time-honoured practices preserved by local communities whose identity and culture have been shaped over centuries.
It is worth getting a taste for a new way of travelling, made up of meetings with farmers, cheesemakers, shepherds, bakers and winemakers. The Slow Food Foundation encourages travellers to involve local “guardians of tradition” in such journeys. They can be the storytellers of their own areas, exceptional guides and promoters of local culinary customs, and your journey will become a truly special experience.
Stracchino all’antica from Lombardy
A “tired” cheese from Lombardy is the perfect excuse for an Italian holiday close to nature.
Lombardy is rich not only in its material heritage, but also in the traditions it cherishes. “Stracchino all’antica delle valli orobiche” is best tasted at one of the agritourism farms. If you add to the culinary experience a hike through nature, views and contact with places whose history goes back to bygone eras, you have an exceptional mix of holiday attractions.
The Lombardy region, with its capital in Milan, stretches from the Alps, with their highest peak Bernina (all of 4049 m above sea level), past the romantic lakes Maggiore, Como and Garda, to the wide, flat Po Valley. Its 9.5 million inhabitants generate 25% of Italy's income, making Lombardy one of the richest regions in Europe and the world. Lombardy is a land of lakeside villas, flower gardens, fashion and wealthy cities with impressive palaces. It is also a region where heritage, including culinary heritage, is looked after with care and devotion.
One local product well worth our attention is “Stracchino all’antica delle valli orobiche”. The name stracchino seems to come from the word “stracch” (tired) in the local dialect and refers to cheese made during stops along the transhumance route, using small amounts of whole milk from cows exhausted by the journey. The cheese had to be made quickly, without heating the milk and without time for curdling and draining. The “stracchino” from the Taleggio valley was particularly famous, and from the early 20th century all cheeses of this type came to be called Taleggio. Now that Taleggio has become an industrial cheese, the old term “stracchino” has to be used to identify the authentic, artisan mountain product.
This seemingly simple cheese matures for up to 5 months and has a texture that allows it to be grated. What sets it apart is that it is made when the milk is freshly drawn and still warm, so there is no need to heat it further.
The cheese is still made in the traditional way in the Brembana valley and the side valleys of Serina, Taleggio and Imagna. In these valleys farmers are true guardians of the environment, tending pastures rich in remarkable grasses and herbs and helping to preserve a unique landscape.
Prati Parini agritourism farm and walking routes
One of the local producers is Marco Fustinoni. Marco runs a small business in Val Brembana, where he makes cheese and runs a charming farm founded by his father. Of the three cheeses he devotes himself to, the most important is “Stracchino all’antica delle valli orobiche”.
The Prati Parini agritourism farm has been running since 1979, when Marco's father, Fermo Fustinoni, finished renovating and extending the buildings. Marco stresses that “it is important for us to understand the history of how this area was settled. It seems that in 1500 the only building was a small church, and the hill was probably inhabited by ten brothers”. After a moment he adds: “Over the years we have tried to keep the farm as close as possible to nature and its history, so as to offer our guests a corner that is <out of time> and far from the chaos of the city”. Even today the farm can only be reached on foot, by various paths leading from the neighbouring villages.
Marco Fustinoni warmly invites you to Prati Parini, adding that “both at weekends and on weekdays we offer our guests lunches or dinners rich in tradition and flavour. We offer a menu based on products we make ourselves, to be enjoyed at tables in the open air or in the dining room, around a blazing hearth”.
The full menu, which may include game and other meats, costs €22.00 without drinks (advance booking required).
Of the several possible routes to “Agriturismo Prati Parini”, Marco particularly recommends the path marked out by the Parco dei Colli, which starts in the village of San Mauro, above Villa d'almè. The path is waymarked in red and white, and the walk takes about 2 hours and 45 minutes. The trail is mostly flat, with no steep climbs, and you can scramble up to the cross on Canto Alto (1196 m.), from where on clear days you can admire the whole Po valley and the Emilian Apennines.
For those who prefer a shorter walk, we recommend the path from the village of Sedrina, which gets you there in about 45 minutes.
Either way, you will eventually reach the place marked on maps as Agriturismo Prati Parini, Via Ca’chinaglio 8, 24010 Sedrina.
Artisan versus industrial cheese
The Slow Food Foundation promotes artisan cheeses, highlighting the difference between mass-produced cheeses and those made using old methods. Industrial cheeses are made from pasteurised milk and industrial starter cultures, and their place of production is cut off from the area where the milk is sourced. Artisan cheeses, including “Stracchino all’antica delle valli orobiche”, differ from one another, as a natural result of the variety of climates and pastures, the use of raw milk and of local cow breeds, and the skills of shepherds and cheesemakers handed down from generation to generation.
The Slow Food Foundation pays particular attention to Italy's mountain areas. They must be protected in order to save a diversity that can easily disappear under pressure from industry, the market and restrictive food safety regulations that are ill-suited to the needs and circumstances of small producers. These areas are particularly vulnerable to young people migrating to the cities.
Sheep's cheeses and hot springs of Tuscany
Tuscany's beautiful, hilly landscape still hides secrets. One of them is the local tradition of making sheep's cheeses, handed down from generation to generation. The La Valle degli Ulivi agritourism farm offers an idyllic rural holiday and, on top of that, is only a few kilometres from a natural wonder, the geothermal springs of Terme di Saturnia.
Tuscany is one of the most important tourist centres in the world. Its monuments and world-famous museums attract visitors from all over the globe. The mild climate guarantees a long tourist season, which runs from Easter until October. The region's scenery includes vineyards and medieval towns set into its characteristic rolling landscape. There are also many idyllic agritourism farms with swimming pools, ideal for family holidays or for holidays with friends. The regional cuisine and wines are very popular, and the culinary experiences will enrich your Tuscan holiday.
Pecorino a latte crudo della Maremma
In the province of Grosseto, four rivers divide the Maremma into as many fertile plains: the Fiora, Ombrone, Pecora and Albegna. This part of Tuscany has been known for sheep grazing since the Middle Ages, when flocks were brought from the Apennines, inland Tuscany and the Siena area to spend the winter here. Special “Dogana dei Paschi”, or “pasture customs”, were even set up to control the pastures and collect grazing taxes.
The seasonal nature of grazing and the scarcity of settlements did not favour the development of permanent cheese-making businesses. Instead, the milk from the flocks that wintered here contributed to the production of excellent sheep's cheese (pecorino) elsewhere, in places such as Pienza and Casentino. It was not until the 20th century that the Maremma became Tuscany's main pecorino-producing area.
Today the milk is processed directly on the farm, and the resulting pecorino varies in size and age, from 20 to 180 days. This great variability stems from the fact that Maremma farmers never had a set of rules to follow, which led to a certain spontaneity in production. Today the quality of the pastures and the specific character of the milk from local sheep deserve a new standardisation of processing styles and the exclusive use of raw milk.
The area still has many dairies with varied production, and the milk comes from native breeds such as the Amiatina, as well as from breeds that have made themselves at home here, namely the Sopravvissana and the Sarda.
“Pecorino a latte crudo della Maremma” was traditionally made from December to June, but today it is made all year round, except in the hottest months and in periods when milk is in short supply. What sets this cheese apart is that the producers feed their sheep local cereals and fodder, which is sometimes even prepared on their own farm. Only raw milk is used to make this cheese, with no commercial starters added and no treatment of the rind whatsoever.
La Valle degli Ulivi and Terme di Saturnia
A good place to taste this exceptional Tuscan sheep's cheese is La Valle degli Ulivi . It is an agritourism, a farm with animals, located just 5 km from Saturnia and Semproniano. Cheese is also made here.
The farm offers everything you need to spend a pleasant and comfortable time here. The rustic guest rooms are air-conditioned. An excellent breakfast including homemade products is served every morning. Later in the day you can also use the shared barbecue.
Besides walks in the surrounding hills, it is worth visiting the hot springs of Terme di Saturnia. It is undoubtedly a place worth seeing. It is nothing short of a natural wonder of breathtaking beauty. Natural waterfalls, pools of water at different temperatures. The hot sulphur-calcium springs have a range of benefits for the skin and joints. A therapeutic bath should last about 20-30 minutes. Surprisingly, there is no charge for visiting the springs.
How do you get to La Valle degli Ulivi? Satnav will take you straight there if you enter as your destination: La Valle degli Ulivi, Semproniano, Localita Fibbianello.
When visiting places such as this Tuscan farm, let us remember that an important element of the Slow Food philosophy is giving dignity to important professions such as shepherding, saving breeds threatened with extinction, promoting farming systems that respect the environment and animal welfare, and adding value to cheeses made without industrial starter cultures.
Artisan cheeses from southern Italy are described here
