Bitto storico cheese has a troubled background: in fact, it was born thanks to a group of cheese-makers who didn’t accept the 1994 P.D.O. label extending the production area to the entire province of Sondrio. This is why they created the “Bitto Storico” (“Historical Bitto”) Slow Food Presidium, in order to preserve the ancient production techniques that were likely to be replaced by modern ones. In 2014, exactly 20 years after the beginning of this controversy, two Consortia were established, one of which protects the Bitto storico.
At the Consortium for the Protection headquarter there is even a “cheese bank”, where you can purchase a fresh cheese and make it ripen at the cheese factory for years. If you like to, you can also have it customized by writings, dedications or drawings made with black cranberry juice: a tailor-made cheese!
Bitto storico is a cow’s milk cheese (“bruna alpina” breed) row and whole, with the addition of raw goat milk (“orobica” goat breed) in a percentage ranging between 10% and 20%. It has cooked paste; it is semi-hard or hard when it undergoes a long ripening period.
The purpose is trying to keep the traditional processing methods, following the pace of nature. Cows are hand-milked so that they do not get stressed, and a pasture shift system is carried out: during the three pasture months, the herd grazes across a route with stages, from the lower station to the highest one. On the way, the traditional calècc – thousands of years old stone buildings protecting the cheese-making area – are used as a travelling processing house always available, to prevent the milk from travelling and to process it before its natural heat dissipates. The use of supplements in cattle feed and of additives, preservatives or selected enzymes in cheese production is strictly forbidden.
It ripens at least one year, but some cheeses are over 10 years old.
The colour is yellow gold, very intense, while the ripened cheese is almost hazelnut when it has ripened for a long time. Its fragrance and aroma are very rich: melted butter, fermented hay, and meat broth. Ripened bitto is also slightly spicy.
Bitto storico cheese has a troubled background: in fact, it was born thanks to a group of cheese-makers who didn’t accept the 1994 P.D.O. label extending the production area to the entire province of Sondrio. This is why they created the “Bitto Storico” (“Historical Bitto”) Slow Food Presidium, in order to preserve the ancient production techniques that were likely to be replaced by modern ones. In 2014, exactly 20 years after the beginning of this controversy, two Consortia were established, one of which protects the Bitto storico.
At the Consortium for the Protection headquarter there is even a “cheese bank”, where you can purchase a fresh cheese and make it ripen at the cheese factory for years. If you like to, you can also have it customized by writings, dedications or drawings made with black cranberry juice: a tailor-made cheese!
Bitto storico is a cow’s milk cheese (“bruna alpina” breed) row and whole, with the addition of raw goat milk (“orobica” goat breed) in a percentage ranging between 10% and 20%. It has cooked paste; it is semi-hard or hard when it undergoes a long ripening period.
The purpose is trying to keep the traditional processing methods, following the pace of nature. Cows are hand-milked so that they do not get stressed, and a pasture shift system is carried out: during the three pasture months, the herd grazes across a route with stages, from the lower station to the highest one. On the way, the traditional calècc – thousands of years old stone buildings protecting the cheese-making area – are used as a travelling processing house always available, to prevent the milk from travelling and to process it before its natural heat dissipates. The use of supplements in cattle feed and of additives, preservatives or selected enzymes in cheese production is strictly forbidden.
It ripens at least one year, but some cheeses are over 10 years old.
The colour is yellow gold, very intense, while the ripened cheese is almost hazelnut when it has ripened for a long time. Its fragrance and aroma are very rich: melted butter, fermented hay, and meat broth. Ripened bitto is also slightly spicy.
It is produced only in pastures from 1.400 to 2.000 meters and only in the summertime (60-90 days). Bergamo pastures are the following: Alpe Foppa, Alpe Parissolo, Alpe Ancogno Soliva, Alpe Calvizzola.
Valcalepio D.O.C. red reserve
Valcalepio D.O.C. Muscat raisin wine
Moscato di Scanzo D.O.C.G.
