The origins of Taleggio PDO cheese are very ancient, even pre-dating the 10th century. It was produced during the transhumance of the cows, which were taken to the mountain pastures in late spring and then back to the valley in autumn. Do you know that this commute is so deeply ingrained into the history of this territory that there is a specific phrase in the Bergamo dialect to indicate it? The phrase is “cargà” or “descargà ‘l mut”, literally “loading” or “unloading the mountain” (with the herds). Because it was also produced on the move, it was transported on the back of a donkey or mule in especially made rectangular wooden boxes divided into three or four square compartments. To this day, a Taleggio PDO wheel looks like a parallelepiped with square faces and it is produced exclusively along the original route of transhumance in the provinces of Bergamo, Brescia and Cremona, in Eastern Lombardy.
The very name of this cheese is closely linked to the territory and specifically to the town of Taleggio, in Brembana Valley, where this cheese is still produced today. The town is full of lindens, whose Latin name is “tilietulum”, later twisted into “tileggio”.
