Stracchino Bronzone is a small-size cheese with soft texture, which farmers of Mount Bronzone and San Fermo and Vigolo hills consider to be the traditional product par excellence. It is still being made in the traditional way and its origins are very ancient. As early as the 10th century, Count Stefano Jacini wrote: “The word stracchino indicates the small soft cheeses that those Malghesi, on their commutes from the mountains to the plains and back again, usually make hastily in their places of rest, milking the cows strained from the long journey “. The production process of this ancient cheese still faithfully follows the orginal, time-honored tradition: the whole cow’s milk begins to be processed immediately after milking by coagulating it at a temperature of about 40 degrees. When the curd is ready, it gets broken in two places to evenly distribute the fat. The curd is then left to rest and put into squared wooden molds. At this point, extraction takes place which involves pieces of cheese that already have the size of the finished product. Stracchini are then wrapped in cloth and put into their wooden molds. After about 12 hours, the cloth is removed and the cheese is placed back into the wooden molds where it finishes draining and takes on the typical lines impressed by the ribs of the underlying plastic sheet used to eliminate the whey. This is followed by the seasoning process, which takes place in a cold room with a high level of humidity for about twenty days. Afterwards, the cheese is ready to be sold.
Stracchino Bronzone has a square shape and weighs about 1 kg. The soft rind is pink, while the texture is white and even, with a sweet flavor that reminds one of milk and cream. Today, this ancient cheese has been granted the status of Traditional Food (Prodotto Agroalimentare Tradizionale, P.A.T.) of the Lombardy Region by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs of the Italian Government.
