Piedmont Cheese

PIEDMONT CHEESE

Cheeses are mainly produced in the mountains, which is why Piedmont boasts a vast choice of products and plays a major role in the production of cheese. Most of the cheeses known in Italy and abroad come from this region.

The cheeses vary from area: aged, fresh, cow, goat, hard or soft, there is a wide choice. Many cheeses are DOC (controlled designation of origin) or DOP (protected designation of origin) brands.

Let's find out which Piedmontese cheeses are from the best known to the least known.

BEGIUNN: Cow's milk cheese produced with whey. It is aged for about a month. The ricotta is straw yellow in color, it is creamy inside and has a light crust on the surface. It is produced in the summer in Sauze d’Oulx and San Sicario (TO).

BETTELMATT: Cow's milk cheese produced with whole milk from a single milking. Pastures over 1800 m above sea level. It is aged for at least 60 days. Its shape is cylindrical with a straw yellow color, smooth rind, compact and soft texture. The taste is sweet with the passage of time it tends to bitter. It is produced in mountain pastures in Valle Antigorio and Formazza.

BOVES: cow's milk cheese produced with whole milk, from the Piedmontese breed. Seasoning is optional, up to a maximum of 20 days. It has a soft and creamy texture with a straw color. In the aged product there is a hard yellowish crust, in the fresh one it is absent. It is produced in Boves and in neighboring areas (CN).

BRA (D.O.P.): Cow's milk cheese produced from Piedmontese breed cows with fresh fodder. It has a maturation of at least 180 days at least. It has a crust tending to leather, the paste has a slightly straw color. It is very tasty and has a savory taste. Depending on the seasoning it can be harder. It has a cylindrical shape with flat faces and weighs between 5 and 9 kg. It is produced in the province of Cuneo.

BRA TENERO: Cow's milk cheese, but it can also have a percentage of sheep's and / or goat's milk. It is aged for at least 45 days. It has a light to brown crust, the paste is white. It is a fragrant and savory cheese. Cylindrical shape with flat faces weighing from 5 to 9 kg. It is produced in the province of Cuneo.

BRUSS DI CASTELAMGNO: Cow's milk cheese, produced with various types of cheese, but above all Castelmagno, cut into small pieces. It has a maturation that lasts about 20 days and requires a suitable environment. . It has a creamy and spreadable paste and has a light color tending to gray. The Bruss di Castelmagno is presented in terracotta pots. Produced in Castelmagno and throughout the Cuneo area.

BRUSS DI FRABOSA: It is a cow's milk cheese, produced with milk and residual whey from the processing of Raschera. Seasoning is optional. It has a white, spreadable and creamy paste. It is produced in Frabosa and in the Raschera area (CN).

BRUSS D’MURAZZAN: Sheep's milk cheese produced with Murazzano robiole. Cheese closed in glass jars can be stored for a very long time. It has a dense, creamy white-gray paste and is produced in Murazzano and in some areas of the Cuneo area.

CACHAT: Goat's milk cheese, made with milk and more goat cheeses. It has an optional seasoning. It is a cheese with a creamy, spreadable white color. It is produced in Demonte and Valle Stura (CN).

CAPRINO AL PEPE DI BAGNOLO: Mixed cheese, produced with goat's milk and with additions of cow's milk. It has an optional seasoning. It has a soft, spreadable beige color due to the presence of pepper. The rind is barely present and light brown in color. If aged it has a spicy flavor. Produced in Bagnolo Piemonte and in Barge (CN).

CAPRINO DI BACENO: Goat's milk cheese, produced with pure milk from the Camosciata breed. The seasoning takes about 3 months. It has a white paste with a yellow rind and a cylindrical shape. It is produced in the municipality of Baceno, a hamlet of Graglia (VB).

CAPRINO DI DEMONTE: Goat cheese, produced with pure goat's milk. The cheese can be eaten fresh without aging or after about 30-50 days. It has a compact white paste with a thin white crust, present in the seasoned product. It has a cylindrical shape. It is produced in Valle Stura di Demonte (CN).

CAPRINO DI RIMELLA: Goat's milk cheese, made with goat's milk. It has a seasoning that varies from 50 days up to two months, but usually it is not done. It has a soft, spreadable whitish color with a barely present brownish rind. It has a cylindrical shape. It is produced in parts of Valsesia, in the municipality of Rimella pour (VC).

GOAT OSSOLANO: Goat's milk cheese, produced with pure goat's milk. It has a maturation ranging from 5 to 20 days. It has a soft white color with a thin white rind if slightly matured to yellow with increasing maturation. It is a cheese a few centimeters high with a cylindrical shape. It is produced in Domodossola (Campoccio Dentro fraction), Varzo, Val Vigezzo (VB).

CAPRINO VALLE: Goat's milk cheese produced with pure goat's milk from the Camosciata breed. It has a seasoning that goes beyond the month. Soft and light paste with a yellowish crust. Its shape is cylindrical. It is produced in the municipality of Trasquera in particular in Alpe Valle.

CASTELMAGNO (D.O.P.): Cow's milk cheese, produced with whole raw cow's milk. Cattle must be recognized as the genetic types Barà Pustertaler, Bruna, Pezzata Rossa d’Oropa, Pezzata Rossa, Montbéliard, Grigio-alpina, Piemontese, Valdostana and their crosses. They can be milked twice a day. Feeding must be fresh forage. The aging must be at least 60 days in fresh and humid natural caves. The cheese must be placed on wooden boards. The paste has a white color tending to yellow ocher with any blue-green veins inside. With increasing aging, the pasta tends to become more compact and crumbly. The rind is thin, yellow-reddish in color and has a cylindrical shape with a weight ranging from 2-7 kg. It is produced in the municipalities of Castelmagno, Pradleves and Monterosso Grana in the province of Cuneo.

CEVRIN DI COAZZE: Mixed milk cheese, produced with partially skimmed cow's milk and goat's milk and liquid calf rennet. This cheese can have a maturation that varies from 15-20 days, but it can be matured up to 3-4 months. intense yellow color. The flavor is spicy. It has a cylindrical shape. It is produced throughout the Sangone Valley (TO), in particular in the hamlets of Forno di Coazze and Giaveno.

CRUTIN: Mixed cheese, produced with cow's and sheep's milk, various types of truffles, natural rennet and salt. The seasoning varies from 1 to 3 months. the paste is white dotted with truffles and is very crumbly. The crust is thin with noble molds. It is produced in the Langhe di Alba, hills with truffles (CN).

CUSIE ': Mixed cheese, made with cow's, sheep's and goat's milk, natural rennet and salt. The aging must be at least 5 months on wooden boards in the cellar with controlled humidity. The paste is crumbly and dry with an ivory white color, with a thin, wrinkled and reddish crust. Its characteristic shape is that of a panettone. It is produced in the Langa and Monregalese valleys (CN).

ESCARUN DI PECORA: Mixed cheese, produced with sheep's milk, cow's milk, natural rennet and salt. It is aged for at least 6 months in the cool cellars. The paste is slightly yellow or white, not very crumbly, but compact. The crust is thin with noble molds. Rich and harmonious flavor with a scent of undergrowth. It is produced in the alpine pastures of the Cuneo Alps.

CASE CHEESE: Cow's milk cheese, made with semi-skimmed or whole milk. The seasoning takes place in a not too dry environment and must last at least 3 months. The paste has blue streaks and is light in color. The crust remains dark and rough. When aged, the cheese takes on a savory and bitter taste. It is produced in Elva in Val Maira (CN).

FRACHET: Cow's milk cheese. It is a Tomino. During the seasoning it is dried in hemp cloths. It is a fresh and creamy cheese. It is produced in Val Sesia.

GIUNCA '(salted ricotta): Cow's milk cheese, made with pure cow's milk whey. It can be eaten immediately or left to mature. It has a dry texture and has no crust. It can be grated. It is produced in the Lanzo Valleys.

GORGONZOLA (D.O.P.): Cow's cheese, produced with pasteurized whole milk. The seasoning varies from 50-60-80 days, it must take place in a place with humidity between 85% and 99% with a temperature of 2 to 7 degrees. The paste is white in color, mottled due to the development of molds with blue-green veins, the rind is thin pink in color. It is produced in many places: Biella, Brescia, Como, Cremona, Cuneo, Lecco, Vercelli, Casale Monferrato, Villanova Monferrato, Morano Po, Coniolo, Serralunga di Crea, Cereseto, Treville, Ozzano Monferrato, San Giorgio Monferrato, Cellamonte, Frassinello Monferrato , Giarole, Valmacca, Frassineto Po.

GRASSO D’ALPE: Cow's milk cheese, produced with whole milk mostly from the Brown breed. It has a maximum maturation of 70 days with an average temperature between 12-15 degrees in a ventilated environment. The paste is yellowish and tender, while the crust is clear. It is produced in Val Formazza, Valle Antigorio and in the upper Novarese and Ossolano areas.

MACAGN: Cheese of cow's milk, produced with whole and raw alpine milk obtained from a single milking. The seasoning is at least 20 days using wooden surfaces. The paste has a few scattered holes and is white in color, it remains compact and elastic. The thin crust of grayish color. It is produced in the mountains of Biella and Valsesia.

MONTEBORE: Mixed cheese, produced with a prevalence of cow's milk followed by sheep's and goat's milk. It can be eaten fresh or with a maturation of up to 20 days with sealing every two days. The paste is hard and white in color, the crust remains yellowish and has the shape of a wedding cake, a shape given by the overlapping of several forms of cheese. It is produced in the Tortona valleys, in Val Curone.

MURAZZANO: Mixed cheese, produced with sheep's milk or mixed milk with additions of cow's milk. Seasoning is not carried out. The grainy Roman pasta, white and consistent. The cheese has no rind and remains a fragrant cheese. It is produced in many municipalities in the province of Cuneo.

NOSTRANO D’ALPE: Cow's milk cheese, made with whole or semi-skimmed Brown breed milk. It has a seasoning that varies from 6 months up to a year. The compact Roman paste of straw color, while the crust of dark yellow color and remains smooth. It is produced in Valle Antigorio, Valle Diveria, Media Ossola, Valle Vigezzo and in the province of Verbania.

NOSTRANO DI LATTERIA: Cow's milk cheese, produced with whole or partially skimmed milk. It has 70 days of seasoning in a ventilated environment. Straw-colored paste, elastic and smooth rind. It is produced like Nostrano d’Alpe.

ORMEA: Cow's milk cheese, produced with whole or partially skimmed milk exclusively from breed

PAGLIERINA DI RIFREDDO: Cow's milk cheese, produced with whole milk, from Piedmont and Frisona breed. The seasoning takes about 20 days. The paste remains yellow, compact and soft while the very thin crust that thickens if more seasoned. It is produced in the Rifreddo area (CN) and is typical of the Cuneo area.

PECORINO DI BAGNOLO: sheep's milk cheese, produced with sheep's milk from the Langhe breed. It is aged for one year in special controlled cellars. The paste is white, while the crust remains smooth. It is produced in Bagnolo Piemonte

RASCHERA: Cow's milk cheese, produced with cow's milk sometimes added with sheep's milk, coming from two milkings. The seasoning is done in the mountain pastures and lasts at least a month. in a room dug out of the earth. Ivory colored paste, elastic with small holes. The thin red-brown rind. It has a fine and delicate flavor, very fragrant and savory. It is produced in the province of Cuneo.

ROBIOLA ALTA LANGA: Cow's milk cheese, produced with whole milk from Piedmontese breed. Seasoning is optional. It has a soft, buttery white color. It remains tastier and spicier when aged. It is produced in Alta Langa.

ROBIOLA D’ALBA: Cow's milk cheese produced with cow's milk from mixed populations. There is no seasoning. The paste is light in color, buttery and compact. It is produced in Alba and in other centers in the province of Cuneo.

ROBIOLA DI ROCCAVERANO: Mixed milk cheese, produced with raw whole goat milk of the Camosciata Alpina and Roccaverano breeds, with Langhe sheep's milk and with Piedmontese and Bruno-Alpine cow's milk. Aging after 10 days the cheese is already seasoned after which it is put into molds and after 30 it is dry. Fresh cheese has a milky white paste with a slightly acidic flavor. The more seasoned product (10-20 days) has a very creamy and buttery slightly straw yellow paste and remains very tasty. Dry cheese (matured for 30 days) the Roman paste of a very compact and very tasty yellow color. There is a hard crust. It is produced in the province of Asti and in the province of Alessandria.

SARGNON: Mixed cheese, produced with leftover cheeses, especially gorgonzola and other spicy cheeses. It has a seasoning that varies between 15-30 days. The paste is very creamy and white in color. It is produced in the Biella and Vercellese area.

SEIRASS DEL LAUSUN: Cow's milk cheese, produced with whole milk from Piedmontese breed. It has no seasoning. It has no crust and is contained in canvas bags, the paste is white and soft. It is produced in the Pinerolo area.

SOERA: Mixed cheese, produced with sheep's milk, with cow's milk from the Langhe breed. the seasoning varies from one month to two in a non-humid environment. It has a compact white paste with a light thin rind. It is produced in the Cuneo area.

SPRESS: Mixed cheese, produced with skimmed cow's milk from the Brown-Alpine breed with small