Presidia Slow Food In Italy
LOMBARDY
Bagolino Bagòss
The inhabitants of Bagolino, a small village in the Caffaro Valley near Brescia, are known as bagossi.
Bagòss is also the name of the cheese produced in the valley, a unique uncooked-curd cheese made from
semi-skimmed raw milk, with wheels larger than those of normal tome di montagna, or mountain cheeses.
Bagolino Bagòss cheeses usually weigh around 16-18 kilos but can reach up to 20-22 kilos.
This cheese begins to fully express its complexity only after at least 10-12 months of aging.
Production area: Municipality of Bagolino, Province of Brescia
Presidium supported by: Municipality of Bagolino, Bagolino Valley Cooperative, Sabbia Valley Mountain
Community, Province of Brescia
For information on excursions or tours for this Presidia info@bluerental.it
Heritage Bitto
A cheese of great tradition, extraordinarily well-adapted to aging, Bitto is closely linked to its mountains
of origin. Slow Food created this Presidium to help promote production of Bitto cheese from Alpine
meadows. Presidium members are committed to preserving a series of traditional practices, including the
rearing of Orobica goats (the cheese is made with 10-20% goat’s milk), rotational grazing, manual
milking and the use of calècc, ancient stone huts that serve as mountain dairies.
Production area: Albaredo and Gerola valleys and neighboring Alpine meadows, Province of Sondrio
For information on excursions or tours for this Presidia info@bluerental.it
Lodi Pannerone
Also known as “white Gorgonzola” due to its large shape, Lodi Pannerone is one of the very few cheeses
in the world that is not salted.
Its name comes from the word panera, “cream” in local dialect, as it is made exclusively from creamy
whole milk. Lodi Pannerone typically has wide holes and is consumed fresh: Initially sweet and soft, its
finish has a typical bitter note.
Production area: Lodi and surrounding Municipalities, Province of Lodi
For information on excursions or tours for this Presidia info@bluerental.it
Saviore Valley Fatulì
Fatulì (“small piece” in local dialect) is a very unusual and rare goat’s cheese produced by just a few
cheesemakers, some of whom still breed Bionda dell’Adamello goats and use their raw milk to produce
Presidium Fatulì. The cheese has a cylindrical shape with flat sides. Inside, the color ranges from straw to
bright yellow, and the texture is compact or with a few scattered holes. The cheese is smoked, and its dark
rind shows the distinctive grooves left from the grill which is placed over burning juniper branches and
berries.
Production area: Camonica Valley, Province of Brescia
Presidium supported by: Adamello Regional Park, Camonica Valley Mountain Community
For information on excursions or tours for this Presidia info@bluerental.it
Orobiche Valleys Traditional Stracchino
Stracchino is a traditional soft whole cow’s milk cheese of ancient origin, possibly dating back to before
the 10th century. The origin of the name is found in an account written by Count Stefano Jacini in 1882:
“The word stracchino (...) derives from the small soft cheeses made by alpine herders using the milk of
cows that are stracche (tired) by their long journey from the mountains to the plain and back.”
It is a precursor of cheeses such as strachì tunt and taleggio, but while the latter are produced in medium
and large factories, stracchino is produced by small family businesses in the Orobiche valleys. It is made
using fresh warm milk, ensuring that the milk does not cool too much, which can cause the cheese to
“escape” and lose its rectangular shape. When it has solidified, the mass is kept warm for a day and a
half, then salted and kept at cooler temperatures for twenty days, after which it is ready for eating.
Production Area: Brembana Valley with the tributary valleys of Serina, Taleggio and Imagna (province
of Bergamo)
Presidium supported by: Mountain Community of Brembana Valley, Mountain Community of Imagna
Valley, Bergamo Chamber of Commerce, Agricultural Department of the Province of Bergamo.
For information on excursions or tours for this Presidia info@bluerental.it
Valchiavenna Goat Violino
This unusual cured meat is made from goat leg and shoulder and is shaped like a violin (violino in Italian).
Typical of the Valchiavenna, an area with ancient meat curing traditions, each goat Violino weighs
between 1,5 and 3 kilos, depending on the cut of meat used (front shoulder or rear leg). The tastiest, most
fragrant Violinos are aged slowly and naturally.
Production area: Municipalities of Chiavenna and Campodolcino, Valchiavenna, Province of Sondrio
Presidium supported by: Province of Sondrio, Municipality of Chiavenna, Valchiavenna Tourism
Consortium
For information on excursions or tours for this Presidia info@bluerental.it
Valtellina Buckwheat
At one time furmentun (buckwheat flour) was a staple food for the rural people of Valtellina. Valtellina
buckwheat is late-ripening, sown in mid-July and harvested in October. A hardy plant, resistant to cold
temperatures and high altitudes, until the 1970s it was the most traditional crop in the valley but more
recently it has almost disappeared. The Presidium is reintroducing Valtellina buckwheat cultivation and at
the same time restoring the traditional stone terraces which have defined these mountainous landscapes
for centuries.
Production area: Valtellina, Province of Sondrio
Presidium supported by: Municipality of Teglio, SlowCooking Association
For information on excursions or tours for this Presidia info@bluerental.it
Valtorta Agrì
Produced using whole raw cow’s milk from a group of farmers in the Brembana Valley, this cylindrical
small uncooked cheese requires special manual skill on the part of the cheesemaker. After brief acid
coagulation of the raw milk, a little rennet is added, the mass wrapped in cloth and allowed to drain.
After a day the curd is mixed with a little salt, rolled and flattened on a board to make three centimeter
diameter cylindrical cheeses which are left to dry for a few days. Agrì is eaten within 15 days. In the past
the women of the Brembana valley would make the initial mass and take it down in panniers to the
nearby Valsassina where it was made into cheeses. Now there is only one producer, the Cooperative of
Valtorta, comprising a dozen local farmers who process the milk of members belonging to the small
village dairy.
Production Area: municipality of Valtorta (province of Bergamo)
Presidium supported by: Mountain Community of Brembana Valley, Bergamo Chamber of
Commerce,Agricultural Department of the Province of Bergamo.
For information on excursions or tours for this Presidia info@bluerental.it