A TurinEpi19 cheese tasting

Besides getting to share Turin with our guests and their online followers, every year there is another special reason to join the Turin Epicurean Capital bunch: 2019 was special as it had 2 big events and the cheese tasting at historic Latteria Bera was definitely one nobody could miss out on.

*Chiara Franzoso owner of Latteria Bera in Via San Tommaso 13

Queen goat

While in the Monferrato wine district, our friend Luca introduced us to his neighbors who have a Roccaverano goat farm!

cute goat sign point to the capra regina farm

Cevrin of Coazze: a nobel prize goat cheese

This week cheese is Cevrin or also Cavrin di Coazze
Its names means caprino in Italian or goat cheese, Coazze is a tiny village up in the Alps near Turin.

Piedmontese cheeses, Cavrin is among them!

Murianengo a cheese straddling two countries

This week we're talking about Murianengo, a very rare blue cheese similar to Gorgonzola, produced in the alpine pastures of Moncenisio, near the French border, in the Turin province. This is a very rare cheese made only by 2 producers in the high Susa Valley. Every year only about 50 wheels are made so you will have to come over and try it right in its own landscape. No other cheese tastes quite like it, in fact, Murianengo reminds of a mix of Gorgonzola and Castelmagno.

Murianengo cheese

Gorgonzola DOP: a therapeutic cheese

Gorgonzola cheese is among the oldest blue veined cheeses, it takes its name from a small town near Milan;  today's main production area is in the Novara area, in Piedmont which makes of it, the most famous dairy product of Piedmont world wide!

Gorgonzola cheese

Seirass: a very versatile cheese

Courtesy of Elisa Cerruti

Seirass is the traditional Piedmont ricotta cheese and it comes in many variants and flavors thus making it a very versatile cheese.
It name comes from the Latin serum, or whey and in Piedmont, it is synonym of ricotta or cottage cheese. Compared to regular ricotta cheese, Seirass is made of a smoother and finer paste and it contains a lot of cream!
It comes in many shapes, but commonly people but it in the traditional cone form which the cheese acquires during its aging process in gauze cones that are hung to allow it to dry. Seirass also comes in cylindrical and upturned basket shapes.

Bettelmatt a VERY rare cheese

Bettelmatt fire brand with the edelweiss

Bruss the cheese spread with grappa

Bruss is a fermented cheese spread made with grappa, typically produced in the Upper Langhe area. Apparently, its name comes from the local dialect and it means brucia or it burns because of the reaction everybody gets when they eat it ;)

It is so pungent that it gave origin to a local proverb: "only love is stronger than Bruss (cheese)".

Bruss cheese

Testun a stubborn cheese!

Testun wrapped in pressed Nebbiolo grapes

Today we're presenting Testun PAT which in the local Piedmontese dialect means both "big head" and "stubborn". It is called this way because this cheese looks rather hard and compact due to its minimum 4 months of aging process. This is a traditional product of the mountain areas of the Cuneo province, near the Tanaro River.

Montebore cheese

    Aged Montebore cheese

As promised, today we are talking about Montebore cheese from the Alessandria area, in Piedmont. This cheese has a very long history dating back to 300 A.D. In 1489 it was the cheese of choice, and also the only cheese served at the wedding of Ludovoco Sforza's son wedding with Isabel d'Aragon. Leonardo Da Vinci who organized organized both the banquet and the single shows accompanying each course, picked this cheese because it looks like a wedding cake! 

Bra DOP, yes it's a cheese ;)

Bra cheese hard and soft

Bra DOP (cheese) takes its name from Bra, the Piedmont town where the Slow Food movement was born in the 1980s. It is one of the municipalities within the Cuneo province, in the Roero wine district, where many of the high quality ingredients of the Piedmontese cuisine are from. This is definitely an interesting area full of medieval hamlets, castles, vineyards, truffle grounds and amazing restaurants :P 

A citta' slow or slow town, Bra is where every two years Slow Cheese, a whole event about organic and local cheese takes place!

Raschera DOP

                                                           Squared Raschera DOP

Today we're presenting an artisanal cheese, Raschera DOP in its two variants: regular and d'alpeggio or alpine pasture. This is a traditional cheese of the Cuneo mountains and it can include cow, sheep or goat's milk. It is produced all year long and it can take two shapes: round or squared.

It takes the name from Lake Raschera at the foot of Mt. Mongioie and its origins date back to the end of 1400, in fact, a legal document of that time states that shepherds in the Pamparato area, one of the communes where the cheese is produced, were supposed to pay their rent with Raschera wheels.

In Roccaforte Mondovi' a fresco by Giovanni Mazzucco portrays local monks making cheese.

Toma piemontese DOP

                                         

Toma is a typical cheese from Piedmont and Valle d'Aosta and it is one of the most famous Italian cheeses too.

It's made of cow's milk and it can be soft or semi-hard.

Toma in general can come in different variants, each one carrying the name of the area where the cheese is produced.
All toma cheeses are good with jams, honey and in all the traditional mountain dishes. 
                                                                                                                                                              Toma Piemontese                                 

Castelmagno DOP

Castelmagno with bread and wine

Castelmagno is the king of the Piedmontese cheeses and it's been produced since at least the 12th century, even though the first records date back to 1277. It takes its name from the municipality in the Grana Valley,  located in the Cuneo province in SW Piedmont, where it's produced. 

This is an amazing cheese, covered in a wrinkly and brownish rind and with an ivory creamy interior. Its paste is dense and crumbly and its mild flavor gains power as it ages, becoming sharper and spicier.

Robiola di Roccaverano DOP

Roccaverano in Piedmont

In general, Robiola is a soft-ripened cheese, typical of the Langhe area in Southern Piedmont but it is also produced in Valle D'Aosta and Lombardy. According to where it's produced and the kind of milk used (cow, goat, sheep), its taste and look vary (round or square shaped) a lot. 

Cheese: Piedmont white gold!

Today we're talking about cheese because besides France, Italy is also a large cheese producer!
Can you guess how many different types of cheeses are produced in the boot?
403 kinds which means you can taste a different cheese every single day of the year and still have some more to enjoy the next one!