Stracchino valligiano (soft cheese)

Stracchino is a typical soft cheese from Lombardia with a generally square shape. It seems that the name Stracchino comes from the dialect word "stracch", that is tired, because it is produced at the end of the summer with the milk of animals tired from the long journey back from the high altitude pastures. The maturation took place in the caves of the Bergamo and Lecco Pre-Alps, where this cheese refined its qualities thanks to the fresh and fragrant air currents coming from the cracks in the rock, acquiring an unmistakable and valuable aroma with maturation. The production of stracchino was initially seasonal, and now takes place throughout the year.

GEOGRAPHICAL ORIGINS

Branzi (Bergamo), Lombardia - Italy.

INGREDIENTS

Milk, salt, rennet. The milk comes from Italian farming.

HOW IT'S MADE

Stracchino Valligiano is a raw cow's milk cheese, so defined when the curd does not undergo any heating. The milk is coagulated in twenty minutes with the addition of liquid calf rennet and the curd, after a rough break with the spannarola, is mixed to obtain a uniform distribution of temperature and fat.
It is left to rest for fifteen minutes, after a short rest the mass is collected in the appropriate linen cloths and placed in the molds, after having made the rectangular shape with strokes of the hand.
The bottom of the molds was once lined with large stalks of grass, to facilitate the bleeding of the whey, which gave the particular roughness to the stracchino crust. Once the whey has been purged for 18-24 hours, the forms are removed from the molds and dry salted.

AGING

Medium.

PAIRINGS

It is excellent eaten alone, baked or as a cream to spread on bread. But also in many recipes, from appetizers to first courses to timbales and as the protagonist of the aperitif. It goes perfectly with zucchini and eggs.

STORAGE

In the fridge at 4°C / 8°C.

FORMAT

About 100 g, vacuum packed. When opening the vacuum bag, let it breathe for 10 minutes before consuming.